Wellington v Tasman
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Yeah - that was a good effort, especially by the forwards. Dominant scrum, dominant maul - a few problems with lineout throwing in the gale, but to be expected really.
Shout out to Isaac Salmon, who I thought might be a weak link, but he was excellent in the scrum.
Defense was really aggressive and much of the time Wellington was losing ground with ball in hand.
Hope Havili is OK - not sure there were many arms in the tackle that took him out, but requires a closer look.
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Well done to Ta$man completely outplayed us we couldn’t get over the advantage line due to the massive Ta$man defence my 1 gripe with Waenga is the last 10 when Wellington was on attack Ta$man players were laying all over the ball and getting away with it, yeah ok we were dead and buried but that’s not the point, Rant over and again well done to Ta$man on this performance the shield won’t be going anywhere next week.
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I think we're not quite mathematically safe from relegation - but, we'd need a couple of massive losses to Canterbury and Otago to overturn our points advantage - and a perfect storm of other unlikely things falling into place.
Safe enough, I think! Now we can concentrate on qualifying for the play-offs.
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@hydro11 said in Wellington v Ta$man:
@Bovidae said in Wellington v Ta$man:
Hunt >>> JGB in controlling the game.
We got beaten up front. The problem wasn't JGB today.
Agree. The forwards were smashed by Ta$man
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The best game I’ve seen Sione Havili play. He was massive and well supported by the other Ta$man forwards.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Wellington v Ta$man:
The best game I’ve seen Sione Havili play. He was massive and well supported by the other Ta$man forwards.
Did Strange make a difference?
I picked Ta$man to win, but not Wellington to be lowest scoring team fot the round!
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Made the trek out to Porirua Park yesterday and frankly the conditions were not as bad bad as being called wet and a gale. Sure there were a couple of showers during the first half but they did not last longer than five minutes or so and the wind, whilst rather breezy, was not as strong as those that whipped through Athletic Park in the old days. Nowhere near as bad either as those you struck at Cobham, Martin Luckie or McAlister Parks half a dozen or so times a season for those that have suffered playing there. What's more it was coming from the north so was not ever chilly. It did effect those kicking into the wind but if kept low enough there were generally a good twenty metres or so there for you. Anything hoisted high went nowhere and even backward once or twice.
I was standing behind the posts at the southern end of the ground and have to concede JGB took a massive up and under that was swirling like a spiral when I was certain there was no way he would catch it so well done to him (and I am one to stick the boot into him, justifiably, on plenty of occasions). The remainder of the team were, to put it kindly, well below par and miles off their game. One wonders when the "they are young and still learning their game" excuse touted whenever the Lions/Hurricanes props display such scrummaging prowess as they generally do ceases to have any credibility. Having said that I do hope their efforts yesterday are not rewarded with being dropped for the next game against HB thank you very much!
The Mako did not really do a hell of a lot to make the game an entertaining spectacle either but they certainly played to the conditions nicely and their gameplan was close to spot on for them. They played to win and win they did. They were not out there to "entertain" those in favour of the spin it wide at every opportunity brigade. They came simply to win the four points available and that they did without too many worries. Admittedly they were helped to a decent degree by the way Wellington flipped and flopped throughout the entire eighty minutes. Hopefully they (Wgtn) will continue in similar vein next weekend!All in all Ta$man looked well coached, Wellington did not.
DISCLAIMER: Should Chainsaw (he might have been at the ground taking pics) post any picture of someone bursting into rapturous applause when Ta$man scored their first try It was only because I was super impressed with the positioning, angle of upraised arm and speed at which it was raised, (no need to TMO it), and the loudness and tune emitted by the whistle of referee Mr Waenga. There is zero chance of ever been seen to publicly acknowledge any appreciation of any scoring play by the Ta$man outfit.
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