[2014 ITM Cup] Round 1

[TRF Mr Fish]

ROUND 1

14/08 - Taranaki v Counties Manukau

Taranaki: Codey Rei, Seta Tamanivalu, Charlie Ngatai, James Marshall (c), Waisake Naholo, Marty McKenzie, Jamison Gibson-Park, Blade Thomson, Berny Hall, Mitchell Crosswell, James Broadhurst, Riki Hoeata, Angus Ta'avao, Rhys Marshall, Mitchell Graham. Reserves: Timo Tutavaha, Sione Lea, Leighton Price, Doug Tietjens, Warwick Lahmert, Jackson Ormond, Beaudein Waaka.

Counties Manukau: Sherwin Stowers, Frank Halai, Sam Vaka, Bundee Aki, Toni Pulu, Ahsee Tuala, Augustine Pulu (c), Jordan Taufua, Maama Vaipulu, Dan Hyatt, Jimmy Tupou, Ronald Raaymakers, Jarron Firth, Suliasi Taufalele, Pauliasi Manu. Reserves: Sione Anga'aelangi, Sean Bagshaw, Viliami Rarasea, Onosa'i Auva'a, Kane Hancy, Baden Kerr, Rey Lee-Lo.

15/08 - Southland v Bay of Plenty

Bay of Plenty: Byron McGuigan, Tino Nemani, Siaosi Iongi, Doug Edwards, Kimami Sitauti, Dan Hollinshead, Samisoni Fisilau, Carl Axtens, Dave Davies-Whitecliff, Johan Bardoul, Tim Bond, Culum Retallick (c), Pingi Tala'pitaga, Joe Royal, Kane Hames. Reserves: Mike Kainga, Josh Sole, Joe Tupe, Hamish Gosling, Vyron Smith, Teddy Stanaway, Te Aihe Toma

16/08 - Otago v North Harbour

North Harbour: Luke Devcic, David Raikuna, Nafi Tuitavake, Niko Ratumaitavuki, Tevita Li, Matt McGahan, Bryn Hall (c), Jim Tuitaviti, Mario Ozich, Jordan Manihera, Hayden Triggs, Brandon Nansen, Nic Mayhew, James Parsons, Greg Pleasants-Tate. Reserves: Ray Niuia, Franck Fricconet, Michael Farmer, Zac Judge, David Bason, Daniel Halangahu, Denis Pili Gaitau

16/08 - Canterbury v Auckland

Canterbury: Richie Mo'unga, Patrick Osborne, Adam Whitelock, Tom Taylor, Johnny McNicholl, Tyler Bleyendaal, Willi Heinz (c), Luke Whitelock, Jed Brown, Matt Todd, Scott Barrett, Joel Everson, Nepo Laulala, Codie Taylor, Alex Hodgman. Reserves: Ben Funnell, Siate Tokolahi, Matt Symons, Tom Sanders, Mitchell Drummond, Rob Thompson, Milford Keresoma.

Auckland: Hadleigh Parkes, Lolagi Visinia, George Moala, Francis Saili, Charles Piutau, Gareth Anscombe, Junior Poluleuligaga, Peter Saili, Sean Polwart, Joe Edwards, Jack Whetton, Liaki Moli, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Tom McCartney (c), Sam Prattley. Reserves: Gafatasi Su'a, Fraser Armstrong, Will Lloyd, Blake Gibson, Leon Fukofuka/Wayne Ngaluafe, Simon Hickey, Ben Lam/Vince Aso.

16/08 - Wellington v Waikato

Wellington: Jason Woodward, Ambrose Curtis, Ope Peleseuma, Shaun Treeby, Tau Mamea, Fa'atonu Fili, Jared Kahu, Brad Shields (c), Adam Hill, Vaea Fifita, Christian Lloyd, James Wall, Eric Sione, Leni Apisai, Reggie Goodes. Reserves: James O'Reilly, Tolu Fahamokioa, Taniela Koroi, Henry Stowers, Sheridan Rangihuna, Wes Goosen, James So'oialo

Waikato: Albert Nikoro, Declan O'Donnell, Jordan Payne, Anton Lienert-Brown, Joe Webber, Damian McKenzie, Brad Weber (c), Adam Burn, Zak Hohneck, Whetu Douglas, David Morgan, Nick Ross, Ben Tameifuna, Brayden Mitchell, Loni Uhila. Reserves: Hame Faiva, James McGougan, Josh Tyrell, Marty Holah, Harrison Levien, Wharenui Hawera, Shayne Anderson.

