The Silver Fern

Yes, of course ... but he could get more playing time with the Highlanders than with the Crusaders who already have Havili, Dagg and Hunt to cover the FB position.

Man of the match for Ta$man - Mitch Hunt. Honourable mentions for Guyton, Lowe, Taufua and Blackadder. Several others pretty good.

@taniwharugby said in Ta$man v Wellington:

@canefan I thought he showed a bit of toe on the Goosen break that Lam scored from motoring up the left, so probably a bit more to do with laziness??

When Ta$man chipped behind him for the try it was like watching the Titanic turn

@Rapido said in Waikato v Ta$man:

@WillieTheWaiter said in Waikato v Ta$man:

@Chris-B. pretty annoying that the entire crowd knows you're not allowed to charge again if you've been pulled up on it but the ref doesn't.

I thought it was smart of the Ta$man players to fully commit even once it was apparent it was an early charge and actually knock it off the tee, not abandon it like naughty boys being harangued by teacher .... and let the kicker have 2 un-pressured attempts.

Weird the ref let them charge a second time though. Got himself mixed up.

There is some pretty hopeless reffing in our sport now that reffing has become a refereeing/in-game coaching hybrid.

If I was the Mooloo kicker I would've gone and punched that Mako$ player that picked the ball up. It was clear that he hadn't started his approach. Ref bottled it big time.

@KiwiMurph said in Manawatu vs Ta$man:

Ta$man really miss Banks and Havilli - a lot of youth in that backline and it shows - way too many errors. Hunt not the greatest couple of weeks.

Yeah - I think our season goal might be trying to avoid relegation. The starting XV that we expected to have: i.e. including Havili and Hames, but not Squire; is very strong - but, things are very thin and green below.

At the end, when Paulo and (I think) Ainley went off and Taufua was in the bin, we might only have had about a hundred NPC caps on the field and most of them belonging to Guyton and Fredericks.

On the plus side, Jordan is going to be an excellent acquisition. He looked significantly bigger out there than I thought he was - already got a fair bit of Ben Smith about him. Some refinement to do, but he's going to have the goods.

@akan004 said in Ta$man vs Canterbury:

Dunshea looks really promising. Did he play Super Rugby this year?

Yes, for the Saders.

I remember watching the news a few weeks back and they mentioned that every NZ Super team was interested in Enari.

Another quality game from these two teams. Great to watch.

Cowan looks spent, seems to be even more niggly than he used to, doesn't offer a great deal from what I have seen this season.

@ACT-Crusader said in North Harbour v Ta$man:

I'd say the result is a fair reflection of where both teams are at this season.

Annoyingly, Ta$man has beaten all the Premiership teams, except Canterbury - but has only picked up seven points from three crossover games. On the other hand, I don't think we've had any comfortable victories - one or two where we've jumped away to comfortable leads and then let the opposition back in - maybe against Auckland ended up semi comfortable?

Concerning seeing Havili limp off and Banks hobbling around at the end - if Marty isn't fit, I don't think even beating Southland is in the bag. Need Samu and Christie back, as well.

Pretty effective rush defence employed by the Mako$ tonight.

Some good attack from both sides, but a poor set piece let Auckland down badly.

A solid all round game from the Mako$.

That was some ugly rugby. Counties couldn't have looked more different to the team that beat Waikato.

@Chris-B. Thanks mate. He's not all that big - 189 and 103. Looking forward to seeing how he goes.

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Stargazer" data-cid="611653" data-time="1472870896">
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<p>Just tuned in to the game and heard the commentators say that James Lowe is not playing because he had broken something and needed an operation? Did I hear that right? Anyone who knows more? I thought he had only just returned from injury? Not much luck that lad.</p>
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</blockquote>
<p>Broken thumb according to commentators</p>

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Bovidae" data-cid="610182" data-time="1472370510">
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<p>Tom Coventry was the coach who was instrumental in signing Retallick and luring him north.  But your point remains.  :)</p>
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<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Remind me to smack Tom Coventry in the face when i meet him.  :)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Actually, I'd better king hit him from behind and run like hell - but, my point remains.</p>

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="cgrant" data-cid="608389" data-time="1471937197">
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<p>How did Kautai fare ? It is usually very hard for a 19 y.o. prop to make his debut at the provincial level. Atu Moli struggled a lot last year but has made big strides forward since.</p>
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<p> </p>
<p>I thought Kautai went OK in the scrum vs Perry when he replaced the injured Moli.  He will probably start vs NH if Moli can't play.  Hoeft must rate him despite his age and lack of experience at this level.</p>

I see its back anyway. Peoples victory.