@tim said in Taranaki v Southland (Championship SF):

@stargazer I think Sione Tuipulotu will cover lock. They only have 4 specialist locks in their squad.

One of whom (Poloniati) does not even start for the 'Poo.

@duluth I watched the game with one eye, while doing something else. He had a good game; influential in the pack.

Southland had a great game and was much better than the final score suggest. Injury worry for Charles Alaimalo, who's season may be over if his shoulder (?) injury is as bad as it looked.

@canes4life said in Taranaki v Manawatū:

Awesome to see the Naki and Manawatu combining for a haka in honour of Sean.

Nehe leading the Tika Tonu got me a little emotional.

Pretty good game to watch. Naki are a very well drilled side. Always seem to have runners set and support players in motion.

@bovidae agreed on those things. Naholo missed tackle badly for Waaka try. Thought game was won then for Waikato but some bad decisions by F Smith and the loss of Roe's cool tactical head cost them. Mcwhannell was great but whole tight five were very effective.

@frank said in Otago v Taranaki:

How did future All Black Josh Lord go?

I don't think Lord was used as a lineout target at all in the 1st half as Hoeata and Sowakula were the main options. It was only once Hoeata went off injured that Taranaki changed their lineout calls.

One of the intriguing things about this season is highlighted by Daryl Gibson's own words:

"He's really lifted training, obviously having the All Black captain in our team is a real lift for our players. Certainly to see him train at the intensity he trains at for our younger players and even our senior pros, to know that's the level you've got to be at if you want to be at the very best." (Source: Rugby: All Blacks skipper Sam Cane charts return to rugby after long layoff )

While you'd expect the All Blacks captain to lift standards at training, the couple of pre-lockdown training sessions I stumbled across looked relatively chilled. To be fair, not every session can be run at 100%, but so far it's not looking good on the park against better prepared teams.

The coaching team can genuinely point to injuries. I suppose it's hard to know how much preparation comes into some injuries, or not.

@canes4life Yep, and despite Riccitelli leaving.

@taniwharugby said in Northland v Taranaki:

@j77 the gutting thing for me is that over the past 5 or 10+ years, we have shown glimpses of what we are capable of, yet we simply dont kick on.

It is like our Coaches/Board are happy with mediocrity, although, most of the time, we are under that.

We have so many talented kids coming out of our region, but with our poor coaching and lack of success of getting only the very best into super teams, why would a young kid with a big future come back here?

ALready heard of a Northland kid out of St Kents who has been picked up by one of the crusaders vaccums, then you look over the Auckland side and see there are 3 or 4 from up here, even the b side there are more again...guys we could desperately use.

Sure we get some of Aucklands overflow too, but often they are surplus for a reason.

If my kid was looking at signing with an NPC team, I'd be steering him toward another province...I'd hate that!

THis new HP Centre will be great, but if we cant match it with on field performance, it will be pointless.

While it was great to make the final last year, for me, it was the worst thing that could happen, it papered over the huge cracks in our coaching team, and squad selection.

I think a few players may have rested on thier laurels form last year, but equally, the coaches need to take the heat for not looking at the squad and seeing the gaps.

The only real ones they plugged were Reihana and Hallam-Eames, and he was only a last minute one, so probably more luck than good planning.

As I said to @Steven-Harris he needs to get on the NRU books as a scout in the Auckland and NH comps, he watches a ton more rugby than most, is passionate about his Union, and like me, I bet he'd do it for free too!

When you look at our squad, they have the core of a very good side, one that could be knocking at the top 4 side in the Premiership with Olsen, Goodhue, Caird, Robinson, Nock, Gregory, Tua (if he werent made of glass) and then build around them, add the likes of Hyland, Hallam-Eames, Macilai, Wright, Rush, Pryor and there is no reason why we should not be finals contendors in the Championship, pushing for promotion, but it is the average players they put elsewhere and lack of preparation, coaching, and we have 2 50 pointers over us and 2 red cards in 2 weeks...

All of this.

How that try could have been disallowed ?

@Nepia said in Championship Semi: Hawke's Bay v Taranaki:

@Winger said in Championship Semi: Hawke's Bay v Taranaki:

@KiwiMurph said in Championship Semi: Hawke's Bay v Taranaki:

Fakatava better be on the AB radar next year.

Shame he can't move to the Canes for 12 months. He would very likely start week after week

Almost like the Canes should have locked him up on Billy Proctor style contract ....

