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2017 Season Discussion

How damn good is Aumua?!? I was at the game on Sunday and his pure physical abilities are a sight to behold... the way he lined up the fullback, put on a bit of footwork and then gassed him on the outside was something else. I doubt Savea would've been able to do that. He's not all for show either, performs his core roles very well. I'll honestly be shocked if he's not on the EOYT at least as an apprentice, if not a player.
Other than that, the performance from the Lions was awesome. The best I've seen them play from recent memory... destroying an on fire Canterbury like that was a huge effort... it's great to see Wellington back where we should be.

On the rest of the comp, it's awesome to see Harbour doing so well! They suffered a lot of dog years but have a great squad now and should be a force for years to come. Would be cool to see them tip Canterbury this Saturday.
 
Anyone know if there is a stats table like espn....the usual carries, metres run etc
I could have sworn there was a publication in N that breaks it all down...can't ffind it now.
The Stats on the official site are pretty good...
 
So, it's Otago vs. Auckland at 08:30 (UK time) this morning. I've got a week off work so I'll get comfy and watch it.
 
So, it's Otago vs. Auckland at 08:30 (UK time) this morning. I've got a week off work so I'll get comfy and watch it.
Should be a close game, not expecting it to be the highest quality though. Would be nice if Auckland could finally click, doubt they will...
 
I'm just happy to be watching rugby on a Thursday morning. Otago should win this and I'm hoping for an open, expansive game.
 
dont jinx us mate...we should have won a couple this season that we've dropped...trying to work out if i can get from work to the pub in time....
 
Good first half. Both teams are still in this and I'm loving the physicality being employed by both teams.
 
some great tackles int his game, really turning defense into offense if you can knock the ball free in the tackle!
 
Absolute joke of a red card in tonight's match.

Jumping needs to be banned if it's going to result in situations like we saw tonight.
 
Absolute joke of a red card in tonight's match.

Jumping needs to be banned if it's going to result in situations like we saw tonight.
It was unfortunate but tbh I think the ref was right in both instances. Obviously there wasn't any intent in either case, but it's the defenders responsibility to protect the guy in the air. Of course people are going to jump to catch a high ball, so the other player needs to either jump and compete too or wait till the guy jumping lands to make contact - not just stand in his jumping path. In the first one I think he was really unlucky as it was a late jump from Tamanivalu and he wouldn't have been expecting the jump. But in the 2nd one he should definitely have expected the jump and not put himself in that position.

On a side note... Stephen Perofeta is looking really good. I think the Blues may have finally found themselves a genuinely quality long term 10.
 
Last night's Shield match was one of the best games of rugby I have ever seen! Incredible match. Hyped for the Naki, but even more excited for the Turbos having a dig at the Shield next week!
 
It was unfortunate but tbh I think the ref was right in both instances. Obviously there wasn't any intent in either case, but it's the defenders responsibility to protect the guy in the air. Of course people are going to jump to catch a high ball, so the other player needs to either jump and compete too or wait till the guy jumping lands to make contact - not just stand in his jumping path. In the first one I think he was really unlucky as it was a late jump from Tamanivalu and he wouldn't have been expecting the jump. But in the 2nd one he should definitely have expected the jump and not put himself in that position.

On a side note... Stephen Perofeta is looking really good. I think the Blues may have finally found themselves a genuinely quality long term 10.

There are a couple of rules in rugby that genuinely annoy me enough to turn off a game, one is the repetitive scrum penalties from having a dominant forward pack and the other is this jumping nonsense.

The side with a significantly weaker scrum is always going to fall apart and give away penalties to the point of someone being binned and then it gets worse, once this is obvious there should not be the option to reset the scrum.

As for jumping, I have yet to see an instance where the non-jumper has deliberately tried to up end the jumper (I have no doubt there are instances where this has happened though) for the most part the person being carded has abandoned going for the ball and is trying to get out of the way, which in my opinion should never be penalised.
On the other had the jumper is the guy taking the risk and poses significant risk to both himself and the other player therefore he is the guy that should be penalised in my opinion, this would discourage jumping in "traffic" which removes the risk to everyone.
 
That Wellington side are pretty useful. The way they took apart the Stags was impressive.

Are they the best side in the NPC this season?
 
That Wellington side are pretty useful. The way they took apart the Stags was impressive.

Are they the best side in the NPC this season?
Based on results you'd have to say yes... them and Canterbury are the powerhouses, North Harbour and Taranaki have been equally impressive. The thing with Wellington though is that they're in the championship, not the premiership, so they play weaker teams more often that the other 3. That being said, they have been great in their cross-over matches and thumped Canterbury who were the top team going into the match.
So... I'd say Wellington are the best team in the NPC. Not much between those 4 though.
 
This Taranaki/Tasman game is excellent. Far closer than the other semi-final.
 

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