ANZC Week 4 - 21st August

[Jethro]

Current Standings

Bay of Plenty 12
Canterbury 10
Tasman 9
Southland 9
Wellington 9
Manawatu 9
Hawke’s Bay 7
Otago 7
Taranaki 6
Auckland 6
Northland 5
North Harbour 5
Waikato 5
Counties Manakau 2

Match Ups, or how to not pick the winners

Week four gets underway with a pretty enticing game, Manawatu v Otago. You would be stretching to put on the house on this game though I’m going to pop the Poo into the winners column due to home town advantage. Another year the Southerners would probably love to forget and a result that will underline their making up the numbers in 2009.

North Harbour v Northland looms as a pretty dire clash to be honest, neither team firing as yet in 2009 though Harbour can point to a result over the evil empire, otherwise known as Canterbury. Another game that could go either way, Taniwha in a close one.

In deepest darkest Southland even the penguins will be getting along to see the home town Stags up against the underfiring Magpies as Southland take on Hawke's Bay. The Bay still haven’t got over their Auckland hangover and quite frankly the woes are going to get worse, the Stags to take a tight one by uinder 10.

Surprise packets 2009 Bay of Plenty are a shoe in to dispose of Waikato on Saturday. Given the situation Hori BOP should be running in four plus tries in a one sided massacre of Mooloo. Talk about your tale of two sides, it was the best of times it was the worse of times, depending on which side you support.

A Southern derby sees the Cantabs sans Carter taking on the high flying Makos, or as one wag put it Canterbury v Canterbury B. The Cantabs are starting to roll in 2009 and should have zero issues in disposing of their neighbours on Saturday. Extra bonus if Tasman can keep it to under four tries.

The shield gos on line in Saturday’s final game with the Wellington Lions taking on Auckland. The Lions dropped their first game of the season in an upset against BOP while Auckland logged their first win of the season over the Taniwha. The round will see AB players unavailable, wont affect Wellington they didn’t use theirs, will mean a big loss to the “A†team.

Sunday sees cellar dwellars Counties-Manukau get some treatment from Taranaki. The Naki should have zero problems with winning this one considering Counties are looking like a local club side rather than a Premier division outfit.

 

[William18]

Keeping the shield could be a bit tough against Auckland. Hopefully, without their All Blacks, Auckland don't show up. I am really interested to see if Bay of Plenty can continue their great run of form.

 

[Jethro]

Manawatu 19 - 12 Otago

The Poo were superb on defense though a Ref blunder cost Otago the draw in the dying minutes. Huge crowd in as the ANZC continues to hot up in 2009.

Anyone else thinking it's not going to be a cut and dried decision on who goes down at the end of year? The Poo are 3 and 1 for the season.

Great start to another excellent weekend of ANZC football.

 

[jawmalawm24]

Last nights game was awesome and a massive crowd for Manawatu. That Aaron Crudens pretty good for a young fulla and no doubt in a few years he'll be in the All Blacks.

Damn I was impressed with the Turbos defence I think the commentator says they defended 22 phases or something crazy like that in a row. It was very unfortunate that they couldn't call on the tmo for that last try of Adam Thompsons but that's just Rugby before professionalism never had tmo, tactical subs, cards or blood bins.

I've been loving watching this years Anz Cup it's been packed full of action and the rules are more understandable unlike the international and Super14. I hope this trend of good games continues throughout the whole season because so far it's been tops.

 

[William18]

OPINION: Here are five reasons why I think the Air New Zealand Cup provincial rugby competition leaves the Super 14 for dead, writes Logan Savory in this week's Sav's Say.

5. Jargon
American terms like draft and franchise have engulfed the Super 14 but luckily we don't have to put up with the Yankee jargon dominating our provincial scene.

Despite rugby turning professional, surely we don't need to label our sporting teams as if they are a newly opened Subway or McDonald's stores.

