Auckland 2018
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@steven-harris yea those players you mentioned all had strong games today. East certainly stood out, the loose trio all tackled exceptionally well and carried stongly - (No.8 Ezra Meleiseia in particular). Also thought the replacement hooker who came on early performed well.
In the backs I thought both halfbacks (Cowley and Liania) went good and centre Tevita Latu was strong and got some outrageous offloads away. Caleb Clarke was dangerous in the time he got to play.
Whilst Auckland played well Counties basic skills were very poor today - crooked lineout throws, passes that went to ground/forward. -
@steven-harris So we should expect to see them turning out for Ta$man in the next week or so?
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@african-monkey may as well many Auckland players propping up many of the provinces with loan players or players that have club or schooled in Auckland;something that gets by the lazy Media
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This is a very good read.
It confirms Tai Lavea is looking after the attack.
Even before that his first – and some might say most important – task came in assembling his coaching team. He felt the task required a heavyweight crew, so that's what he put together, bringing in ex-Sunwolves boss, and two-test AB, Filo Tiatia as forwards assistant, coaching legend Sir Graham Henry, no less, as defensive guru, and highly successful St Kentigern College first XV coach Tai Lavea as attack chief. "The profile of the team demands the profile of the coaches," Ieremia told Stuff after a recent training session. "We have a very young team, so we needed coaches who had experience at a very high level, and we had to have smart coaches who knew when to coach and when to push a different button. "I wanted coaches to give us the profile you see on the field. That forward pack has got Filo's statement all over, our defence (best in the entire competition) has Ted (Henry) all over it, and our attack and kick strategies is Tai's portfolio. "My job is to make sure we work effectively, that we don't over-coach, and we keep the boys on edge to make sure we're learning and not just ticking boxes."
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Ieremia, in the first year of a three-year contract at Auckland, believes this is just the start. In February he will take the team on an overseas tour which will bring them together even tighter as a group and over the next few months he will work on helping non-professional players get the best out of themselves, and better align the schools and clubs in the city, plus the relationship between his organisation and the Blues.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=12150272
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@steven-harris Yeah going to a smaller province may give you gametime but it doesn't necessarily progress your career unless you specifically get sent on loan to gain experience, but to be fair to Slade, his path was blocked in the Auckland side so I can't blame him for taking the opportunity at Manawatu. If Choat had gone to Manawatu he probably would have sat on the bench behind Kirikiri anyway and gained next to nothing as opposed to hanging around and getting a start and playing a key role in the finals as a result.