Maybe the HB players are more open to offers from other team. I would be if I lived in HB (and was good enough for a super rugby contract). As opposed to Wellington

..and Counties fans will be a bit happier now

Taranaki starting to take control

@ACT-Crusader Taranaki lacked a bit of leadership at the end. Not sure why they tapped it when Counties still had a man in the bin.

That was a good second half by both sides. Two evenly matched teams.

Unlucky finish at the end for the Naki because they had created the space.

That halfback for the Mooloo has a pretty sweet pass on him.

@Bovidae said in Southland v Taranaki:

So a good game to ignore then.

It was tough viewing. Not a great deal of highlights. Southland started well I thought and were up and in defensively. But the attack from both sides is pretty mediocre.

A bit of cross promotion - free tickets for NZ Warriors members for this game.

@J77 said in Northland v Taranaki:

@Gunner it’s the same play list from over 10 years ago I think!!

My son pointed that out, I said you have to pay to play songs, so maybe they're cheaper or they've already paid for those ones, keep using them

@Chris said in Taranaki v Otago (RS):

@ACT-Crusader said in Taranaki v Otago (RS):

What a game by Otago! Their motley crew of forwards were excellent. Who’s that nuggety barrel playing number 8?

Josh Ioane seems to have a calming influence in the way they attack as well.

Dylan Nel a South African born player he played in Canterbury for a few years made the Canterbury B side was around the A squad but couldn’t get game time moved to Otago last season

Thanks Chris. I can’t say I remember him. He played with a bit of fire in the belly.

On another note, presumably the collared Ranfurly Shield edition jersey now gets mothballed until perhaps we get a challenge. Helluva shame as it's the best jersey since around 1993.

@Bovidae He was born in 2000, he turned 20 in January

@mariner4life said in Ultimate NPC: Round 2 Naki v Harbour:

didn't he just sign for the Taipans?

I though SBW was keeping that signing secret until closer to season tip off.

@Higgins ha ha yeah, next game...

@Hooroo he has he’s told a lot of people down the local rugby club.

LOL, Riccitelli got badly palmed off by Trainor.

@Yeetyaah said in Waikato v Taranaki:

Fletch is having an average game.

I thought he was alright. Better than Perofeta anyhow.

He's not well served inside and at least can catch and pass.

@nakosi said in Taranaki v Southland:

The worst half of rugby I've ever seen in my life, and I've seen a lot.
Naki is a disgrace right now.

Samoa and Russia say hello...

Naki got their act together in the second half and put together a few decent moves, even with the deteriorating conditions.

@Number-10 said in Taranaki vs BOP:

Sept 30, 1995 - BOP won 41-27

Wow that's pretty momentous then - must be one of the longer streaks broken then.

@shark I thought Lentjes was carrying an injury, so was benched.

@Snowy That one is already lined up for an entirely different, though highly unlikely, purpose! 🙂

@Duluth you deserve a ban for posting that!

@Duluth said in Manawatu v Taranaki:

It looks like a 1980s NPC match

Great to see players with actual mud on their face. Hosing down, and the turf isn't quite as good as a lot of the Tier 1 stadia.

Good fun, though, this is classic rugby

Is it just my bias or do most of SBWs 'round the corner' passes actually go forward? Comms, ref and touch judge don't seem to think so.

@steven-harris ha wow, hadnt heard that. Not surprised though.

@act-crusader with 3 months between the end of super rugby and the game against the boks surely there won’t be stand downs

@steven-harris Perofeta did struggle at times last season but he has far more upside than Gatland and ideally would have been coming off the bench last season but ended up starting. I'm convinced that he'll have far more impact next season coming off the bench providing Black stays fit.

@KiwiMurph I was very impressed with Plummer at 12 the other night. The kid has a massive future at 10/12 as he can not only run a game but isn't scared going into contact both on attack and defence.

Glad to win that. Hard to play against 16.

Jackson is a borderline cheat.

Parkinson was the standout player in this match. Great to see some young talented locks coming through.

@williethewaiter said in Taranaki v Waikato - Ranfurly Shield:

@chris-b said in Taranaki v Waikato - Ranfurly Shield:

@hooroo An extra glass of what? Water?

What happened to the days of being written off for three days (and your bosses expecting it) because you'd won the Shield? 🙂

this is one of the shit things about the NPC format now - the players don't even get to celebrate it properly - certainly no crazy stories like the old days.. cause they have to defend it 4 days after winning it.

rubbish!

Did you celebrate though?