Auckland v Northland

[African Monkey]

@Tim He played at Southland for a season in 2017. He's also the son of former Kiwis league player Nigel Vagana.

[Nogusta]

@taniwharugby Well worth a lazy 20 on the Tunnies! Both starting AKL midfielders out is a major. New combo against Tua/Ranger...

[ARHS]

Those are huge odds given the lineups named. But, with Northland resting a few, Auckland got that luxury.

[taniwharugby]

@Nogusta this year they only started together briefly in the match v Ta$man when Tua was injured in the 1st half, so havent played together much either.

I cant see anything other than a 13+ win for Auckland unfortunately

[Steven Harris]

@taniwharugby , we should’nt forget if it was’nt for injuries Brady Rush ,Robert Rush ,Johnny Cooper ,Will Grant ,Setafano Funaki and Mason Hohaia ..would not even be in the Match 23 ..so it’s not exactly Northlands number 1 lineup either , No Tom Robinson, Dan Pryor ,Harrison Levine, Temo Mayanvanua , Matt Matich ,Jordon Hyland, Dan Hawkins ,Ross Wright or Blake Hohaia based on selections earlier in the season ..still it’s a good opportunity to see how these young guys front up..still a good Auckland side in my opinion , many in theIr 23 man squad named would walk into either Southland , Manawatu , Counties Manukau or Northland without too much trouble In my opinion ..

[nzzp]

righto, here we go.

Want Auckalnd to get up, and frankly Northland seem to have a mental block about city slickers.

[nzzp]

also, amusingly, Sky Sport Now sent me an email telling me that Auckland were travelling up to Kaikohe for this ... impressive new stadium in Kaikohe

[Dice]

That Rayasi pass to Tuipulotu looked good to me.

[taniwharugby]

and again, our compressed defence leaves our wing exposed

[taniwharugby]

great touch finder by Cooper, then looked like a forward pass by Auckland

[Dice]

Injuries are piling up. Not good leading into the playoffs.

[taniwharugby]

some aimless kicking by Northland and poor handling, agian

[Dice]

Both teams look terrible on attack. Very disjointed.

[taniwharugby]

tough call there I reckon

[taniwharugby]

messy by Auckland as Northland manage to disrupt a maul!

[taniwharugby]

another tough one there!

[taniwharugby]

Northland hanging in off Auckland errors

[Dice]

Crap. Now we've lost both our hookers. Adams to play hooker.

[taniwharugby]

and uncontested scrums and they play with 14??

[taniwharugby]

and another dropped ball