17/08 - Tasman v Hawke's Bay

17/08 - Northland v Manawatu​

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

My predictions:
Taranaki to have a good win over Counties.
Southland to narrowly win over BoP in a terrible match.
Otago to win against Harbour, but have almost no stats in their favour.
Auckland to get a win over Canterbury, starting strong but finishing the match less impressively.
Waikato to get up over Wellington due to the injuries Wellington currently have.
Hawke's Bay to upset Tasman in a close match due to Bankes' likely unavailability.
Northland to beat Manawatu by a try.

 

[ABs2011]

Wow, I obviously haven't been keeping a close enough eye on NZ rugby So many names I am not familiar with (which makes picking this weeks games a little tricky).

Based on the TAB odds (and therefore value for money) here are my picks:

Counties @ $1.7 (I really like this team, fun to watch, well coached, some really good players and some good pickups this year - I'm biased but I like them to win this one, although I hear Taranaki have looked really good in pre season)
Southland @ $1.55 (Mainly cause I think BOP will be woeful this year)
N Harbour @ $4 (I just think those odds are a little over - neither team looks great but maybe the Harbour backs can bust the game open, oh and I hear great things about Matt McGahan)
Auckland @ $3.5 (Pretty dangerous backline, forward should be able to match up for long enough - I reckon this one is a good play)
Waikato @ $4 (again possibly value given all Wellingtons disruptions - they probably wont win but I give them better than 25% chance so the money is good)
Tasman @ $1.45 (probably cant call these guys dark horses anymore - but my guess is they will surprise again this season, should win first up)
and Finally Manawatu @ $1.87 (Both teams will be donw the bottom of the table one would think, but I reckon the Turbos will be better prepared than Northland for week 1)

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

A sneaky multi bet on Auckland, Waikato and Harbour might be worth a buy...

 

[ABs2011]

Jeepers, how poor is this game? Taranaki playing pretty average, Counties playing a lot worse...... Very poor to watch!

 

[ABs2011]

I just wasted 2 hours of my life watching that one, that was awful!!!

I know conditions werent great and these arent exactly two of the premier sides, but boy that game was an embarrassing advertisement for ITM Cup rugby.

That was quite possibly one of the poorer games of Rugby I have ever watched.

Unless something exciting happened in the first 5 minutes (I missed the start) I reckon it took 55min before any one team strung more than 5 phases together.

No tries in the whole game (I can only recall one occasion when anyone even went close), heaps of knock-ons, heaps of scrum infringements (if Counties cant sort that scrum out it is going to be a very long year for them), heaps of line outs not straight (Rhys Marshall is a horrible line out thrower!!! how was this guy even considered as an All Black prospect?? I heard he has been a rubbish lineout thrower right back from high school days), heaps of botched line outs, and heaps of kicks out on the full.... Simply rubbish!!

Absolutely fitting therefore that there was no winner!! Both teams were woeful and neither deserved a win!!

You'd think the organisers would have opted for a better first match up than that one to provide a bit more of a punchy start to the comp!!!

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Yep that was a pretty abysmal game. Counties had a stronger bench in the end, whereas Taranaki lost momentum after making changes. Probably the only major plus for Taranaki was that Mckenzie looked pretty sharp at 10.

It seems fair to say that Marshall has not improved his lineout throwing, and won't be an All Black anytime soon unless he does fix it! He may find himself on the outer at the Chiefs too, given they have Harris and Quentin Macdonald for next season (who I see as a potential bolter).

Can't imagine tonight's game will be much better, BoP v Southland...

 

[Darwin]

Good first up win for Otago. It was only North Harbour though I suppose.....

Canterbury looking pretty good against Auckland thus far.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Very dominant display from Canterbury, I can't see anyone tipping them up this year. Richie Mo'unga looks very sick, it will be interesting to see where he plays Super Rugby next year. Auckland were awful, there backs did nothing and there were a plethora of handling errors.

Otago looked dangerous against Harbour, some of their set plays were brilliant. Like you, Darwin, I'm unsure if it's a sign of how good Otago were, or how poor Harbour are. The Harbour 8 looks like he has some promise. I think they need to look at their game plan, they kicked for too often.

