Hawke's Bay Tui
-
Shit.
The new-look Farah Palmer Cup competition draw was announced today and Big Barrel Tui head coach Steve Woods admitted it will be a tough season for his depleted squad.
.
Woods won't have the services of both of last year's co-captains and experienced loosies Hanna Brough and Gemma Woods. Brough is playing for Counties-Manukau and Woods is unavailable.
Experienced lock Te Aroha Hunt is also unavailable as is promising lock Liana Mikaele-Tu'u who is Auckland-based with university commitments. On a positive note Woods pointed out Black Ferns fullback-first five-eighth Krysten Cottrell should be available for the campaign after recovering from surgery.
-
Gone from last year are stand-out loosie Hannah Brough (to Counties), young talent and future BF Liana Mikaele-Tu'u, former BF Gemma Woods, prop Davina Atkin, first five/fullback Sylvia Bockman, utility player Chanel Huddleston, lock Te Aroha Hunt, prop Te Maari MacGregor, talented back Felicity Powdrell, her sister Anna Powdrell and frontrower Jess Taueki. I may have missed a few.
Especially the loss of Brough, Mikaele-Tu'u, Woods and Huddleston will hurt the squad. I don't know the newbies. I understand some come from league and there are, again, a few school girls in the squad. I see two returning players, Laurae Blake and Jaimee Robin (nee Edwards).
It's going to be a tough season, considering they're mixing Premiership and Champsionship teams this year, but it will be interesting to see how they handle it.
-
Hawke's Bay Tui - revised 2020 FPC draw:
Date Time Home team Away team Where Sun 13/9 12.30pm Otago Spirit v Tui Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin Sat 19/9 12.30pm Wellington Pride v Tui Hutt Rec Ground, Lower Hutt Sat 26/9* 4.35pm Tui v Canterbury McLean Park, Napier Sun 4/10 12.00pm Ta$man v Tui Sports Park, Motueka Sat 17/10 2.00pm Tui v Manawatū Cyclones Tremain Field, Napier Fri 23/10 – Sun 25/10 Semi-finals Fri 30/10 – Sun 1/11 FPC Final *double header with Mitre 10 Cup game (televised)
-
In what is a remarkable feat, former Black Ferns halfback Emma Jensen will play her 18th season of national provincial rugby, when she laces up the boots for the Hawke’s Bay Tui in the 2020 Farah Palmer Cup.
Talking points
She’s played 120 matches, she’s the second highest points scorer and by far the most capped player in women’s provincial rugby, but Emma Jensen can’t get enough of the Farah Palmer Cup and is back again for more this year.
Jensen made her NPC debut for Hawke’s Bay 18 years ago, before a stint with Waikato and then onto Auckland where she played most of her professional rugby. She returned to her beloved Hawke’s Bay in 2018 and will be a key player for the Tui this season.18 seasons is huge, and 120 caps is a lot in women's rugby! The word "professional" must be a slip of the pen.
After making her Black Ferns debut last year, young hooker Forne Burkin will captain Hawke’s Bay this year, with former captain’s Hanna Brough (Waikato) and Gemma Woods unavailable this season.
As mentioned in the Manawatū Cyclones preview, this year marks 40 years since the first women’s interprovincial match in New Zealand, which was played between Hawke’s Bay and Manawatū on September 14, 1980 in Palmerston North. The two sides play off for the Attenborough-McBeth Cup each season. The cup is named after the coaches of each team on that day, Rangi and John, respectively. The Tui take on the Cyclones on Saturday 17 October in Napier.
Outgoing players
Hanna Brough (Waikato), Gemma Woods (unavailable), Liana Mikaele-Tu’u (Auckland), Te Aroha Hunt (unavailable), Chanel Atkins (unavailable), Te Maari McGregor (unavailable) -
FYI
Livestream of the game (k/o 12.30pm):
FPC: Otago Spirit v Hawke's Bay Tui | Farah Palmer Cup: Week 2 Otago...
Farah Palmer Cup: Week 2 Otago Spirit v Hawke's Bay Tui Forsyth Barr Stadium 12.30pm Otago Community Rugby Otago Spirit Hawke's Bay Community Rugby...
Not having high expectations for the Tui's FPC campaign, but I hope they'll do well!
-
The game is a bit messy, lots of cobwebbs, with many handling errors and the Tui's tackling isn't good enough. Their positioning isn't helping either, with the fullback having to defend the entire width of the field, which is impossible to do if Otago kicks over the Tui's defensive line and a speedy player is giving chase. Te Pou is fast, but another player really needs to drop back to help her defend.
The Tui's scum, however, is excellent. They totally dominated Otago in that respect.
HT: Otago 14 - 11 Tui (two tries to one)
-
Full time: Otago 29 - 20 Tui
I think the Tui deserved more from this game. Not rewarded for their dominant scrum, with the ref too whistle-happy. I lost count of the number of scrums in which the Tui totally bulldozed Otago, but Otago got advantage. According to the commentators because they were not pushing straight, but I'm not convinced. Their dominance was just too big. Anyway, defence is a big work-on, although it improved in the second half, forcing Otago to make mistakes.
Apart from the game against Ta$man, this was probably their best chance of winning a game this season.
Next week, they play Wellington at the Hutt Recreation Ground, Lower Hutt (Sat 19th, 12.30pm). -
Livestream Wellington Pride - Tui:
-
That was the final score.
Again a big los from a Championship team against a Premiership team. Not surprised. This format definitely isn't working in the FPC; the differences are too big. On top of that, the Tui have lost so many players this year, it was going to be hard, even under the old format.
Extra tackle training this week? They need it, because they might be at the wrong side of a hundy next week against Canterbury.
Tough rugby draw for Hawke's Bay women
