Tasman v Auckland
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@Nepia said in Ta$man v Auckland:
@Chris-B I wonder why Taufua didn't have an out clause in his contract (NZR and the Ta$man Invitational XV) to go and play in the RWC? He must have known he was on the outer with the ABs this year and now that he's heading up north I assume he'll play for Samoa? (IIRC he hasn't played 7s for NZ?)
Don't know.
Maybe he just thinks he's a New Zealander.
He might not be that far away from an AB call up right now if we lost another loose forward. PapaliÃ, Hemopo and Fifita all still injured? I'm not convinced Squire is ready. Can't be many in the queue ahead of him for blindside/8.
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@Nepia I put Waikato in as one of the biggest under achievers when you consider their history and talent at their disposal..
Manawatu and Southland don’t have a lot of clubs to choose from, as for Northland, we lose the cream of our very best school boy rugby players mostly to Auckland secondary schools..ironically ,the Turbos ,the Taniwha and the stags especially have the lowest budget of any of the unions..and when I am talking low, in the case of Southland ,I believe it’s under 300k..the other problem is once they have many injuries.the depth bites big time ..Can remember Shield Snorters struggling a couple of seasons back when they had a ton of injuries ,it happens... -
@Chris-B said in Ta$man v Auckland:
@Nepia said in Ta$man v Auckland:
@Chris-B I wonder why Taufua didn't have an out clause in his contract (NZR and the Ta$man Invitational XV) to go and play in the RWC? He must have known he was on the outer with the ABs this year and now that he's heading up north I assume he'll play for Samoa? (IIRC he hasn't played 7s for NZ?)
Don't know.
Maybe he just thinks he's a New Zealander.
He might not be that far away from an AB call up right now if we lost another loose forward. PapaliÃ, Hemopo and Fifita all still injured. I'm not convinced Squire is ready. Can't be many in the queue ahead of him for blindside/8.
You've just named 4 not to mention the other 3 already with the squad.
But true, maybe he does just consider himself a Kiwi, pop over to his house and ask? Or does he FIFO?
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@Hooroo said in Ta$man v Auckland:
No, I quite like them as a team. I just class Shield Snorters in with Southland, Northland and Manawatu as the rubbish clubs. It's a legacy thing. The top flight embarrassments, if you will
Manawatu have at least won an NPC title, even if it was back in 1980.
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@Chris-B said in Ta$man v Auckland:
@Cantab79 said in Ta$man v Auckland:
That Ta$man teams looks Super Rugby strength, and will be almost impossible to beat for the title this year. They will need to choke to give anyone else a chance of winning, or suffer some serious injury setbacks.
Their depth across the park is brilliant. As a Canterbury fan I wonder how so many of the Crusaders' players have been allowed to drift north for the Mitre 10 Cup? In saying that I will be very happy for them if they do win this year and bring the Mitre 10 Cup back to the Crusaders region.
At full strength Ta$man is pretty strong, but far from bolted out of reach. A couple of injuries to key players and we're back in the pack.
Of the Crusaders players, Crockett, Strange, Blackadder, Hunt, Faingaanuku and Havili are all products of Nelson College. Pretty sure Taufua (loaned from Canterbury), Jordan, Perry and Makalio all made their NPC debuts for Ta$man (as, I'm pretty sure did Lomax, Parkinson, Squire, Christie, Nankivell, Aumua, Roach, Uchida, and Paea). Salmon and Tima are also Nelson College products - the Moli bros are Marlborough College products.
I think Will Jordan is the significant miss by Canterbury. I doubt Nankivell or Christie would have been close to making the Canterbury team when Ta$man signed them.
Yep, I was gonna poke holes in Cantab79's post as well. Jordan is the only Crusader from Canterbury originally now at Ta$man, of concern. The other Ta$man Crusaders are either from the Ta$man region or Ta$man (not Canterbury) buy-ins, or off-casts who've come good.
In general though there have been quite a few high profile guys over the last few years who've somehow escaped from the camp, when you add Jordan to ALB, Alaimalo, Lentjes, Retallick and D McKenzie (yes I know, only one year at CC, but he was still in the system and escaped).
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Shut up Kane Hames..