The Silver Fern

After converted tries to Jamie Booth and Harrison Brewer, as well as 2 penalty goals, Manawatu finishes on top at full time: 23-10. Very uninspiring match, esp from Waikato.

Makes our 2nd half collapse look not so bad in hindsight. Would love to see a Northland v Bay semi-final.

@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.

@dogmeat said in Auckland vs Waikato:

So I've just been to QBE Stadium (Albany) and there is more seating behind the goalposts that there was for the RWC.

Are you all saying that this isn't in anticipation of Auckland's visit this weekend?

TBF even though the All Whites were out practicing in the sun I doubt the seating is for the Solomon Islands match either

I doubt it will have anything to do with the All Blacks up coming test either.

He could be useful for the Canes.

That was a quality game from both sides I thought.

Slick handling and players running in support. Marty Mackenzie far better fullback then 10.

All Wellington had to do at the end was hold the ball. Yet they kicked it away whenever they had it. It reminded me of the brainless play by the Canes in the 2015 final. Watching and wondering WTF they were doing

@Bovidae

I have been disappointed with Christie in these last few games. Moli looked really rusty on his return.

fcuk me if Christie kicks the ball out one more time on the farking full from a KO i'm going to kick him in the nuts! he's not looking too flash that's for sure.

A bit late in replying but Waikato did much better than I thought. As I expected, the scrum proved our undoing in the end with 2 late penalties.

I was gutted to lose the RS to Canty in 1994 but don't have the same disappointment now. My attutude is that to lose the RS, you first must win it. And I've witnessed plenty of both!

@Crucial I was happy Waikato got a BP out of this match because they were outmuscled in the 1st half and made too many mistakes on attack. The Waikato lineout really struggled with 2 undersized locks who probably only met eachother before the game.

Sevu Reece impresses with every match so I hope Rennie is looking closely.

More injuries will mean Canterbury will win in a canter on Wed night.

Ok sorry hooker dude. Meant the prop dude what didn't pass 🙂

Can't say enough about Akira, the guy is a phenom. At the moment, he's leading the comp in carries, linebreaks, defenders beaten and metres gained. He's also one tackle off from being in the top 10 tacklers in the comp. I feel like he needs a break with how much work he's gotten through so far this season, but at the same time, we're toast without him.

The person who said Tyrone Elkington-McDonald was like Simon Hickey wasn't lying. He is pretty average....which probably means he'll be our 10 next year, as well as our captain.😒

The Ryan Wheeler memorial trophy will be up for grabs too!

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="African Monkey" data-cid="609492" data-time="1472274879">
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<p>He's only 23 so he's still relatively young. Got a few games for the Blues a couple of seasons back iirc.</p>
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<p>Oh wow.  Yes I remember he was in the Blues about 3 years ago so he has time to develop.</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>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>