Taranaki vs Auckland
-
-
Bovidae said:
nzzp said:
Great game of footy
Yep, enjoyed that game as a neutral.
I haven't watched much Provincial rugby fro a few years - has the quality improved this year? TBF, I watch Auckland, and they ahve been unwatchable for a while, but there seems to be a few decent teams running around at the moment
-
-
Hmm one of those wins that felt like a loss haha. Well done Taranaki, played with a lot of enthusiasm and probably deserved the victory. That's 2 weeks in a row where we've finished poorly now. Our attack was still very good with Rayasi and Manu leading the charge. Rayasi and Trainor butchering that try early in the 2nd half gave Taranaki the sniff they didn't need. Still, a wins a win.
-
@tim still trying to work out how the ball was turned over at that ruck up on halfway could only have been done illegally in my book..in my opinion Auckland deserved their win and would have stiff to have lost,especially given the opportunities they bombed.
Previous Auckland teams would have lost,so really happy to take the points..how important were Plummers conversions from the sideline..? -
Tim said:
Huge effort from Taranaki. Auckland failed to get up mentally after Ta$man and Canterbury.
Very odd looking ruck at the end when Jackson penalised Auckland. Looked like a lot of Taranaki players on the deck sealing it. But they were at home.
What about the ruck at the end (before naki stole the ball with 10 seconds to go), a Naki player rushed up offside, Auckland player ran at him (before he got back onside) and there was no penalty.
That was bs.
-
No surprise Perofeta missed his kick!
He was the most productive first five on attack in Super Rugby this year (highest rate of line breaks per run, and line break assists per pass), but his goal kicking under pressure is really poor. Will be a bloody good player sooner or later though.
Ioane had a poor defensive game. Looks like he needs a week off.
Auckland is very good at holding players up in the tackle, but didn't get that going tonight. Credit to Tamanivalu, Mateale, and Perofeta. Dangerous on attack, and showed good physical ability.
-
mimic said:
Tim said:
Huge effort from Taranaki. Auckland failed to get up mentally after Ta$man and Canterbury.
Very odd looking ruck at the end when Jackson penalised Auckland. Looked like a lot of Taranaki players on the deck sealing it. But they were at home.
What about the ruck at the end (before naki stole the ball with 10 seconds to go), a Naki player rushed up offside, Auckland player ran at him (before he got back onside) and there was no penalty.
That was bs.
Was about to mention this! Right in front of the ref- shot up before the ball moved, made the tackle, adn the ref was just 'meh, whatevs boys'
-
@steven-harris yep, had to have been hands in the ruck.
-
BTW, I sometimes chat with the guy who posts on Twitter as "The Chase". Must be a video analyst for a pro team. These were his comments on the Ta$man game:
Just caught up now. Was really impressed with how Auckland managed to stop Ta$man from moving the ball into the midfield from quick rucks - it was especially effective when Ta$man looked to play down the short side early in the first half, and when they didn't make breaks they were left trying to play from breakdowns next to the touchline opposite a full defensive line. Tuipulotu was a really important to their defence: the way they slowed the attack down was by looking to hold the carrier up in the tackle, and he's great at that (as is Ioane and, actually, Plummer). It was clear Ta$man came out in the second half with a change of approach: they looked to carry through their forwards in and around the ruck, I think to try and prevent those sorts of situations arising. Thought Auckland kicked pretty well from deep and used multiple options (Ruru, Plummer, Trainor and Rayasi all used on exits). Nanai chased effectively down the right wing and got into the space of the Ta$man back three - probably their most dangerous players in Jordan and Alaimalo were disrupted on kick return and couldn't get anything going. This meant Ta$man couldn't really get their attack going, and when Auckland got on the ball in the opposition half they used their short kicking game nicely to find space behind the midfield. Their general attacking pattern is pretty simple, with a lot of forward carries off 9. They played pretty well, but I think the scoreline was a result of a couple of bounces (Tuipulotu's second try and Nanai's in particular) going their way early, which allowed them to play with a lead. I'd still probably back Ta$man in a playoff game between the two (even at Eden Park), but fairly encouraging start to the season nonetheless - especially given where they've been the last couple of years! -
I thought both teams got away with offsides in this game. Auckland were definitely pushing their backline rush defence at times. The breakdown was a lottery at times.
Taranaki paid the price for wanting to run everything in the 2nd half when in their own half. Putting the ball in the air with that wind was causing problems for the team playing with the wind.
In the end Auckland were more clinical on attack and scored a couple of lovely backline tries.
-
mimic said:
Tim said:
Huge effort from Taranaki. Auckland failed to get up mentally after Ta$man and Canterbury.
Very odd looking ruck at the end when Jackson penalised Auckland. Looked like a lot of Taranaki players on the deck sealing it. But they were at home.
What about the ruck at the end (before naki stole the ball with 10 seconds to go), a Naki player rushed up offside, Auckland player ran at him (before he got back onside) and there was no penalty.
That was bs.
I thought the Orcs were camped offside for most of the night so swings and roundabouts.
Pretty good game. Nice to not have a blowout.
-
Tamanivalu bosses this level of rugby. I remember when he first made the Chiefs and was being talked up as an AB off his NPC form, which I missed (the comp that year), and then he was a bit of a dud. The he went to the Crusaders and became a decent wing. But I can see why he was so hyped when he plays games like this.
I think Auckland deserved the win, I'm as bemused as anyone as to how the Naki got the ball back.
Was a fun game of rugby for a neutral-ish.
