The Silver Fern

@antipodean said in Brumbies v British & Irish Lions:

Chessum went well.

I don't think he is mobile enough to be a 6, as was seen in the Creighton try from the scrum.

Credit to the Brumbies who went down swinging.

@Steven-Harris said in Māori All Blacks v Scotland:

He said to me as the yesterdays game was coming to its conclusion that the game has no flow and the referee and TMO’s are now the stars of the show
and the stop start nature kills any momentum with players slow to pack scrums and forming committee meetings before lineouts are set up not to mention players that are going down with injuries miles away from the action and yet the game gets halted

Did you tell him to watch Super Rugby as they actively addressed these issues this year?

Jamie Viljoen has been signed by Taranaki, hence why he was in the Chiefs U18 list.

Did the Crusaders release who attended their U18 camp?

@Bones said in Japan XV v Māori All Blacks:

@Crazy-Horse said in Japan XV v Māori All Blacks:

@Bones said in Japan XV v Māori All Blacks:

@Crazy-Horse said in Japan XV v Māori All Blacks:

@Bones said in Japan XV v Māori All Blacks:

@KiwiMurph said in Japan XV v Māori All Blacks:

One thing that impressed me with Reihana was his passing - he had a nice mix of different types of passes and his timing and accuracy of those passes was for the most part top notch.

Yeah after reading all about his sloppy passing in the SR finals, I was pretty surprised to see silky passing of various lengths, bang on target.

I haven’t seen the game so it's good to hear, but we also need to take the opposition into account. If his passing was found wanting last night I would have been disappointed no matter what he did during the Super season.

Some people.

You don't think opposition should be taken into account?

Definitely not.

Why not?

Junaid Stuart is from my Africa most southern town of Struisbaai. Garsfontein HS gave him sponsorship and the Bulls.

Chiefs vs hurricanes next week is going to be interesting, hurricanes look to be getting back in form

@Daffy-Jaffy said in Black Ferns 2025:

The Black Ferns squad for the Rugby World Cup 2025 is (Age, Super Rugby Club, Provincial Union, Test caps):

Loosehead props

*Kate Henwood (36, Chiefs Manawa, Bay of Plenty, 10 Tests)

Awhina Tangen-Wainohu (27, Blues, Waikato, 7 Tests)

*Chryss Viliko (24, Blues, Auckland, 13 Tests)

Hookers

*Atlanta Lolohea (22, Blues, Canterbury, 7 Tests)

*Vici-Rose Green (22, Chiefs Manawa, Waikato, 2 Tests)

Georgia Ponsonby (25, Matatū, Canterbury, 31 Tests)

Tighthead props

Tanya Kalounivale (26, Chiefs Manawa, Waikato, 22 Tests)

*Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu (20, Chiefs Manawa, Waikato, 1 Test)

Amy Rule (25, Matatū, Canterbury, 30 Tests)

Locks

*Laura Bayfield (26, Matatū, Canterbury, 1 Test)

Alana Bremner (28, Matatū, Canterbury, 29 Tests)

Chelsea Bremner (30, Matatū, Canterbury, 22 Tests)

Maiakawanakaulani Roos (23, Blues, Auckland, 33 Tests)

Loose forwards

Liana Mikaele-Tu’u (23, Blues, Auckland, 29 Tests)

*Jorja Miller (21, Black Ferns Sevens, Canterbury, 2 Tests)

*Kaipo Olsen-Baker (23, Matatū, Manawatū, 12 Tests)

*Layla Sae (24, Hurricanes Poua, Manawatū, 14 Tests)

Kennedy Tukuafu (28, Chiefs Manawa, Waikato, 30 Tests)

Halfbacks

*Iritana Hohaia (25, Hurricanes Poua, Taranaki, 17 Tests)

*Maia Joseph (23, Matatū, Otago, 11 Tests)

*Risaleaana Pouri-Lane (25, Black Ferns Sevens, Ta$man, 2 Tests)

First five-eighths

Kelly Brazier (35, Chiefs Manawa, Bay of Plenty, 43 Tests)

Ruahei Demant (30, Blues, Auckland, 45 Tests)

Midfielders

Logo-I-Pulotu Lemapu-Atai’i Sylvia Brunt (21, Blues, Auckland, 25 Tests)

