Southland v Auckland
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Two surprises for me in this game:
- How poorly Auckland played.
- How well the Stags played.
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It almost worked, Southland.
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Some thoughts after watching the full game.
Setpiece was a mixed bag. Scrum was dominate at times, but we also got penalized a few times. Lineout was a bit off, especially late in the game.
Discipline wasn't great with 18 penalties. Many of those were offside penalties.
Defense is a work in progress. Line speed is good but we got exposed a few times out wide.
I thought Funaki and Plummer were good and controlled things well. Lovely kick by Funaki to set us up in good field position for our 2nd try.
Choat was the pick of the forwards. Busy as always and was very good on defense.
Vest definitely stands out, but for the wrong reasons. He plays rugby like he's new to the game. I'd relegate him to 4th lock and promote Kalapu into the 23.
I don't think we need Hickey on the bench if we have Plummer and Sullivan in the starting line-up. Just select a midfielder and outside back on the bench.
