Northland Club Rugby 2023
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@taniwharugby spoke to a contact who was at the Mid Northern v Western Sharks game , Matt Matich did not play due to hamstring issue hope it’s not to serious .
The speed in which Mid Northern were able to recycle their ball was a massive difference between the 2 teams the number of players that are in the Northland HP S&C also stood out ,Sharks also lost 2 props within the first 40 so ended up going to golden oldy scrums ,
Some real lessons for many in the Sharks group , that Tuesday and Thursday trainings just don’t cut it anymore if you want to be competitive -
@Steven-Harris they also literally flew (by chopper from Dargaville to Hukerenui) in some of their Div 1 team to make sure they had a full bench.
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Kamo at full strength, dont think they have any injuries I can think of, nor quibble with the selection.
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Mid Northern also named what looks a full strength team, cant think of any starters out inured, although 2nd week running they have started one of thier props at hooker.
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Weather looks like it should be ok tomorrow, maybe the odd shower, but like many parts of the North Island, so much fucking rain recently, that said, Okara Park is always a pretty good surface, so am sure it'll be fine tomorrow.
These 2 sides met back in April at Mid Northern, with the home side running away with it, 41-12, although I understand there was a bit of off-field stuff at the time for Kamo and thier coach stepped away shortly after.
They met again at Kamo in June, with the home side taking the lollies 13-12, although MN had a chance at the death to take it, but missed an easy penalty.
So on the face of it, I think MN, defending champs should start as favorites, but I think if Kamo are in the fight at half time, she will go to the wire, but if MN have a lead, I fear they will run away with it the final as they did last year.
My prediction: MN by 6
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@taniwharugby looking forward to this game
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With perfect conditions in front of a big crowd, Mid Northern took away the trophy again, this was after thier reserves took out the reserve comp over the Sharks, and thier U18s beat Kaitaia to make the final next week against Kerikeri.
Things started well for Kamo, with some great ball movement and some small inroads in the opening minutes, but what would be the story of the day, the smothering MN defence forced an error.
MN capaitalised on the error and pounced early, earning a penalty in Kamo's 22, taking a lineout they rumbled over through Chris Apoua, and a successful conversion by Jade Stewart saw them up 7-0 inside 5 minutes.
2 further penalties from Jade Stewart saw them leading 13-0 before Kamo managed to strike back in the 20th minute after a lovely move upfield, giving wing Jayden Laupepe some room to run and show some silky skills to put a short grubber in that Nikau Graham regathered and scored, he was then unable to convert his own try.
The score remained 13-5 through to half time, but soon after the break Mid Northern forwards rumbled forward with Alan Craig the benefactor.
It would be another 20 minutes before a searching run by FB Brady Rush ended with a weighted kick through that was regathered by young wing Kiwi Duncan, who showed excellent pace to regather only to be bought down centimetres short before Jordan Olsen crashed over from the ruck, the try converted by Kobie Scutt to stretch thier lead to 26-5.
Kamo didnt give in and were eventually rewarded in the 75th minute through centre Pat Elia to give the score some respectability at 26-12, which would be the end score.
While the scoreline would indicate it was all MN, Kamo had more than enough ball to win the game, but they just struggled to find thier rhythm and the strong defence of the MN team kept knocking them back, with Kamo forcing passes or errors, often behind the gainline.
For MN, it would be hard to look past the loosies of Rob Rush and Zac Shanks, in particular the latter with a huge work rate on both sides of the ball, while Brady Rush looked dangerous running it back, along with Kiwi Duncan showing some nice touches and strength in contact.
As above, Kamo really struggled to get into the game, #8 Matt Elia tried hard, while locks Ben Monaghan and Todd Scotland were busy around the park.
Nikau Graham and Donald Boyd had some nice touches, but Dylan Hook the left wing was probably the pick of the Kamo backs, runs hard and makes good metres in the contact, but just wasnt give enough ball in space to do much more.
While the scrum battle was pretty even, MN took the lineout battle, but it was probably thier defence that forced Kamo into errors that really got them over the line for a well deserved win.
Mid Northern: 26 Chris Apoua, Alan Craig, Jordan Olsen tries, Jade Stewart 1 con, 2 pen, Kobie Scutt 1 con
Kamo: 12 Pat Elia, Nikau Graham tries, Nikau Graham 1 con
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U18 Final today (that I thought started at 2pm, not 12
)Kerikeri halted Mid Northerns club dominance by taking the match 39-32.
Looking at the score sheet, KK opened the scoring and were up 13-3 early, only for MN to get up 27-13 inside half hour.
Then KK hit straight back with 5 unanswered tries in a 20 min period of play that saw them out to thier final score, while MN scored in the final 10 but were unable to score again.
Kerikeri - 39
Tries: Rudolph Louw, Kai Aihara (3) James Alipate, Joshua-James Young
Te Aowera Para, 3 cons, 1 pen
Mid Northern - 32
Tries: Tyrese Tolley-Lopeti, Cody Doidge (2) Fiti Leau
Jacob Lowther, 3 cons, 2 pensteam sheets
Northland Rugby Union