Amy du Plessis (26, Matatū, Canterbury, 21 Tests)

Theresa Setefano (30, Blues, Auckland, 19 Tests)

Stacey Waaka (29, Chiefs Manawa, Waikato, 27 Tests)

Outside backs

Renee Holmes (25, Chiefs Manawa, Waikato, 23 Tests)

Ayesha Leti-I’iga (26, Hurricanes Poua, Wellington, 26 Tests)

*Braxton Sorensen-McGee (18, Blues, Auckland, 3 Tests)

*Katelyn Vahaakolo (25, Blues, Auckland, 17 Tests)

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe (34, Blues, Northland, 27 Tests)

Non-travelling reserve

Krystal Murray (32, Chiefs Manawa, Northland, 14 Tests)

*denotes first Rugby World Cup

Black Ferns timeline:

· August 13 - Depart for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 campaign in England

· August 25 – Black Ferns v Spain, York Community Stadium, York, 4.30am (NZT) kick-off

· September 1 – Black ferns v Japan, Sandy Park, Exeter, 1.00am (NZT) kick-off

· September 8 – Black Ferns v Ireland, Brighton & Hove Albion Stadium, Brighton & Hove, 1.45am (NZT) kick-off

A couple of the team are way younger than I realised:

Amy Rule (25
Maiakawanakaulani Roos (23
Liana Mikaele-Tu’u (23
Sylvia Brunt (21,
Renee Holmes (25,

Teamwork

@Duluth thanks

@Mamuka he has stepped down this morning, been reported.

Follow the NH club comps on instagram and their highlight tries almost always have comical defending involved.

@nzzp said in Chiefs v Blues:

@Machpants said in Chiefs v Blues:

That should be a points loss, disgusting

You can't ding the team for that. The individual should lose pitchside privileges for some time though - it's a muppet thing to do... twice!

The rot starts at the top: “We have co-operated fully with Sanzaar on this matter and accept responsibility for the technical breach and the outcome of this process,” Graafhuis said. “As this is an employment matter, we will not be making any further comment.”

What a great catch-all comment that is as practically everything can be considered an employment matter.

As an example, here was the NZ Barbarian U18 XV from last year.

NZ Barbarians U18.jpg

It was noticeable from about the 60min that the Chiefs were sucking in the big ones... I'd imagine the air would've been heavy in the humidity .. not an easy place to win

Other comment - Home ground advantage is basically +10 Fiji

@Bovidae said in Chiefs v Crusaders:

Who was the final Chiefs captain in this game?

To answer my own question, it was ALB.

There will be yet another captain named today for the Brumbies game - Vaa'i.

The returning ABs looked a little rusty at times, but I think all will start in Rd 1.

My guess is that the back three will be Carter, Narawa and ENS. The loose forwards Finau, Brown and Jacobson (Parker on the bench, as he has switched between 6 and 8 in the pre-season games). There are some decisions to be made at lock and in the front row, including the reserves. Maybe some of the missing players were just being rested.

There are a few try highlights on the Chiefs FB page.

I've finally had a chance to watch the final. It was a game that could have went either way in the end, as the Chiefs did well to fight back when the reserves came on. The Chiefs' lineout was a little compromised with three short loose forwards. Having Sa at 6 would have given another big target. They haven't had much luck with injuries in this tournament in the last 2 years losing starters before and during the tournament.

Now we wait for the first NZ U20 squad. Hopefully the injured players are all available for selection.

PNBHS now has the Moascar Cup, the first time since 1985. That will mean it will have to be defended in the Hurricanes Top 4 playoffs.

@Mr-Fish said in Māori All Blacks 2025:

NZR have been quite explicit with their intentions, with the MABs playing in July and the ABXV playing in November. Could probably be a better set-up but I don't mind it hugely. It's just 'unfortunate' that so many of the top Maori players are in the All Blacks at the moment and that the third tier is a bit weak.

ABXV would be better selected after SR too, but I guess more money to be made doing it this way around? Maybe giving NZR too much credit?

Thought it was a pretty strong debut from Muliaina, the pace seemed to lift, and Southland looked far more threatening in attack. Poor handling and a terrible scrum really cost Southland in the end. That and Otago were just the better team.