20 replies to this topic

[taniwharugby]

Northland Taniwha (Official)Toll Northalnd side named to play Auckland this weekend

1.Matt Wallis
2.Mikaele Tuu’u
3.Bronson Murray
4.Pat O’Connor
5.Mark Burman
6.Dean Budd
7.Dan Pryor
8.Cameron Eyre
9.Luke Hamilton
10.David Holwell
11.Iwi Hauraki
12.Aaron Bancroft
13.Jared Payne
14.Bryce Heem
15Lachie Munro

Tim Dow
Ross Wright
Roy Griffin
Cam Goodhue
Rhyan Caine
Mateo Malupo
Adam Clarke

Only the 2 changes, Simon Munro still struggling with injury, Iwi Hauraki get's his first start, hopefully we see more of this guy who is obviously a talent, while Sharks wing Mateo Maupo is called up to the reserves.

[Chiefy]

Matt Wallis really has to take this chance, he has underwhelmed so far this season. Surely this has to be his last chance with Wright and Fa'aunu waiting in the wings. Still a very handy looking backline, hopefully they don't try and run it everytime like we did last week, because we know the Auckland defence will be 100 times better than Manawatu's. As a leaguie you would expect Hauraki to be handy under the high ball so I wonder if we will see any cross field kicks to his wing. I'm still surprised we are not using Aden Dewes extra versatility on the bench. Clarke is a good organiser and defender but is essentially only covering one position.

[taniwharugby]

yeah with the calmer better positioning we lose with Simon Munro, I think Hauraki brings back a little of what we lose with no Ranger, with that attacking flair.

If we can get some good ball, this could be anyones, but if we get dominated up front, it will be a long 80 minutes!

[kev]

If we can get a bit of parity at scrum and protect our ruck ball we can win. So very big games for front five and the loose trio.

How did Sam Barker go last week in the development squad? He will be important as the season goes on. I haven't seen much of Clarke but like Chiefy I have been a Dewes fan for a while so he is another knocking on the door.

[taniwharugby]

not quite sure what is going on with Barker, apparently he didnt end up going away with the dev side...

McKenty still a number of weeks away, and he will likely have to come off the bench with Pryor playing well and him needing match fitness.

[Gunner]

We didn't deserve to win. Too many mistakes. Too loose with the ball. No Impact at the breakdown. BUT the ref was a complete tosser, he let auckland slow our ball down all day, every bloody time they had someone lying on our side of the ruck not rolling away! And that non try of Heem's cost a bloody bonus point! Utter rubbish from the ref!

[kev]

Just got home - at the ground it looked like Heem's try was good. What did they say on the TV?

The other thing was obvious was Auckland players lying all around and over tackled players and coming from the side - we never got the momentum we needed.

That said our scrum wasn't good enough and we made too many mistakes. They need to believe they can win and maybe the pre-season was still in the back of their minds

[taniwharugby]

the comms said it was fair try, but they needed to show the other side to see if it came off Payne.

Thought he let us away with loads in the first half at the breakdown, and then when both teams opened up in the second he let Auckland do what they wanted in the 2nd half.

Our scrum got manhandled, our lineout, wtf is up there?

Thing is, for the most part our defence is pretty damn good, that Morland try, I think Payne was unhappy that an Auckland player got in between Morland and Northland player, not that Morland didnt release as the comms suggested.

Our ball security was very poor this week, that cost us any chance as it gave Auckland a set peice to smash us with.

I think I see why Wright isnt starting, a few rucks and that final maul at the end he looked knackered and simply wasnt doing anything, but he is a superb impact player. If Fa' anunu is fit, he really needs to start.

[Gunner]

The ref called a knock on from Payne, even though he was making a tackle and never touched the ball. Fucking bullshit!

[taniwharugby]

I dont recall seeing the reverse replay, so the distance it travelled, I guess you would have say it had been hit by Payne...?

[justin77]

Looked like a fair try to me, but who knows, the jockstrap ref was closer than us.. If it is proven to be a try it's those sort of calls that can fuck a season up completely, because bonus points are pretty damn important in this day and age..