Waikato had a fantastic game, with 34% possession and over twice as many tackles made as Wellington both their attack and defence were good. Their defensive breakdown might need a bit of work. This team is going to be very good in a season or two.

 

[munstermuffin]

How did our Tyler do lads?

 

[ABs2011]

Wow, I obviously haven't been keeping a close enough eye on NZ rugby So many names I am not familiar with (which makes picking this weeks games a little tricky).

Based on the TAB odds (and therefore value for money) here are my picks:

Counties @ $1.7 :mellowI really like this team, fun to watch, well coached, some really good players and some good pickups this year - I'm biased but I like them to win this one, although I hear Taranaki have looked really good in pre season)
Southland @ $1.55 (Mainly cause I think BOP will be woeful this year)
N Harbour @ $4 (I just think those odds are a little over - neither team looks great but maybe the Harbour backs can bust the game open, oh and I hear great things about Matt McGahan)
Auckland @ $3.5 (Pretty dangerous backline, forward should be able to match up for long enough - I reckon this one is a good play)
Waikato @ $4 (again possibly value given all Wellingtons disruptions - they probably wont win but I give them better than 25% chance so the money is good)
Tasman @ $1.45 (probably cant call these guys dark horses anymore - but my guess is they will surprise again this season, should win first up)
and Finally Manawatu @ $1.87 (Both teams will be donw the bottom of the table one would think, but I reckon the Turbos will be better prepared than Northland for week 1)

Not a bad start to the season: 4 wins 2 losses and a push. $100 on each to return profit of $272. Bring on week 2!!

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

How did our Tyler do lads?

He was fine, probably one of the few back to not really stand out but he obviously got the attack moving well enough.

Not a bad start to the season: 4 wins 2 losses and a push. $100 on each to return profit of $272. Bring on week 2!!

Nice one! Glad I didn't go for the Harbour, Waikato, Auckland triple in the end!

 

[Darwin]

He was fine, probably one of the few back to not really stand out but he obviously got the attack moving well enough.

I agree. He did the basics well, got the backline going, and made his tackles. He's a pretty good contributor at this level these days. He certainly outplayed the young Welsh flyhalf Gareth Anscombe, though he certainly had better quality ball to work with...

As an aside, I loved this set piece try by Otago. Tony Brown comes up with some fantastic set plays....

 

[smartcooky]

I agree. He did the basics well, got the backline going, and made his tackles. He's a pretty good contributor at this level these days. He certainly outplayed the young Welsh flyhalf Gareth Anscombe, though he certainly had better quality ball to work with...

As an aside, I loved this set piece try by Otago. Tony Brown comes up with some fantastic set plays....

Outstanding set move. Wind back and look at the angle and distance run by the player who makes the final pass, and where the the player who received it runs from.

 

[Draggs]

I do love ITM Cup rugby, outstanding try!
Only wish I didn't have to stay up all night to watch it.

Is Tony Brown attack coach, head coach, or other? Wonder if we could see him in SR coaching soon enough.

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

anyone who watch the bay of plenty game how did Byron McGuigan play ?

 

[smartcooky]

I have the ITM Cup tables ready for the forum header and I have sent them to TRF_Fullback but he can't have got the PM yet, so if there are any admins out there who have the required access, here it is...

PS. Anyone know what has happened to Charlie (TRF_Getofmeland). His username seems to have disappeared from the membership list

 

[Draggs]

Charlie isn't involved with the running/ownership of TRF, so he is Getofmeland, no TRF_ prefix.
We don't have the permissions to change anything, so we must wait for Fullback to get around to it.
As always, thanks for the tables!

 

[Darwin]

I do love ITM Cup rugby, outstanding try!
Only wish I didn't have to stay up all night to watch it.

Is Tony Brown attack coach, head coach, or other? Wonder if we could see him in SR coaching soon enough.

Brown is the head coach of Otago, though focuses mainly on the backs. He has basically taken a backline of no-names and turned them into one of the better attacking sides in the ITM Cup.

He was involved as an assistant coach for the Highlanders and was the main reason for the Highlanders turn around in fortunes this season IMO. Despite having a rather average looking backline paper the Highlanders were one of the best attacking sides in the competition. I expect he will take an even bigger role in the Highlander next season (which is unfourtunate in one way as it will mean he will have to finish off with Otago), but I do see him as a potential Super Rugby head coach within a few years...

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Some brilliant tries in here too, mainly just the speed shown by Webber and Lienert-Brown.