Otago v Auckland
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The All Blacks have been handed another injury concern, with Patrick Tuipulotu ruled out of Auckland's Mitre 10 Cup opener against Otago this weekend. Tuipulotu has been ruled out of Saturday afternoon's clash with an Achilles problem, though Auckland coach Alama Ieremia says it is a precautionary move. "[It's] a little bit niggly with his Achilles so we'll just try and manage that for ourselves and the All Blacks." -
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For those who want to see the team in text form
Otago: Michael Collins (c), Vilimoni Koroi, Josh Timu, Aleki Morris-Lome, Jonah Nareki, Josh Ioane, Kayne Hammington, Dylan Nel, Slade McDowall, Charles Elton, Will Tucker, Josh Hill, Josh Hohneck, Liam Coltman, Josh Aoina. Reserves: Ricky Jackson, George Bower, Hisa Sasagi, Jack Regan, Nasi Manu, James Arscott, Patelesio Tomkinson, Freedom Vaha’akolo. -
im just a bit worried Collins wont have the wheels for cover some of the Auckland backs if they make a break where Koroi would and although small at least he might make the ground for an attempt
cant see us kicking it much, maybe try for a lot of possession and grind away
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@KiwiMurph an overload of Josh's, plus a sprinkling of Charles, Liam, George. It's like it's the Windsor XV.
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@Bones hadn't noticed...why was Josh such a popular name in the late 90's early 00's?
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@Kiwiwomble said in Otago v Auckland:
@Bones hadn't noticed...why was Josh such a popular name in the late 90's early 00's?
Kronfeld obviously....
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Also, why is Simon Hickey in the squad? Can we loan him out to Counties or Southland or something like that and have Zarn Sullivan on the bench instead?
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@African-Monkey Hickey isn't even the best first-five from his school in this game....
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@African-Monkey I also hoped Sullivan would make the bench, mostly because I have never seen him play. It will be interesting to see how Hickeys game has developed, remembering that he left for overseas 5 years ago as a 21 year old. Now 26, he returns with 78 games of European experience (scoring 500 points) for Bordeaux and Edinburgh. He was thrust into the starting 10 role at much too young an age back then for Auckland and the Blues . My concern would be that his instincts may be too conservative to suit this team. Hopefully with age and experience he will now be able to better drive the game plan, and we know he will at least kick his goals. I guess the Hurricanes will also be hoping this for next season.
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in Otago v Auckland:
He was thrust into the starting 10 role at much too young an age back then for Auckland and the Blues .
Textbook case on how to ruin a young 10, and something Auckland did with monotonous regularity. The contrast with how someone like Mo'unga gets developed vs Hickey is stark.
That said, when he took the line on he was sensational. Unfortunately it only happened occasionally, and he started standing deeper and deeper. Good coaching may bring him back to his potential.
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Don't think it would have mattered when Hickey was blooded tbh. He lacks any sort of speed and athleticism to start at 10 in NZ rugby and stifles teams on attack in the process. I thought he'd suit European rugby more tbh.
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@African-Monkey said in Otago v Auckland:
Don't think it would have mattered when Hickey was blooded tbh. He lacks any sort of speed and athleticism to start at 10 in NZ rugby and stifles teams on attack in the process. I thought he'd suit European rugby more tbh.
I thought Pivac was going to turn him into a halfback (he got ~20mins there in an NPC final). That probably didn't happen because there were no better options at ten back then