As for the game, both sides didn't do anything to inspire me, it's just that Auckland were a lot more clinical than us especially up front. I'd say our backs (bar the handling) were sharper than theirs and had we had quality service from our forwards the result could have been something to smile about..

Bancroft continues to impress, he played a good hand in Tu'us try and was rock solid on D again. I was also impressed with the way Bryce Heem didn't stop trying things and Bronson Murray once again was a demon around the fringes!

[cricketman]

It was very hard to get any momentum going as they were literally killing us at the breakdown and in the scrums(especially in the first 35 minutes). As the game wore on, I thought we looked a lot more dangerous. Heems was definitely a try, but that is the human element of rugby - The ABs got away with one of them this morning

[cricketman]

Also, just adding to what TR said. Ross Wright seemed to make an impact when he came on but his fitness is probably the bigger issue.

[Duluth]

taniwharugby said:

the comms said it was fair try, but they needed to show the other side to see if it came off Payne.

Thought he let us away with loads in the first half at the breakdown, and then when both teams opened up in the second he let Auckland do what they wanted in the 2nd half.

Yup never listen to Stu Wilson..

Replays weren't conclusive for that knock on but the Auckland player was attempting to do a catch and pass, Payne's hand is right there and the ball gets propelled towards the Auckland goal line.

Was it just knocked out in the tackle? Maybe.
Or was it knocked on by Payne? Maybe.
Did the replays show it conclusively either way? No

The ref was in a decent spot to see it though..

As for the second comment I quoted from TR. Yes I agree there was just as many decisions Auckland fans could be annoyed about

The difference in this game was the beating that Auckland handed out up front. Credit to Northlands defence for holding strong throughout most of the game despite the quality ball Auckland was getting.

[Duluth]

Not a happy day for the other Northland rep teams too:

Auckland B 41 (Adam Siddall, Brendan Ward, Pat Leafa 2, Pom Simona tries, Anthony Fenner 5 con, 2 pen) Northland B 0

Auckland Colts 64 (Nili Moala, Sean Polwart 2, Joe Tupe, George Moala, Tino Nemani, Kelekolio Hifo, Junior Manase, Savata Savea tries, Gareth Anscombe 8 con, pen) Northland Colts 0

[taniwharugby]

yep...tough day all round, especially after coming off beating CM dev side which is normally where CM are so strong.

[kingster]

saw the colts game and have to say they where completely outplayed up front also. nick white the auckland scrum coach obviously doing a good job down that way.

[justin77]

kingster said:

saw the colts game and have to say they where completely outplayed up front also. nick white the auckland scrum coach obviously doing a good job down that way.

I read somewhere that Nick White was also helping the Northland Rugby Union with scrum coaching. It may have been a pre-season thing only. Can anyone else shed some light on that??

[kingster]

he was at a preseason training of ours at mw, not exactly sure what his involvement is with Northland though. I think Dan Cron is northlands scrum coach?

[justin77]

Quote

The NRU High Performance Development Squad also involves the following specialist providers to assist with the programme;
Bryce Woodward- NRU Air New Zealand Cup Coach
Blair Larsen- NRU Air New Zealand Cup Coach
Nick Sheppard- Blues High Performance Manager based in Auckland
David Galbraith- Sports Psychologist based in Hamilton
Ady Ngawati- Nutritionist based in Whangarei
Mike Cron- All Black front row coach based in Christchurch
Nick White- Northland front row specialist based in Auckland
Jon Renes- Specialist weights coach based in Whangarei

Managed to find this from taniwha.co.nz...The bugger obviously thought it was not fitting to help us in the week leading up to yesterdays game. haha

edit: if I read the damn thing properly I would've found that this was assisting our High Performance programme for talented youngsters.

Edited by justin77, 23 August 2010 - 09:06 PM.

[Chiefy]

Although Heem has been good for us this year, that try he bombed will taint his season for me. All he had to do was run for the corner, but instead he tried to be the hero and run past Sai'ili. Could have been a different ball game if he had scored then...

Not much else to add on this game. We got well and truly outplayed up front. I think the ref was shit house, but that doesn't change the fact the Auckland pack dominated us up front therefore not allowing our superior backline to get the chance to cut loose.