Tasman v Wellington (Premiership Final)
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He was a prescient man, that Freddie.
It's almost as if he knew this moment was coming and made this video especially for me.
The very specific message for some selected posters (who know who they are) - is at 2.00, but don't skip ahead - watch the full two minutes to get the full gist of the message!
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Looks like you are correct about West Coast. They had a home final too.
Meads Cup
2006 Wairarapa Bush
2007 North Otago
2008 Wanganui
2009 Wanganui
2010 North Otago
2011 Wanganui
2012 East Coast
2013 Mid Canterbury
2014 Mid Canterbury
2015 Wanganui
2016 Wanganui
2017 Wanganui
2018 Thames Valley
2019 North OtagoLochore Cup
2006 Poverty Bay
2007 Poverty Bay
2008 Poverty Bay
2009 North Otago
2010 Wairarapa Bush
2011 Poverty Bay
2012 Buller
2013 South Canterbury
2014 Wanganui
2015 King Country
2016 North Otago
2017 Mid Canterbury
2018 Horowhenua Kapiti
2019 South Canterbury -
Yeah - I think I worked that out a few years ago - full list of divisional winners back to 1976 here.
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Will Jordan is incredibly quick. That chase on Vince Aso, who is no slouch, was a beauty.
Alex Nankivell was hard and abrasive. His pairing with ALB for the Chiefs should be excellent next year.
I was impressed by TBN. Against a strong opposition, he seemed to make breaks at will. Asafo Aumua and Alex Fidow were outstanding too. Alas for the Lions, a few of their teammates were shockingly poor. -
@cgrant I didn't post any thoughts on the game.
Wellington had a nervous and poor start - dropped a couple of kick offs, missed a couple of shots at goal, let in a couple of somewhat easy tries and Ta$man were going at a point a minute.
At 23-6, my nerves had pretty much dissipated. I said at the time, that if we can get down there and score one more try, 30 points will be enough. Unfortunately it was a long wait for that next try....and in the meantime Ta$man seemed comfortable to play without the ball and defend and let Wellington back in - at 23-14 it was all on again.
The guy who really seemed to be creating problems at that stage was Ben Lam.
A wild pass by Christie almost put Blackwell in. Luckily, as I pointed out earlier, God was with us - and the ball jagged away to Levi Aumua to safely touch down. Probably the most crucial point of the game, because after that Ta$man always had a buffer on the scoreboard.
Hunt kicked another penalty after halftime - 26-14 hadn't quite taken it past two scores needed for Wellington, so still some nerves there and Mitch Hunt's next kick at goal looked like he's done his sums and realised how important it was....
Then came the Aso intercept and the Jordan chase - and Freddie has something to say about that as well....
Vince Aso: "What do you mean Flash Jordan approaching?"
He saves with a mighty hand
Every man, every woman
Every child, it's the mighty Flash.That was impressive speed to make up I'd say at least five metres.
Still a couple more chances for Wellington to get back in the game, but the clock was ticking, a couple of big ruck turnovers by Wyatt, down close to our line and then the break by Nankivell, the pass to Flash and the crowd were leaping up and down and high fiving.
Not sure who was the official man of the match, but no prizes for guessing mine. David Havili and Wyatt were also calm heads under pressure. Nankivell made some big plays.
Fetu Paea made plenty of impact when he came on - something notable over the past several weeks. He must have been pushing Levi Aumua hard for the starting spot at centre and wouldn't be a bad super rugby pick up. Sione Havili the other unsigned player surely worth a spot somewhere.
Overall a great season. Foundations laid by Kieran Keane and Leon. Finishing touches put together by the new co-coaches Goodman and Dermody - and a shout out to defence coach Shane Christie. I think we scored 61 tries over the season and let in just 13 (4 vs Shield Snorters, 3 vs Waikato and 6 across the other 10 games).
Next year will be re-building - we are losing Crockett, Perry, Squire, and Taufua - and I'll be surprised if we don't lose others to the ABs. That doesn't matter!