Canterbury v Wellington
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1 Xavier Numia, Oriental-Rongotai
2 Asafo Aumua, Avalon
3 Pekahou Cowan , Petone
4 James Blackwell, Petone
5 Dominic Bird, Upper Hutt Rams
6 Caleb Delany, Old Boys University
7 Sione Halalilo, Oriental-Rongotai
8 Peter Lakai, Petone
9 TJ Perenara, Northern United (C)
10 Jackson Garden-Bachop, Northern United
11 Pepesana Patafilo, Tawa
12 Peter Umaga-Jensen, Wainuiomata
13 Billy Proctor, Marist St Pats
14 Julian Savea, Oriental-Rongotai
15 Ruben Love, Wainuiomata16 James O’Reilly, Hutt Old Boys Marist
17 Solomona Sakalia, Northern United
18 PJ Sheck, Tawa
19 Taine Plumtree, Old Boys University
20 Keelan Whitman, Marist St Pats
21 Richard Judd, Paremata-Plimmerton
22 Riley Higgins, Petone
23 Connor Garden-Bachop, Northern UnitedUnavailable for Selection: Vince Sakaria, Tietie Tuimauga, Connor Collins, Iona Apineru, Aidan Morgan, Du’Plessis Kirifi
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@Stargazer said in Canterbury v Wellington:
@nzzp Not an Aucklander. Born overseas, but attended Wellington College and went through Wellington age grade rugby and academy.
so what the heck is he doing with teh Blues? He looks a talent
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@Duluth not sure why we are bothering with Jackson Garden-Bachop at 10. I assume Aiden Morgan picked up an injury against Bay of Plenty. Hopefully it's not a selection based off favouritism, because Morgan clearly proved he's already better than JGB during his minutes for the Canes this year.
Edit: just saw he's unavailable for selection.
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@nzzp the Hurricanes have a raft of talented loose-forwards so I guess he just missed out. That 6/lock position was picked up by Caleb Delany instead, who I think is just as good, if not better, especially in the tight.
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@nzzp said in Canterbury v Wellington:
@Stargazer said in Canterbury v Wellington:
@nzzp Not an Aucklander. Born overseas, but attended Wellington College and went through Wellington age grade rugby and academy.
so what the heck is he doing with teh Blues? He looks a talent
It was good recruitment
If a space doesn't open up for him soon I'm sure he'll wind up at the Hurricanes (I think he might be off contract now [edit] Nope, contracted until end of 2023[/edit])
He always has the option of going to his birth country of Wales too
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@Canes4life cheers. Hopefully for Auckland the opposite of the Peter Saili/Kieran Read outcome, where we took PS and he just didn't kick on.
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Taine Plumtree was born in Swansea (Wales). The family then moved to Wellington where his father coached the Wellington Lions. He spent his primary school years in Durban, when his dad coached the Sharks. He spent his first years of secondary school in Dublin, then returned to Wellington (when his father became the Hurricanes coach), where attended Wellington College.
From this pay-walled article:
Coach's son to Blues rising star: Plumtree's unconventional journey to Super Rugby
Blues beginning to benefit after pinching Wellington flanker from the Hurricanes region.
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@Bovidae don't be silly, we have the powerhouse that is Pek Cowan.
You're probably right, mind you Wellington have a good record over Canterbury recently so who knows.
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@Canes4life said in Canterbury v Wellington:
You're probably right, mind you Wellington have a good record over Canterbury recently so who knows.
Last five years have been good for Wellington
Wellington v Canterbury 2017-2022
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@Duluth not sure if you can see the historical head to head over the years but it's pretty even. I think both teams have won 80ish games against one another. Pretty even rivalry over the years, however the Cantabs always seem to win the big ones.
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TSF results page just has NPC matches. Thats even too, 25 wins each and 2 draws
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@Canes4life said in Canterbury v Wellington:
@Duluth not sure why we are bothering with Jackson Garden-Bachop at 10. I assume Aiden Morgan picked up an injury against Bay of Plenty. Hopefully it's not a selection based off favouritism, because Morgan clearly proved he's already better than JGB during his minutes for the Canes this year.
Edit: just saw he's unavailable for selection.
After being hopeless for the Canes this year, JGB was better than OK when he replaced Morgan
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@Canes4life said in Canterbury v Wellington:
@Bovidae don't be silly, we have the powerhouse that is Pek Cowan.
IIRC in the BOP game it was Mafileo dominating Numia that was more of the problem. Wellington will obviously want to play up-tempo and avoid set pieces where possible.
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Backline looks good for NPC rugby but unsure about the forwards. I worry that they might be smashed by a Canterbury team that looks the goods this year.
Numia I rated highly a few years back but he just hasn't stepped up. Good hooker though and hopefully Cowan can at least hold the scrum up. Blackwell can go ok at NPC level. Unsure what Bird will do. Then a young back row. If they can sort of compete it might be close enough but if not it might be a thrashing.
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@Canes4life said in Canterbury v Wellington:
@Duluth not sure why we are bothering with Jackson Garden-Bachop at 10. I assume Aiden Morgan picked up an injury against Bay of Plenty. Hopefully it's not a selection based off favouritism, because Morgan clearly proved he's already better than JGB during his minutes for the Canes this year.
Edit: just saw he's unavailable for selection.
Aa a avowed non supporter of the Wellington NPC side the selectors have my full endorsement to pick JGB for every single game they play.
