Auckland Rugby 2019
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Update - Sam Slade replaces Cameron Suafoa in 19:
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One of my all time favourite players, go the 'Hacksaw' :- As a kid he turned up to trial for a 'Walter Dickson' rep team I was helping select. We almost dismissed him from the start because he was so small. He proceeded to smash players left and right and was the first name on the team sheet:-
Former All Black Sam Tuitupou has finally decided to quit rugby at 37-years-old and set up his own player agency.
Tuitupou won the U19 and U21 World Cups as a junior All Black and then took his power running into the professional game-winning nine New Zealand caps between 2004 and 2006.
He won two Air New Zealand Cups with Auckland and played Super Rugby with the Chiefs and Blues before heading to Worcester, Munster and Sale where he captained the club. In 2017 he joined Coventry helping them gain promotion to the English Championship.
Now, Tuitupou believes it is time to hang up his boots and revealed that when he was growing up he hoped to play for Tonga before landing success with the All Blacks.
He said: “The goal for me had always been to continue to around 40 so I could play with my boys but the time has come. This also means I can go out on my own terms while the body still has the capability to play. I’ve sacrificed a lot over the years so now it’s time to give back to my seven kids and my wife.
“I enjoyed playing in New Zealand where I was brought up, but I’ve played most of my career in England where I made lots of memories and friends that I will keep for life so that is home now. I always thought I would play for Tonga, as that is my heritage, but representing the All Blacks was massive for me and my family and is something I will always treasure.
“I was very lucky to play for some great clubs in Europe in Worcester, Munster and Sale then being part of a championship win at Coventry – the first since my Auckland days – was very special. I’m going to be starting up my own player agency which will keep me in the rugby environment – although it will take some time to get used to not being around the boys.” -
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Salesi Rayasi has come back to Club rugby in Wellington so I'm not sure whether that means he has left Auckland's NPC side altogether.
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@Canes4life Don't super rugby players normally play (within season) club rugby within the franchise's boundary?
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@Tim That is true but there are no mentions of any other Super player in the following link - specifically Hutt Old Boys Marist - http://www.clubrugby.co.nz/wellington/story.php?id=3038
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@Canes4life Did you mean this list? http://www.clubrugby.co.nz/wellington/story.php?id=3039
Apart from Rayasi, no SR players, but nevertheless some interesting names on this list.
Regan Verney will be playing for Old Boys Uni.
Charlie Gubb for Marist St Pat's
Connor Garden-Bachop for Northern United -
@Canes4life From that list it looks like Will Mangos and Maile Koloto have moved to Auckland.
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Former Mt Albert Grammar star and junior Kiwi Paulie Roache has been released from his development contract with the Canberra Raiders on compassionate grounds and is currently playing preseason rugby with the mighty Ponsonby Rugby Club.
Edit: He is a midfielder, 20 years old, also played NZ Schools rugby and is the brother of Warrior Nathaniel Roache.
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@Stargazer good to see Garden Bachop come back to Wellington. He has real gas and could be that Cory Jane type player for Wellington moving forward.
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in Auckland Rugby 2019:
Former Mt Albert Grammar star and junior Kiwi Paulie Roache has been released from his development contract with the Canberra Raiders on compassionate grounds and is currently playing preseason rugby with the mighty Ponsonby Rugby Club.
Edit: He is a midfielder, 20 years old, also played NZ Schools rugby and is the brother of Warrior Nathaniel Roache.I see Ponsonby have played him at 12. Do you think he'll stay in the midfield?
He was a 10 in that good MAGs side a couple of years ago
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@Duluth All I know is that he started at 12 in both preseason games. I watched the first game (were they cleaned up GT, AKA the evil empire) He went well and Johnny Cooper was excellent at 10. Roache has certainly bulked up since that video -
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@Daffy-Jaffy Did he miss home or simply couldn't stomach another Canberra winter?
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Match report from the Ponsonby Rugby Club website re: winning the Waka Nathan cup final against College Rifles:-
The Ponsonby Premiers kicked off their season in a positive fashion locking away their piece of silverware – the Waka Nathan Challenge Cup.
In the pre-season tournament, the Premiers defeated College Rifles last Saturday afternoon by 36-26 in the final of the competition, outscoring their opponents by six tries to four. The three round tournament commenced seven days earlier, Ponsonby progressing to the final with a 52-15 drubbing of Grammar-Tec, followed by a midweek 26-21 victory over Eden.
Ponsonby’s captain, Aleks Dabek is becoming quite adept at holding Trophies aloft, and acknowledged in his acceptance speech on Saturday that winning the Waka Nathan Challenge Cup was the team’s first goal in what is sure to be a demanding season.
Played in summer conditions on the artificial turf at Haast St, Saturdays match was a high octane, fast paced and often physical encounter, a final befitting two quality sides.
College Rifles opened the scoring with a superb try in just the second minute of play, a move that had initiated from the Ponsonby kick off, resulting in an 80 metre sweeping move by the home side.
Ponsonby responded five minutes later when their rolling maul was halted just short of the goal line, and halfback Rilloy Suesue dived over the barrage of players to score. John Cooper added the addition two points, levelling the scores at 7-7.
Freedom Vaha’akolo has proved that he is a marvellous performer, regardless where in the backline he plays. In this match he started at centre three-quarter, and was a demon on attack and ruthless on defence. He scored Ponsonby’s second try, finishing with a scything run in field from wide out to score beneath the posts.
Vaha’akolo was a key component in Ponsonby’s next try, when he created a superb gap for Morrison Siliko to sneak through and score.
The hosts were reduced to 14 men in the last quarter of the first spell when one of theirs was shown a yellow card. Ponsonby immediately looked to capitalise on this one man advantage, but the College Rifles defence remained resolute for nine of those minutes. One of the new breed for 2019, Caspar Harvey, displayed his immense pace when he streaked down the right wing past several would-be tacklers to score.
Another of the new additions for the 2019 season is Paul Roache who looked extremely proficient in the midfield. Roache showed that he possesses some tremendous pace after he latched onto a stray College Rifles pass, and scampered 50 metres to the tryline.
Approaching the three quarter mark in the match, Ponsonby had advanced to a commanding 31-7 lead, and accordingly several players were introduced from the bench.
College Rifles were able to snare two quick converted tries, taking them to within ten points of Ponsonby.
In the final ten minutes replacement prop Robert Cobb showed that he can match it with the speedsters when he broke away from a maul on a gallop toward the goal line. Cobb had support from Vaha’akolo, who went close to scoring. In a comedy of errors, a Rifles player stole the ball, only to drop in in the in-goal area. On hand was Ponsonby’s replacement halfback Pele Cowley who dotted down.
College Rifles added a late try, but the outcome of the match was a foregone conclusion.
Ponsonby will now look to next week when the season proper starts, and first up they journey to Bell Park to tackle Pakuranga, and their ardent supporters. Ponsonby will be buoyed by their solid looking squad, with a genuine mix of experience and raw talent. Up front the blue and blacks will prosper with the return of hooker Joe Royal, and number eight Presley Tufuga. In addition, with proven players such as Jamie Lane, Waimana Reidlinger-Kapa, Aleks Dabek, Herman Huch, Sam Ulufonua and Moteiva Ngauamo, and with John Cooper, Freedom Vaha’akolo, William Talataina-Mu in the backs, coupled with the newcomers, Ponsonby are sure to play some entertaining rugby in 2019.
