Exodus 2018
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@bones just something about him I'm not sure of and don't like...not sure exactly what or why, but just don't see him as anything more than a good mitre10 cup player.
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@taniwharugby said in Exodus 2018:
@bones just something about him I'm not sure of and don't like...not sure exactly what or why, but just don't see him as anything more than a good mitre10 cup player.
He just wasn't consistent from the matches I saw him play. Some really good stuff mixed in with some rubbish. I wouldn't completely write him off, he's not the first young player to struggle with consistency on the pitch.
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Just to cheer everyone up Munster Rugby have signed 2 promising SA schoolboys to their academy...
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Official:
Sopoaga's instagram:
limasopoaga: It's with a heavy heart that I announce that my family and I will be leaving NZ at the end of the 2018 season. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make but is one I'm at peace with. I have loved every minute of being a professional footballer here in NZ, I've made life long friends and memories that I'll cherish forever. I'd like to thank the Highlanders, All Blacks, Southland and Wellington for the awesome experiences you have provided me with over the years. Thank you to all the fans for your support it's been one heck of a ride. To my team mates and coaches over the years thank you for everything, I've been blessed to have met so many top men. Last but not least to my family & friends you know who you are the ones who have stood by me through the lowest of lows and the highest of highs you have seen both the valleys and the peaks, THANK YOU will never be enough! So here's to 2018 one last roll of the dice before I head off to experience life on the other side of the world. I'm ready. TheSops LS10.
http://www.allblacks.com/News/31918/lima-sopoaga-to-leave-new-zealand-rugby
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@taniwharugby fair enough, I would've said the same before npc. I obviously missed some telling games though.
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@pakman said in Exodus 2018:
Anyone heard any news on MN5's favourite midfielder?
Marty Berry?
Real Estate Agent over in the Wairarapa last I heard. I'm looking at buying a weekender so might be needing his services. That would be a dream come true.
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@pakman said in Exodus 2018:
Sopoaga seemed to have suffered from too little game time last season. Performances down a notch on previous years.
That said, a substantial loss, and leaves us going into RWC with all our eggs in one basket experience wise.
He certainly did have too little game time - this is from late October.
All up, Sopoaga has started six games this season - the first three and the last three in the Highlanders season. In comparison, the man inside him, Aaron Smith, has started 23 games this season. Sopoaga played the opening three games of the season for the Highlanders before damaging his hamstring on March 11 against the Blues. The No10 then missed 11 weeks before he came back via the bench in late May. He then started for the Highlanders against the British and Irish Lions, the Reds and then the quarterfinal against the Crusaders in July. Since then, he has then been in camp with the All Blacks and sat on the bench five times during the Rugby Championship. He received significant minutes in Cape Town but last Saturday night in Brisbane was his first start for 91 days. And all up it was just his second start in the black jersey. Starting is way, way different to coming off the bench. It is chalk and cheese. For whatever reason, Sopoaga never played any games for his club when coming back from injury or in camp for the British and Irish Lions series. How much benefit he would have got from playing for the Eastern Barbarians against Woodlands on a chilly June afternoon in Gore is debatable. But it is still time in the saddle. Instead, he was holding tackle bags and going to trainings.
Woefully underdone Sopoaga harshly judged
The finger has been pointed at Lima Sopoaga following the loss in the Bledisloe Cup. But rugby writer Steve Hepburn says whatever Sopoaga did, or...
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@canefan said in Exodus 2018:
@bones said in Exodus 2018:
Will be interesting to see how Garden-Bachop goes too.
He didn't give me any indication that he has the class from what I saw in ITM cup
He will have to improve dramatically from what we saw of him with the NZ Maoris against the French Barbarians.
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@kiwimurph said in Exodus 2018:
@cgrant the AB selectors arent put off by woeful performances at 10 for the Maori. Just ask DMac...
That was a woeful decision to even play him at 10 in that game. Chuck a guy into a position he has played in for some time among a one off team with little cohesion and a forward pack that was always going to struggle to get parity.
He wasn't much chop, but I wouldn't read much into it.
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@billy-tell said in Exodus 2018:
Just to cheer everyone up Munster Rugby have signed 2 promising SA schoolboys to their academy...
Very odd one that. They’re now applying to overseas academies?
The IRFU need to centralize the provincial academies into some kind of national academy and players get assigned accordingly. None of this overseas bollocks should be happening given what Leinster are producing.
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@nepia said in Exodus 2018:
@jauzy019 said in Exodus 2018:
Jerome Kaino to Toulon should be official in the coming hours/days.
I know we shouldn't shoot the messenger, but it's hard not to be pissed with you jauzy!
Also @Hooroo, why on earth would you like that?
Because he deserves the golden egg retirement package. He was a colossas as an AB but is surplus to requirements now. A 'nice to have' as back up but not needed for the future.
I'm stoked for him
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@hooroo said in Exodus 2018:
Because he deserves the golden egg retirement package.
Agreed. The difference between him and Lima is Jerome leaves the jersey in a better place. Not so sure that he is surplus to requirements, but the contenders have another two seasons to make their case and grow into the role.
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@antipodean said in Exodus 2018:
@hooroo said in Exodus 2018:
Because he deserves the golden egg retirement package.
Agreed. The difference between him and Lima is Jerome leaves the jersey in a better place. Not so sure that he is surplus to requirements, but the contenders have another two seasons to make their case and grow into the role.
I only say STR due to him being fully fit and well and not making the 23 in 2017 in some games. I think we could all see the writing was on the wall
WATCH: Lima Sopoaga causes glorious chaos with rugby's first overhead kick
