NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry)
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Drummond could be the modern-day Jason Hewett. Only looks good behind a dominant pack. Same for Bryn Hall really. So the Japanese test will be interesting for whoever of those two gets the nod.
The biggest difference to me was that the Auckland subs made a big impact, not so for all the Canterbury reserves.
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@duluth we will agree to disagree,i personally don’t think there was daylight between the 2..Like many people I am not entirely sure of the credentials of Cameron,but obviously higher powers than us like him.hence the ABs call up.
To have come in and replaced Richie Mo’unga is a massive ask,and to have have steered your team through to a final is no mean feat.To be fair to this years Canterbury team,they are not the team of previous years ,and given they debuted 15 new players across the Mitre 10 Cup, I was a little surprised they made the final this year,
And when you consider whom they lost from last years vintage,it’s not a bad return on their part.To me the biggest loss for them has been losing Rob Thompson in the midfield,that’s the one area they have looked underwhelming
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@act-crusader
Kieran Read has been solid this year, has the benefit of the experience of winning the RWC twice and is a superb leader of the squad. He rarely misses a tackle. His work off restarts is second to none in the international game. He is a strong lineout option. He can slot in at 6 or even Lock. General wisdom is that bolters don't win you World Cups.On the flip side, Read's form isn't as good as 2013 when he won World Rugby Player of the Year. At 33 he is going to more injury prone than some of the younger guys. Also, I think competition for places is always a good thing. The presence of Sam Cane in the squad helped Richie McCaw between 2012 and 2015 for example.
Ardie Savea showed in Buenos Aries that he can play bloody well at 8 for the All Blacks. That said, I could see a fit, focused and fired-up Akira Ioane causing carnage as a ball-carrier from the back of a dominant All Blacks scrum.
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@no-quarter said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
@act-crusader said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
@canes4life the Coach the Canes had to have, you know like that loss the ABs had to have before the 2011 and 2015 WC victories
Haha a loss or two, or three, or even five I could take. But four years of consistent utter dross was a bit much.
Big picture NQ, you’re missing the big picture. As you know Hammer’s coat tails were well worn by Boyd and co....
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@steven-harris in all seriousness I had very low expectations for this season. A case of hope for the best but not thinking we would be really pushing for a final, let alone a title.
Agree that FABRT was our biggest loss. He’s been dominant for a couple of seasons and has gotten us out of trouble several times with his attack and defence.
There were a lot of fresh faces and many of those will be better for this years experience, but they aren’t even close to the finished product IMO.
On Cameron, there’s a few signs there of what could be, but if you compare to the factory line before him, right now I see more Bleyandall than Colin Slade....
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@steven-harris said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
To be fair to this years Canterbury team,they are not the team of previous years ,and given they debuted 15 new players across the Mitre 10 Cup, I was a little surprised they made the final this year,
And when you consider whom they lost from last years vintage,it’s not a bad return on their part.To me the biggest loss for them has been losing Rob Thompson in the midfield,that’s the one area they have looked underwhelming
Agree with all of this except the part about being surprised they made the final. Anything less would have been a huge underachievement
@steven-harris said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
To have come in and replaced Richie Mo’unga is a massive ask,and to have have steered your team through to a final is no mean feat.
I don't think he 'steered' the team to the final. That gives him far too much credit. The pack, Drummond, outside backs & Ennor all performed well throughout the year, those are the guys that deserves the credit. 10/12 has been an issue all year
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@steven-harris Reminder that Auckland also debuted 17 players this year plus Dunshea and Fepulea'i who had one game each off the bench last season.
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@sparky how did Cane being in the squad help McCaw? Was it how he held the tackle bag? Perhaps he got Richie the good stuff from the buffet first.
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@daffy-jaffy no argument from me on that point.
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@act-crusader Nothing motivates an experienced champion like the challenge of younger talent. Sean Fitzpatrick majors on this point in his book.
Kieran Read Vs Akira Ioane is a nice problem to have. All competition is healthy. I think the challenge of Akira Ioane and Ardie Savea will help Read recapture his A game.
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@tim said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
@nepia When are we going to have the first Fern podcast, and what style will it be in?
