v Tasman
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We lost this when Ta$man brought on their A props - test prop and experienced super 15 prop - and we changed our front row. From that point we lost possession too many times and even when we had the ball the kickers had no time.
Some better execution in the 1st 20 mins would have given us a good start but we conceded no points. Then we gave away position and points with lineout maul defence and some easy penalties and were down by 20 in the next 15 minutes.
We stayed within our defensive patterns but lacked the same urgency ( power ? ) at ruck time of Ta$man except for Kara Pryor.
Our best period was 1st 15 of second half where we kicked and played smart.
However a much better performance with Guy Wood and Tua looking good and despite my comments prior to the game, Hyland doing a really good job on the wing.
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@nortynorth I said to my mate that I was watching with, I have no idea who the reserve hooker is, I wonder if they've dragged in someone from Ta$man or Canterbury....
I thought Ross Wright would play 80 for sure, and the help was only there in case of an injury...
I may be wrong, but I didn't see Wright get injured, so WTF was this other fulla even doing on the field?Its wrong, just bloody wrong.
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Nick Werahiko is from Canterbury. Captained Lincoln Uni to the club title and made an appearance for Canterbury last season.
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So I assume he was drafted in at the last minute then with Olsen and Moulds out?
So most likely won't be seen again, so probably don't need to get all frothy if that is the case.
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Couldn't for the life of me work out how to log in so created a new account.
Well we certainly played a lot better this week, but the for the first time this year our scrum looked weak, but vice versa the lineout went good. Imo considering the injuries to key players the team played bloody well, was great to see Nock backing himself and running with the ball. I thought Pryor was an absolute beast again, I would love to see him a Ram starting together, move the Robinson guy to the bench, not that he's playing bad just Ram is a bit more of a mongrel. I thought Wood had a pretty good debut in what we're pretty crap conditions. Thought the ref had a good game. But Craig Dowds commentary was shocking, no wonder he couldn't cut the mustard as npc level coach
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@Haydos I think we hit one of the best scrums in the competition so rather than us goin backwards we got tested. Definitely some more work to do. Robinson was huge in the lineout and for me looks like a natural athlete. So I would move him to lock for monster to bring Ram in to start. He has to toughen up a bit, but I can see he will be good player for us. I thought our defensive structures were really good and the tackling was were it needed to be. I bit more urgency (lift the pace of our game) is the next step up. You can see the improvement in this team both in the players we now have and the performance. But we have got to turn theses types of performances on vs BOP, Southland, North Harbour etc.
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yeah you can see this team has the bones of a good side, but some of these guys need to learn how to win, given half the squad will have never won at this level.
I do question the timing of some of our substitutions too, seem to be done for the sake of it, although I guess our guys dont look like the fittest bunch out there, so who knows.
Just so frustrating to watch, I imagine be more frustrating for them to keep making the same silly errors costing themselves so much too...
In other news, I see Kara Pryor was re-signed by the Blues, the way we are playing we are unlikely to be picking up any new contracts, although a couple like Alaimalo, Olsen and Matich must have a few coaches keeping a sneaky eye.
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Just frustrating this was another contest we were in,especially with 10 minutes remaining,the ole saying of staying in the fight,gave plenty of hope,but ultimately,as Kev has previously stated,once they rolled on Kane Hames and Ross Geldenhuys into the Ta$man front row,without a stable front row,we were as good as done,will start with the good,the defense was 100% better than it was previously,and of course a bit of ticker to fight back after being down 0-17,if that's Kara Pryor with an injury,hate to think what he could have been like if fully fit,just wish we had another 22 x players that brings that sort of energy to the Taniwha Jersey,to be fair,most of the team played reasonably well,not to many dud performances,however want to highlight a couple of players,on debut,i thought Guy Wood showed some great composure,and will be better for this first up performances,i also though it was a break through performance from Tamati Tua,the young fella defended with plenty of venom,and did most things well.
Good to see Dan Hawkins playing to the level he is capable of.
On the not so good side,we needed to play field position in the 2nd half, Ta$man showed even they were capable of making errors trying to exit from their own half,or defending when Northland kept the ball in hand for long periods.
The other little thing that gets up my goat,we had plenty of time to exit especially from ball that Ta$man turned over,without going to another scrum in those crucial closing minutes,would like to see us react much quicker to those turnovers,we tried to move the ball,when field position should have been the first option.
Now for my real brickbat,i though the officials were either blind or just bloody poor, Ta$man on most occasions used lazy runner as an obstruction in front of their ball carriers on most occasions,which hinders defenders eye line,or just plainly gets in the way of the defensive line speed,Brendon Pickerill ,the overrated referee from Harbour seemed to pick everything else up,but not this blatant obstruction,we were probably just as guilty for just not running into this lazy runner,as it would have caught the attention of the official.
after several rounds of the Mitre 10 cup,i am hearing from many players,not just Northland players,these breakdown rules are a joke,hopefully the powers at be,kick them well and truly into touch,the beauty of union is,the contest-ability around breakdown,i do believe its one of the reasons to why some very good teams are struggling with these new laws,especially the players that have come from Super Rugby,and we sit back and wait for the test to nite,we will play under another set of rules,yes i totally understand,its all about safety,the guy coming in at a million miles an hour to clean someone out,its an easy fix,in the same way yellow cards are dished out for shoulder charges or taking players in the air,send the offender to the bin,whats the bet,that will stop..! -
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