2018 New Zealand Schools
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How big is the NZ tight 5!!!!!! predicted that they could be best for a while, dominating lines outs and scrum. Probably tried to hard in this game, needed to play % at times.
Wrampling and Murray awesome along with Darry
top team after two games.F/R
Tamaiti Williams, Soane Vikene, Saula MauLocks
Lord, DarryLoose
Segner, Parker, Jones9-10
Funaki, Reihana12,13
Maraku, Punivai14,11,15
Wrampling, Murray, Webster-Nonu -
Despite the win, I'm not really impressed. This was a very weak Aussie team.
Based on the two games I've seen, I'd pick today's starting frontrow for the game against Australian Schools, especially Thompson and Thacker (not so sure about the LH); probably Darry and Lord at lock; also Segner and Apinera in the backrow, Funaki and Reihana at 9 and 10; Wrampling at 14, Murray at fullback. Also starting will be Punivai at centre, because he's the captain. Not sure about left wing and 12.
They'll probably start Jones at no.8 again, although he's wasn't standing out today. He is strong and fast, and no doubt talented, but he's a ball hog and doesn't always know when to pass to a team mate. A big work-on.
It's great that it's livestreamed. One problem though is that they're using one camera, so you can't always see clearly what's happening at the far sides of the field, making it harder to tell who's making a great pass, makes or misses a tackle, or a makes mistake etc.
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@stargazer agree about jones but best of who has been picked. Not convinced on Thompson, was poor today, missed lineouts, dropped a number of balls, not accurate enough in first two games. Same with Sullivan, too inaccurate for a 10. But they are just kids!
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Match report of the NZ Barbarians Schools v Fiji Schools game: https://www.collegesportmedia.co.nz/rugby-union/fiji-stun-bumble-arians
Highlights video:
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@tim said in 2018 New Zealand Schools:
Is Reihana any relation of Bruce?
I was wondering the same thing. He is originally from Northland. I spoke to him after the Chiefs-Crusaders U18 game to see why he was playing for the Chiefs. His family gave him a post-match Haka ala TTT in Nelson.
I didn't see any of this game unfortunately.
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@bovidae didnt Bruce Reihana and his son play together in the UK last year, if they are related to Rivez, he'd have to be wider like a nephew or cousin??
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@taniwharugby Yes. Bruce's son is Evaan. He was playing for TA Sports in Waikato club rugby but is based in France IIRC. They could be related - he's signed for Waikato afterall.
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http://www.allblacks.com/News/33203/new-zealand-schools-team-named-to-play-australia-schools
New Zealand Schools’ will be looking to make it three from three in their 2018 campaign when they meet Australian Schools’ in Brisbane tomorrow (kickoff 8pm NZT). The New Zealand Schools’ team is; 1 Tamaiti Williams (St Kentigern College) 2 Soane Vikena (Mt Albert Grammar School) 3 Saula Mau (Auckland Grammar School) 4 Thomas Martin (Hamilton Boys' High School) 5 Sam Darry (Christs' College) 6 Iona Apineru (St Patrick's College - Silverstream) 7 Anton Segner (Nelson College) 8 Niko Jones (St Peter's College) 9 Taufa Funaki (Sacred Heart College, Auckland) 10 Rivez Reihana (St Kentigern College) 11 Jacob Kneepkens (Francis Douglas Memorial College) 12 Chay Fihaki (Sacred Heart College, Auckland) 13 Isaiah Punivai (St Kentigern College) 14 Gideon Wrampling (St Paul's Collegiate) 15 Blair Murray (New Plymouth Boys' High School) 16 Tyrone Thompson (Napier Boys' High School) 17 Matt Graham-Williams (St Kentigern College) 18 Patrick Thacker (Christ's College) 19 Josh Lord (Hamilton Boys' High School) 20 Simon Parker (St Peter's School) 21 Louie Chapman (Christchurch Boys' High School) 22 Zarn Sullivan (King's College) 23 Josiah Maraku (Feilding Agricultural High School) -
Pretty close to the teams suggested by @98blueandgold and @Stargazer
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Thursday, last week, NZ Māori U18 beat NZ Barbarians Schools 21 - 20.
On Monday, Fiji Schools beat NZ Barbarians Schools 15 - 10.
Today, NZ Māori U18 beat Fiji Schools 20 - 15.Hopefully, the best players of the whole group that was invited to attend camp a few weeks ago have been selected for NZ Schools (and hopefully they don't get beaten by Aussie Schools tomorrow), but these three results seems to suggest the selection process is not good enough. The NZ Māori U18 selectors could only pick players, who weren't invited to camp but they've performed better than NZ Barbarians Schools.
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Should be a close match, thought Australia looked better then they have for a few years. I think key will be us taking our chances and not playing high tempo rugby all the time. At times we need to plug the corner and consolidate rather than throw miracle balls, this Aussie team will capitalise on those. Then again they are just kids.
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Match report and highlights video of the NZ Maori U18 v Fiji Schools game: https://www.collegesportmedia.co.nz/rugby-union/nz-maori-u18s-beat-fiji-u18s
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Australian Schools v NZ Schools
Livestream: http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2018/10/04/2018-schools-tri-nations-final-day
Kick-off 8.00pm.
