The Silver Fern

When Waikato won the NPC title in 2021 the midfield was Wrampling and Sullivan. Obviously neither ALB or Tupaea were available because of AB commitments. Sullivan is a much better centre than a winger but in the current Waikato team there are more options/depth in the midfield, so to get all of them on the field he'll probably play on the right wing.

I'd like to see more of Nordstrom too.

I finally had a chance to watch this game tonight. Disappointing to throw the game away but I was encouraged by the performances of the newbies. Waikato didn't make the most of those lineout drives, and the poor pass/bad bounce was another missed try.

@ACT-Crusader His kicking in first half was very average indeed. But, he did get better

@Mr-Fish There were definitely some strange decisions by the ref. The penalty against Tucker was harsh because he tried to roll away but the Southland player (Mitchell?) with the ball on the ground clearly had wrapped his other arm around Tucker to make it impossible to do so.

@Stargazer Travis Church was also the coach of the Waikato Juniors (U20s), which included a lot of TA Sports players. Some of them debuted for Waikato in the NPC.

@Bones said in QF - Waikato v BOP:

Is he the one most likely to become the next Kurt Baker?

He does seem to have a bit of Baker about him. Good player, well suited to sevens but his workrate will bring value to NPC level if not Super.

I thought that Ratima played a big part in the comeback. He brought some energy on which DMac tuned into. The connection between those two was much better and DMac had that extra moment on the ball to wait for the defence to make a decision then try and take advantage.
That first of the three comeback tries was DMac on a good day to a tee. Ball in both hands looking at options then an acceleration through two forwards and a great offload.
Ratima mixed it up quite a bit and also cleaned some critical breakdowns on the verge of isolation.
To me that extra action and energy is what had BOP's storm week problems kick in and errors start.
Will be a cracker game next week.

@foobaNZ said in Wellington v Waikato (RS):

Higgins was great. You'd have to hope him and Lakai are around for years to come in Canes jerseys.

Really happy we keep the Shield over the summer.

After that Northland performance I thought we'd be struggling to make the 4, but been a real turnaround since.

Congrats on the little one canes4life. Nothing better than watching them grow 🙂

Cheers bro, she’s grown a little already in two weeks haha.

The fact we are unbeaten with Aiden Morgan running the cutter shows how important he is to our run for a title. He definitely has a few work ons as he’s still developing but the way he conducts the team has been brilliant. We look like a different team when he’s playing.

Commanding performance from Fabian Holland in the LO. He is also very mobile. With a few additional kgs of muscle, he could be well in the mix for an AB selection after the RWC. I also liked what I saw of young McClea. He looks to be a good prospect. I would start him ahead of Parapara who is rather slow.

@Bovidae yes. He has been quicker overall in the past. Think there is something going on in his mind about checking options before and after he picks up ball. Maybe just needs to hurry to one pace closer and wait for a call behind him. More minutes will sharpen it up.

And as the graphic showed DMac is up there with winning the most breakdown turnovers. Not a forward to be seen in the top 5. 🙂

Take the 4 pts and flush the dunny.

I was not expecting Te Rama Reuben (a no.8) to move into lock. Hopefully the injuries to Leuila and Coombes-Fabling aren't too serious and we get some locks back for the storm week coming up.

Counties have already exceeded my expectations. Beating a solid Otago team and running Waikato and Hawkes Bay close. I hope they can make the Quarter Finals. Awesome that they are promoting local players and coaches. Plenty of talent comes out of the region and the odd one moves to the region. Got to work on the lineouts!!!

@OleOleOle said in Northland v Waikato:

@taniwharugby I agree, can't believe he let them get away with that tap. Not sure the try that was ruled out by the TMO came from a pass that went forward out of the hand so swings and roundabouts, maybe...

We were right in line with that at the game. More obvious live than on replay because of camera angles. Definitely forward out of hand.

That said on balance Waikato should have put Northland away a lot earlier given set piece dominance so in the end result a fair reflection of game.

@Stargazer said in Waikato v Hawke's Bay:

@TheMojoman said in Waikato v Hawke's Bay:

On paper this is match of the round.

You weren't wrong.

What a game, outstanding.

Thanks. They've done well to find that old video footage.

It was a cool atmosphere too.

$9 a can opened up the ole wallet a bit but who cares in that situation. Was a very fun evening.

Book ended the game with beers at the Eastside which I haven't been to in a very long time.

@duluth said in Waikato v Canterbury (Premiership SF):

I agree. Some goodish players and some potential. But the squad is nothing special.. I think a few people haven’t noticed the change in quality (particularly the Sky commentators)

the quality of rugby analysis and insight in the commentating teams is woeful.

....i went to the pub and missed the last 20