Hawke's Bay v Northland
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@taniwharugby the most telling comment i had passed on me to me was, without North Harbour and Counties Manukau not competing in the 2021 Bunnings NPC ,we only had 5 teams in the championship , we only needed 2 wins we could not even achieve that .
I will watch tonite primarly to check on a couple of new guys making their debuts , but to be honest the season coming to its conclusion cant come soon enough .. -
Error-ridden game, probably because it's wet and there are lots of new faces on the field. Magpies lead 10 - 9 at the break (2 tries to 0).
Harry Godfrey looks promising; he runs Ben Smith like.
Typical Magpies scoring, with Devery scoring two tries of the line-out maul.
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Apikitoa off, Hintz on
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Tusitala has a second of delay after pulling the ball out of the ruck before he passes - really limiting the backline options
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@stockcar86 It's really annoying. So slow.
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FT: Magpies 25 - 16 Northland
Slightly messy game with lots of handling errors. The drizzle probably had a big role in that, but also the new combos with so many new players on the field. To me, outstanding for the Magpies were Gareth Evans in the pack and Harry Godfrey in the backs. I can see a big future for the young lad! Funaki's impact off the bench was massive, and Ili and Lowe also settled the sometimes slightly rattling defence in the backs.
Lots of pinball moments in this game. Not a high quality game, but still entertaining enough.
Only injury worry seems to be Joe 'Apikotoa. Hope he'll be okay for the semi v Ta$man on Saturday (4.35pm).
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Didn't watch...yep, that's where I'm at.
Watched the highlights, and glad I didn't.
So most of the season we kick for the corner when we should have taken points, in a game that means Jack shit with players wanting to impress in a rare start, we kick for points?
Seriously, WTF.
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@taniwharugby said in Hawke's Bay v Northland:
Didn't watch...yep, that's where I'm at.
Watched the highlights, and glad I didn't.
So most of the season we kick for the corner when we should have taken points, in a game that means Jack shit with players wanting to impress in a rare start, we kick for points?
Seriously, WTF.
The worst thing was when we were 2 metres out from the line, to the right of the post. Nock takes a quick tap and then throws a looped pass over a bunch of guys just standing there to the left where we have only 1 player standing. Trouble is he throws it behind him and they have 3 players on defence. We rushed for no reason.
The penalty options were fine for me. Ben Tou couldn’t hit the side of a barn with his throwing. Twice we kicked for sideline first half - once he threw a big not straight, the other time he threw way over the top. The rest of the time HB picked it off. The first half scrums were the same with Ben being popped. They were terrible. The penalties kept us in the game.
In the second half we had every opportunity to win the game with new front row. But his team despite having some good players, just doesn’t know how to win. You see it in the frustration of players taking poor options. The bones of a good team are there we just need fitness, coaching, on field leadership.
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@kev we knew Tou couldn't hit the side of a barn before yesterday...and TBF Hohaia struggled at Kamo too, still think shit options in a game that means nothing...take a scrum try some moves...assuming they had some.
I said earlier, Atkins from Wellsford looked much fitter this year than previously, good ball runner, nice soft skills and can throw...inthink Robinson from the Sharks is another who gets the key role right.
Sadly that call re Nock sums up so much for this team, no one seems to have a clue what anyone else is doing, not even reading the same book let alone on same page...lack of awareness, confidence in themselves and those around them...starts off the park.