A cantabs podcast on the final would be very very reminiscent of the bunker scene in Downfall , probably reaching its peak when Whitelock vs Ioane comes up.
Make it happen please.
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@bovidae said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
The biggest difference to me was that the Auckland subs made a big impact, not so for all the Canterbury reserves.
BTW, the reserve hooker, Mike Sosene-Feagai, has played for the USA team.
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That missing winning try with bonus theme music.
7.8K views · 252 reactions | EVERYTHING'S BETTER WITH TITANIC MUSIC |...
BECAUSE EVERYTHING'S BETTER WITH TITANIC MUSIC 🚢 Enjoy the final moments of last Saturday's epic contest with the perfect soundtrack backing it 🏉...
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@kirwan said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
That missing winning try with bonus theme music.
BECAUSE EVERYTHING'S BETTER WITH TITANIC MUSIC 🚢 Enjoy the final moments of last Saturday's epic contest with the perfect soundtrack backing it 🏉...
Isn't that the titanic music?
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@nepia said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
@kirwan said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
That missing winning try with bonus theme music.
BECAUSE EVERYTHING'S BETTER WITH TITANIC MUSIC 🚢 Enjoy the final moments of last Saturday's epic contest with the perfect soundtrack backing it 🏉...
Isn't that the titanic music?
Well Cantebury appeared to hit an iceberg around the 50th minute, seems appropriate.
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Super late to the party, wasn't able to comment on this game at the time, but what a match this was and what a fight back!
Was so good to see the crowd turn up and stick around even when the rain came about and we were well behind. I actually can't believe the players were able to play at such a high level in such poor conditions.
Not quite sure how we pulled this one off, but after that Manu try(33rd minute), momentum really swung our way and we dominated possession and territory from that point onwards. I think it took until the 83rd minute for Canterbury to get back into our 22.
Akira was massive from the 2nd half onwards. That backrow of Akira, Seu and Sotutu late in the 2nd half and overtime period was pretty awesome to watch - they were a real handful for Canterbury. It's a bit of a risk to sub out your only openside, but it worked out well for us.
Olmstead gave it everything and made a number of key plays in overtime. He looked pretty dead at one point, but he just kept going. I think the whole team were practically running on heart in overtime.
Faiane led really well. In the 2nd half, TJ knew the forwards were a bit tired after expending so much energy in the 1st half, so he consciously played closer to the ruck to help them out with carries and cleanouts. Just a massive workrate in this game. The stats kind of back-up how big a game he had.
Trainor played a near faultless game in tough conditions for a fullback. He and TJ were pretty much the only players to turn up for us in that first half. Been so good to see a fullback in an Auckland jersey who can run, kick and pass well - it's been awhile.
The bench were immense. Adding Fukofuka to the line-up after leaving him out for the last 3 games was a master stroke in the end, because he made quite an impact in this game. Seu only had 20 minutes of rugby prior to the final, but he probably played the game of his life.
So proud of what the guys have achieved this year, can't wait for next season.
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Epic game of footy. Well played Auckland.
However, just a blip on the radar which means little in terms of the greater order in NZ rugby. The Canterbury side wasn't a patch on that of the last few years due to player losses and unavailability year-on-year but will be much better for this campaign and will be back into their groove again sooner rather than later thanks to the talent development that goes into the Canterbury and Crusaders academy programs and the fortuitous situation with Lincoln University as a quasi-Canterbury bonus academy program.
Auckland certainly imporved drastically on 2017 and a couple of decent players emerged but I can easily see them crashing in 2019 (where did they get to after making the 2015 final?) and all of a sudden Ieremia could be under pressure to retain his job, there will be a selection turnstile and the good work of 2018 will be undone. There certainly isn't enough being done in Auckland rugby to have any serious benefit to the Blues in the short term. One group of average to decent players with a handful of stars meshed for a season but the fabric of Auckland footy is so threadbare at the development levels that just a few minor setbacks could see the work done in 2018 being torn apart. If there was some tangible solidity behind this Auckland side in terms of player retention and development than they may be able to carry this on and the benefit to the Blues would be tangible, but it's probably a flash-in-the-pan, 'every dog has it's day' kind of scenario.
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