Manawatu v Wellington

[Duluth]

1 Joseph Gavigan, 2 Raymond Tuputupu, 3 Feleti Ta'ufo'ou-Sae, 4 Ofa Tauatevalu, 5 Johan Momsen, 6 TK Howden, 7 Slade McDowell, 8 Brayden Iose, 9 Luke Campbell, 10 Brett Cameron, 11 Tima Fainga'anuku, 12 Kyle Brown, 13 Te Rangatira Waitokia, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 15 Beaudein Waaka

Reserves: 16 Vernon Bason, 17 Flyn Yates, 18 Sean Paranihi, 19 Josh Taula, 20 Elyjah Crosswell, 21 Jordi Viljoen, 22 Taniela Filimone, 23 Drew Wild

[Duluth]

Wellington Lions Name Team for Opening Round clash with Manawatū

Wellington Lions Head Coach Tamati Ellison has named his 23 for Saturday’s opening round of the Bunnings Warehouse NPC, against the Manawatū Turbos in Palmerston North.

1 Xavier Numia
2 Josh Southall
3 PJ Sheck
4 Caleb Delany
5 Hugo Plummer
6 Brad Shields
7 Du’Plessis Kirifi (c)
8 Keelan Whitman
9 Kemara Hauiti-Parapara
10 Aidan Morgan
11 Pepesana Patafilo
12 Peter Umaga-Jensen
13 Billy Proctor
14 Losi Filipo
15 Ruben Love

16 Penieli Poasa
17 Cameron Orr
18 Siale Lauaki
19 Akira Ieremia
20 Dominic Ropeti
21 Kyle Preston
22 Tjay Clarke
23 Chicago Doyle

Unavailable for selection:
Ha’amea Ahio, Asafo Aumua, Dominic Bird, Sam Clarke, Bradley Crichton, Connor Garden-Bachop, Riley Higgins, Peter Lakai, James O’Reilly, TJ Perenara, Julian Savea

[foobaNZ]

Lions starting 15 is solid enough considering who's unavailable. Any idea how long some of those guys are out for?

Bench is very green.

[Duluth]

Manawatu hooker off for a HIA. Looked like solid contact, he shouldn’t be allowed back

[Bones]

@foobaNZ Thought it's a very good XV for this level.

[Duluth]

Shitty pass from PUJ. Wellington looking a bit off so far

[Canes4life]

@Duluth yeah one area of PUJ that I’ve been a bit disappointed with over the last couple years is his decision making on attack. Just not very good at putting others into space.

Brad Shields has made a lively return. Looks in great nick.

[Canes4life]

Put the boost away Aiden Morgan. Another first five that is adamant he needs to kick on almost every play.

[Canes4life]

Aiden Morgan really struggling to control this game. Wouldn’t mind Love coming into 10, the more I watch Morgan the more I think he will always be a battler.

Our halves pairing is our biggest weakness which is a huge worry.

[Stargazer]

Good defence by Iose.

[Canes4life]

Wellington playing all the rugby but just not capitalising. Weird game. Both teams have defended well but attack has been off.

Give the kicking tee to Love ffs.

[Winger]

Only watched for a short spell but Morgan is poor

[Canes4life]

Manawatu have been very cynical in the last 10. Should of had a yellow by now.

Morgan’s arguably been our worst tonight.

[Canes4life]

Preston comes on and has made a huge difference to our speed of ball.

[Canes4life]

Kyle Brown has been very good for Manawatu, especially on defence.

[Tim]

Awful from Manawatu 19 there.

Assume that Wellington have been poor tonight?

[KiwiMurph]

Thuggish from 19 Turbos. Fuck off pal.

[Stargazer]

A sh*t act from the Manawatū 19, but Kirifi should keep his head cool.

Deserved red card for the green 19.

[Canes4life]

Josh Taula puts one of the cheapest shots I’ve seen in a long time on Ruben Love.

Get off the field you clown.

[Canes4life]

@Tim yeah rusty as. Looked good at times but execution lacking.