Auckland Rugby 2019
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Former Warriors, Ta$man and Sunwolves player Viliami Lolohea is also playing club rugby in Auckland for Papatoetoe. I wonder if he was involved in last night's trial games?
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@Daffy-Jaffy He played at Papatoetoe last season as well didn't he?
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@Nogusta You were right. It suggests they will default the rest of the season in protest.
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That rule has been in place for years. Not sure what Auckland Rugby are meant to do about it unless they decide from next year to get rid of the rule.
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@Tim He seems to transfer clubs bewteen Wellington and Auckland as often as I transfer money from my bank account to my landlords. Surely there must be some residential qualification required if you wish to transfer from one province to another to play club rugby.
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I'm going to watch Ponsonby v Pakuranga. Anyone worth keeping an eye on? There's plenty of fringe Auckland players in Ponsonby obviously but I only really know of Hawaii Ahokovi from Pakuranga
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@Duluth The young reserve HB for Ponies Suesue can be exciting, he scored a try in the auckland trial against Honda recently. The Blind Side Jonah Mau'u is a prospect. He has been in Ireland for 2 years playing for the Ulster academy team. He is only 20, not very big but fast and explosive, scores a lot of tries. Probably a more natural 7. Patrick Tuipulotu's younger brother is reserve prop number 17, just out of school. Reserve Hooker Vikena for Ponies was NZ schools last year I think. Don't know much about Pak sorry, except that I used to coach the 7 David Adams when he was a kid. A very accurate turnover specialist. Paks 10 Taina played for Counties and maybe Samoa previously I think.
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@Duluth Noticed on the team sheets the great DJ Forbes turning out for his old Waiamata club, what a legend.
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@Duluth I could not make it to the springs today so would love to read your thoughts on the game and who impressed you. Pakuranga beat us in the first round so I was pleased with the score.
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@Daffy-Jaffy I forgot all about Jonah Mau'u as I hadn't seen or heard his name for awhile. Didn't know he was in Ireland the last couple of years. I liked his game a lot in school. He also looked great for that good Samoa Schools 7s team that also had Tanielu Telea in it a couple of years ago.
Pretty sure George Taina is the nephew of Charles Piutau. He went to Counties after school and maybe played for Tonga U20s? I think he made NZ Schools while in school, but got pushed out to 12 for them. He was part of the Auckland pre-season team last year.
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in Auckland Rugby 2019:
@Duluth Noticed on the team sheets the great DJ Forbes turning out for his old Waiamata club, what a legend.
It's been awhile. I think he was part of the Waitemata team that won it all way back in 2003.
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@Daffy-Jaffy Conditions weren't great and the first half was scrappy. Ponsonby had the wind in the second half and were a lot more intense.. that's when they ran away with it.
Who impressed? I had a bias to watching the names that I knew and thought might be in the NPC mix
I liked Roache's wide passing game and he had an excellent break cutting back against the drift defence that setup a try. How has he gone in the other games? Could he be a reserve for TJ in the NPC?
I was keeping an eye on Lane. Good to see he looks heavier than last year. In general he was tidy and busy, but he did drop a fairly simple kickoff
Ponsonby had a couple of huge scrums midway through the second half. It was when a couple of subs came on so I guess H Tuipulotu and Tufuga deserve some credit for that.
WRK apart from an early missed tackle looked good. He looks ready to step up to NPC
Mau'u was strong carrying but was a made a few errors (from memory.. maybe I 'm thinking of the wrong guy..)
Vaha'akolo goes looking for a lot of work
The only player I was really watching from the Pakuranga was Hawaii Ahokovi. He is still raw. I think he may have been out of position a couple of times and he got bumped off early in the game. I do think he is a good prospect though.
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@Duluth Thanks for the report good sir. Roache looked good at 12 early in the season until he was forced on to the bench or playing wing by the experienced William Talataina-Mu returning to the team. Mu is now injured again so Roach may get a settled run at 12 now to push his rep claims.
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Mike Sosene-Feagai has been named in the USA world cup training squad. If he makes the team he is unlikely to be involved much with Auckland this season. Lets hope Robbie Abel and Kurt Ekland are available? or the Auckland hookers are going to be very green this season.
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@Daffy-Jaffy Any word on who the form players in club rugby are?
