@Kiwidom . Thanks Kiwi. If only they were like Auck/Waikato & posted weekly. I'm in Melbourne & curious to see where the guys have all landed.

Tough loss. Watched the game again and the team put in a great effort, especially the starters. It's too bad that our subs came on and added very little. Outside of Adams, most of the subs had a negative impact on the game, especially Abel. If you watch the last 20 minutes, almost all the missed tackles and mistakes during that time were by our bench players. Their bench was much better and made key plays at the end of the game, which was probably the difference. I think both packs canceled each other out for the most part. I think our pack struggled to get much go forward for most of the game, but despite that, our backs were pretty dangerous throughout the match. We definitely made a mistake not having Sotutu somewhere in the 23 though. The way we corrected things in the last few weeks, I'm hopeful of next season. We were just a totally different team late in the season.

LOL, Riccitelli got badly palmed off by Trainor.

@SammyC said in Tasman v Auckland: Has anyone mentioned how shit Akira Ioane was? Yes he was very bad. He's put on some weight hasn't he. I couldn;t believe how easily Havili ran around him in that first half. Ha two players share the same non-AB selection disappointment but couldn't be more different in their attitude.

@Stargazer said in Auckland vs Wellington: Has he been signed by anyone? Also Ben-Nicholas? I guess we will have to wait for the official squad announcement but surely there must be whispers.

@Dice Yup I know what you mean I've seen the same stuff too. I feel like he's a rough diamond who'll get better in time. His lineout definitely needs working on but he has the physical attributes to go far and is worth perservering with in the long run.

Very late but here are my post match interviews from both the Miter 10 Cup and Farah Palmer Cup games:

@African-Monkey said in Waikato v Auckland: @shark Interestingly enough, Ennor coming into centre will make it a 5th different midfield combo in a row. Having said that, Ennor and Osborne in the backline makes it a hell of a lot better. Yep, I noted that early on in the Canterbury vs Southland thread after the teams were posted.

@Dice We had some shockers like Emersen Tamura-Paki, Jono Owen and Isi Tu'ungafasi who were barely club standard. He's done ok since leaving has Isi but he was awful for us.

@Nogusta said in Northland vs. Auckland: @Daffy-Jaffy and to think Sione Havili was in the mix too. Aleks Dabek is also pretty handy. Been in the Auckland Academy and there or there abouts since leaving school but just absolutely can't get a look in. Currently exploring opportunities outside of Auckland Northland could have used Aleks Dabek they have so many injuries already

@Nepia Not sure, just heard that they're resting for 2 weeks. Dalton has come back earlier though as he's just been named on the bench for the game against Northland.

@Tim Oh well.. I had thought it was the end of 2020

Papali'i yes, but the jury is out on Plummer. He wouldn't be the first Auckland first-five to look good in his first year and then fall away badly.

@taniwharugby According to the TicketDirect website children do have free admission. Only $10 for where we sit.

@steven-harris said in Southland vs Auckland: @nakosi one of the really big issues they have in the Southland area is player drain which the quality of club rugby has dropped away ..they have have realistically got about 10-12 players of Mitre 10 level. Its not only quality it is quantity. 6 Prem teams only (and they are scraping numbers to make Prem teams) means a short season

One guy who hasn't been mentioned but had a massive game was Marcel Renata. He's been good all season, but was exceptional in this game. Hopefully the Blues have already gotten his signature. Was good to see all the bench players making positive contributions when they came on. Also smart move by the coaches to not bring Clarke and Sotutu on because we needed experience out there to finish this game.

@duluth said in Auckland vs Otago: @Dice said: We'll likely get Faiane and Nanai back next week, and hopefully Gibson. Whetton looks like he won't recover in 6 days though. Lock looks concerning for the Wellington game. It might be just Lamalu, Olmstead and Lane as the fit locks? Looks like that's the case. I wonder if Fatialofa is coming back at all. He was not meant to be out this long and he wasn't listed as being out for the season.

Glad to win that. Hard to play against 16. Jackson is a borderline cheat.

@canes4life said in Cantebury vs Auckland: @kirwan So pretty much Fatialofa mark 2. Yeah, and would be ironic if we lost two good locks to the Canes. Or absolutely depressing.

Haha Auckland are never favourites against Canterbury especially down there. I'd back even the weakest of Canterbury teams to beat us in Chch. Oh well I suppose I''ll go along and watch and hope that this could be the one time we win haha.

