Hawkes Bay vs Northland (RS)
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@taniwharugby I was about to add that. Big Red has a lot of impact.
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was a great battle between the bleached blond 9s though, both with a nice swift pass, Fakatava is a tough nut and attacks the breakdown, Nock had his running shoes on, also put a couple of big hits in and also got a timely turnover, showed all thier cards.
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@taniwharugby said in Hawkes Bay vs Northland (RS):
was a great battle between the bleached blond 9s though, both with a nice swift pass, Fakatava is a tough nut and attacks the breakdown, Nock had his running shoes on, also put a couple of big hits in and also got a timely turnover, showed all thier cards.
Yep, they were in a hot battle across the park including shittiest haircut on the field. I think Fakatava edged the honours with his haircut win getting him over the line.
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@J77 said in Hawkes Bay vs Northland (RS):
@kev Yep, big red will be in a black shirt sooner rather than later. The guy doesn’t stop.
The TV footage only showed a glimpse, but after Rene did that quick tap after a full arm penalty, made an okay run then threw an offload to a team mate who got isolated and HB win a penalty. It looked like Big Red went and put his arm around Rene and had a couple of words.
In my view it wasn’t a great decision by Rene given where they were on the field and it put his team under a bit of pressure.
Not sure what was said but the image was good.
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@kev when you make basic errors , you make things easy for the opposing team and that’s exactly what Northland did .
Scott Gregory made 3 or 4 which were absolute coach killers ..when we were humbled Ta$man , we were beaten by a team that gave us absolutely nothing and punished our every mistake , the big difference Between a premier team and Championship team ..
I actually thought I was back covering Auckland club rugby , running into lolagi Visinia , Stacey Ili and Josh Kaifa..lolWould love to see Northland give Johnny Cooper a run , If we are to select young home grown players , let’s give them a crack ..
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@reprobate said in Hawkes Bay vs Northland (RS):
Fakatava is going to be good I reckon. Smith-like - not as good obviously - in his speed to rucks and flat passing, and a bit of vision to chuck the cut-out for the try too. Seen him show a bit of hungus previously, but none of that on display here.
I'm not claiming or predicting he'll be as good as Smith, but how would you know he won't be? He's only 20; 12 years younger than Smith. Still lots of time to improve. He's only just started his professional career.
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@Stargazer said in Hawkes Bay vs Northland (RS):
@reprobate said in Hawkes Bay vs Northland (RS):
Fakatava is going to be good I reckon. Smith-like - not as good obviously - in his speed to rucks and flat passing, and a bit of vision to chuck the cut-out for the try too. Seen him show a bit of hungus previously, but none of that on display here.
I'm not claiming or predicting he'll be as good as Smith, but how would you know he won't be? He's only 20; 12 years younger than Smith. Still lots of time to improve. He's only just started his professional career.
You've misunderstood, I meant today he was Smith-like but not as good.
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@ACT-Crusader yea noticed that too...I'd say he just said that wasn't what we were supposed to be doing at this end of the park.
High risk, low reward in that part of the pitch...Ranger 3 or 4 years back may have gotten away with it with that extra yard of pace and power, but yesterday put us under the pump.
Despite that, best game of the season by Ranger.
Red seems a big personality but in the right way too.
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@taniwharugby I thought Northland played bloody well, gave the Bay a real physical game and never gave up. I don't know what other people think but Stacey Ili is playing himself in Super Rugby contention.
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@Billsy111 said in Hawkes Bay vs Northland (RS):
@taniwharugby I thought Northland played bloody well, gave the Bay a real physical game and never gave up. I don't know what other people think but Stacey Ili is playing himself in Super Rugby contention.
Ili had a great game in the absence of Jonah Lowe (our best performing back this year by some distance despite what some Canes fans imagine). He wouldn't look out of place another level up.
Fomai also made the most of his opportunities on Lowe's usual wing too.
Visinia kicked a bit too much for a Fijian wing, one was decent but a couple were poor.
@reprobate said in Hawkes Bay vs Northland (RS):
Fakatava is going to be good I reckon. Smith-like - not as good obviously - in his speed to rucks and flat passing, and a bit of vision to chuck the cut-out for the try too. Seen him show a bit of hungus previously, but none of that on display here.
TBH, I think he went too far the other way (still had an awesome match) and didn't snipe a few times when I think he should have.
McClutchie was solid moving the team around the park in the second half.
Sapsford was ok, he's big and direct, but Toala is a class above.
Baker has to go, he's an old body not up to this level anymore. Makene, Toala, and McNicol would all be better bets than Baker.
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Oh for our basic skills to have been up to scratch last night, if so we may have been telling a different story this morning.
Can’t fault the fight in our lads, but when we’re dropping balls, missing touch and throwing laboured passes you’re not going to get the rewards in high pressure matches like that.
Hawke’s Bay looked a bit rattled in that first half, but we missed the opportunity to stick the knife in the throat. Polish that shit up and we beat Otago next week. Got to get back on the horse and aim for a home semi final at the very least. We’re certainly capable...
