BOP VS AUCKLAND
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Auckland team to play Bay of Plenty:
Alex Hodgman (Suburbs, 2 caps)
Robbie Abel (College Rifles, 11)
Marcel Renata (University, 34)
Jamie Lane (Ponsonby, 7)
Jack Whetton (Grammar TEC, 29)
Dalton Papalii (Pakuranga, 14)
Blake Gibson – Co-C (Ponsonby, 26)
Hoskins Sotutu (Marist, 12)
Jonathan Ruru (University, 13)
D’Angelo Leuila (Papatoetoe, 2)
Rieko Ioane (Ponsonby, 15)
TJ Faiane – Co-C (Pakuranga, 30)
Tanielu Tele’a (Marist, 6)
Caleb Clarke (Suburbs, 12)
Salesi Rayasi (Marist, 13)
Leni Apisai (Loaned, 2)
Jarred Adams (Suburbs, 9)
Taniela Koroi (Marist, 2)
Peter-Chanel Tagaloa (Marist, 1)
Waimana Riedlinger-Kapa (Ponsonby, 5)
Danny Tusitala (Ponsonby, 2)
Daniel Kirkpatrick (University, 3)
Kurt Heatherley (Loaned, 1)Unavailable due to injury: Harry Plummer (quadricep), Cam Suafoa (arm), Tumua Manu (hamstring), Scott Scrafton (jaw), Jordan Trainor (quadricep)
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Bay of Plenty Steamers:
1 Aidan Ross (26) (C)
2 Nathan Harris (31)
3 Jeff Thwaites (33)
4 Aaron Carroll (11)
5 Alex Ainley (1)
6 Hugh Blake (26)
7 Mitch Karpik (18)
8 Abraham Papali’i (1)
9 Richard Judd (18)
10 Jason Robertson (7)
11 Pryor Collier (11)
12 Dan Hollinshead (29)
13 Mathew Skipwith-Garland (10)
14 Emoni Narawa (3)
15 Chase Tiatia (37)Reserves:
16 Kurt Eklund (1)
17 Tom McHugh (2)
18 Tevita Mafileo (1)
19 Baden Wardlaw (10)
20 Ajay Mua (7)
21 Leroy Carter (1)
22 Lalomilo Lalomilo (1)
23 Joe Ravouvou (1)
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I think the forwards should hold there own against Auckland but the backline defence will have to be top notch to limit the damage that Auckland can cause with Ioane and Caleb Clarke just to name a couple. Will be interesting to see how Dan Hollingshead goes at 12.
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@Donsteppa said in BOP VS AUCKLAND:
I've tipped Auckland for this one because the head says it's Auckland. But the heart really wants to switch this one to a close one to the Bay.
JUSTICE FOR 96
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I go overseas for a while and Bugger Me !! While I'm away the world goes crazy....The BOP rugby team has a couple of creditable wins !!
Just watched both games that I recorded and was blown away by the dominance of the wins (against creditable opposition no less). It was almost like the teams of old....Hard uncompromising forwards and dangerous unpredictable backs. The big plus this year seems to be the depth. Like BOP78 eluded to there's is plenty of competition for places (barring a couple of positions).
Does anyone have any update on injuries ? By my calculations Polwart, Eves, Forbes, Johnston, Trask, Vella and the Englishman White haven't played yet.
I suppose I shouldn't get to excited as, if I recall correctly, we won both our first two games last year before the slide. But this year the wins weren't perfect so there's room for improvement. There was a few glaring missed first up tackles, some of the lineouts were messy, many missed opportunities, some lack of accuracy and silly kicking etc etc.
The Auckland game will be telling against last years Champions and against : Reiko Ioane who carved us up when we last played if I recall.
In my biased, totally one eyed, irrational view I'm predicting a win. * He says while clutching his rabbit foot and four leaved clover with fingers firmly crossed'
Can't wait.
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The intercept to Ioane was a killer Hope Nathan Harris's injury isn't as bad as it looked. Auckland to strong but good to see the boys keep fighting till the end. The line out will need some work and the scrum was put under pressure for the Ist time this year.
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@bop78 You pretty much summed things up perfectly. I still think, with those game statistics, we should have won that one. We really need to capitalize on our advantages and basically learn how to score tries !!
We should still be pretty happy however considering the quality of Auckland (and of the teams we have already played) that we are still sitting pretty on the leader board. The first half of the comp is not easy for us with all the premiership games but gets easier the further in we get. Lets hope Manawatu lose their Shield Challenge (which looks likely) and Taranaki win theirs (which also looks likely) as we will be the next challenge.