I'm guessing Tuipulotu will start the game off the bench and Olmstead kicks down as the backrower cover instead of Sotutu.

@taniwharugby I remember we bought him back after that awful loss to your mob in 2001 for the 2002 season, we lost the opener to Taranaki and he wasn't seen again for us haha it was as if we bought him back as payback for that game.

@tim I think he'll get a run at some point. His scrumming is good for his age, but I do remember a game where he went up against Renata and got destroyed.

Likely to be quite a few from the 2018 Auckland squad who miss the NPC with World Cup duties. Some guesses off the top of my head: Mike Sosene Evan Olmsted Fa'atiga Lemalu Leon Fukofuka Tumua Manu (no idea, but turns 26 this year) Some other foreign qualified players who might get a call up: Taniela Koroi Marco Fepulea'i Jarred Adams Melani Nanai

@booboo Plummer is 19, and yes, that's 2 Eden players in 2 years that have represented Auckland.

A bit late, but I thought Seu and Faiane gave it a good go in this game. Renata and Akira were decent too. I wish the Blues got Seu, because he's been looking Luatua-like this season. Papalii did look good coming on. He has really packed on the muscle the last 12 months. I'd be tempted to push Seu to lock and drop Slade to the bench this week, and bring Papalii into the starting line-up. I'd also want Sione Havili on the bench instead of Dominikovich-Murray.

@african-monkey said in Auckland vs. BOP: @kiwimurph He's a terrible 10, possibly the worst in the whole Mitre 10 Cup. Taleni Seu having fun today. Yep. I was impressed by Plummer's physicality - bigger than I thought. They should just play him the rest of season (they wont).

It's been a monumental fall from grace by us these last two years. We looked like we had something special brewing after that 2015 season. We had a young and exciting team that was only a hair away from winning a title. With all the young talent we had, it appeared we were poised to be perennial contenders for many years. I seriously didn't think any coach could stuff it up, but here we are.

@KiwiMurph I declare - those bastards who administer the M10 Cup had that result wrong, when I last looked!

Just caught up with this one. Entertaining game but boy that Orcs side are frustrating to watch. Defence and concentration seem to be a real issue for the Orcs. They've shipped some points this season. That last minute pass by Trainor to Aso was sweet as.

@Stockcar86 said in Harbour vs Auckland: Happy to do a straight swap with Craig Philpott I retract that offer

@dogmeat said in Auckland vs Waikato: So I've just been to QBE Stadium (Albany) and there is more seating behind the goalposts that there was for the RWC. Are you all saying that this isn't in anticipation of Auckland's visit this weekend? TBF even though the All Whites were out practicing in the sun I doubt the seating is for the Solomon Islands match either I doubt it will have anything to do with the All Blacks up coming test either.

yeah I was pretty happy with the way we contained that back division. Like our mid-field of Tua-Goodhue, certainly neutralised (and were neutralised) thier AB capped opposites.

@cgrant said in Counties Manukau v Auckland: @kev It was clearly a ref's error. Henwood jumped into the ruck from the side without any Fekitoa's interference. I wasn't able to watch the whole game and was in and out of it, but I wondered how the ref was judging "hands on" at the ruck. It's one of those weird ones that gets called differently as you go up the ranks. At Super and test level the player needs to lift the ball even when it is clear but at this level putting your hands on can be enough to make you fair game. Anyway, Auckland didn't deserve to win because this game was at Pukekohe and there was a mudslide on the bank for the kids.

@Duluth yeah maybe Evans edited his page when he was negotiating his deal with Harlequins

@antipodean said in Taranaki v Auckland: How does a union with the resources at its disposal look so average on the field? Why do Auckland players give away so many dumb penalties? as a fan, if you find out pleaes let me know. Very frustrating season. Still, my return on investment was a bunch of games, and a sack'o'spuds. Can't complain too much.

Pretty effective rush defence employed by the Makos tonight. Some good attack from both sides, but a poor set piece let Auckland down badly. A solid all round game from the Makos.

I saw that stat on Sunday and was surprised how far ahead they were to everyone else. Rieko is also leading the comp in tries, clean breaks and metres gained. He's practically replaced Moala's production from last year. Too bad we couldn't get those two playing together in the midfield this season. Akira topped the comp in defenders beaten last year with 71 in 11 games(he looks on track to get those numbers again if we make the semis). He also had 13 clean breaks last year, but already has 12 this year in 3 less games. He's also topping the comp in carries once again this year.