4. The viewing

Southland rugby fans were lucky this year as Highlanders officials allocated Invercargill two games during the Super 14 season.

But why would rugby fans in Napier, Whangarei or Tauranga engage in the competition when the Super 14 circus doesn't even stop in their home town?

The only way Palmerston North could get a piece of the Super 14 pie was by convincing a Dunedin-based team to sell its soul and play a home game in the North Island city.

3. Loyalty
Most players get the chance in the Air New Zealand Cup to choose who they play their rugby for.

However, fringe Super 14 players get bounced around the boardroom table during the draft process before someone eventually settles on where they will play.

Take Jason Kawau, for example. He was hopeful he would make the Highlanders for 2009 but got told he would probably be picked up by the Blues.

When the Super 14 squads were eventually released he was named in the Hurricanes.

How can you breed loyalty when players are moved around like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle?

2. Summer/winter
This is simple. July, August and September are prime rugby months and that is when the Air New Zealand Cup is played.

That on its own is why the Air New Zealand Cup is far superior to the Super 14.

I don't know a lot of people who want to watch rugby in February and March. The fact a one-day international cricket game between traditional rivals New Zealand and Australia in February has had to be shifted from Westpac Stadium in Wellington to accommodate a Super 14 game is nothing short of embarrassing.

Push off rugby, winter is your time to prosper.

1. Provincial pride
No matter how much the marketing gurus try to drum up support with their "United We Stand" type campaigns, the Super 14 doesn't pull on the heartstrings like the battle of provincial boundaries does.

Super 14 organisations are nothing short of manufactured teams set up to try keep the NZRU's bank balance afloat.

Suggesting otherwise is shifting away from the truth.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/spo...an-the-Super-14

I agree with that, TBH.

 

[William18]

I think Otago should be on the teams to go down. They are lsoing lots and get terrible crowds. It would be a shame if they stayed up and a team like Manawatu went down. The NZRU should have the guts to get rid of the big teams if they aren't performing.

 

[Jethro]

Southland 18 - 9 Hawke's Bay

It wasn't pretty but a large Southland crowd got to watch two team do the hard yards and tackle each other into the ground. Southland's great start to 2009 continues while the Bay is coming off the rails at the moment and are in a must win situation next week. In the wash up the Stags deserved the win but the Magpies did not deserve to lose.

Excuse me while I sit in the corner and sulk for half an hour

North Harbour 23 - 26 Northland

How on earth you can dominate set piece, spend most of your time in the opposition half, and have the majority of the ball and still lose the match remains a mystery that only Harbour can explain. Slumping to their third loss in a row, and after downing the Cantabs in round 1, Harbour must be looking toward the NZRU with some worried expressions on their faces. Good win to the Taniwha here, they guts it out and didn't give an inch.

The ANZC is alive and well folks, could one of the Aussie networks wake up and smell the roses, this is the sort of rugby the punters want to see not T3 aerial assualts!

 

[William18]

Brilliant job for us on retaining the shield. I just love Fa'atonu Fili. That's two crucial drop goals that he has kicked near the end of games to help keep the shield. That is ranfurly shield rugby. Hopefully, we can beat Canterbury next week. If we do, we should have a real chance of keeping the shield for a nice long time. 13,500 was actually a pretty decent crowd, although we should get more to a shield game against Auckland.

 

[Ripper]

Daniel Bowden can go f*** himself... don't know why we just don't stick Toeava at Fly half.

 

[William18]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ripper @ Aug 23 2009, 11:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Daniel Bowden can go f*** himself... don't know why we just don't stick Toeava at Fly half.[/b]

I didn't think Ash Moake was anything special last night, either. You guys definately need to start with Moa, the game changed when he came on.

 

[cyRil]

Ripper beat me to this. Daniel Bowden is an absolute ********; in every aspect. Why does he play rugby?

 

[Charles]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cyRil of Ospreylia @ Aug 23 2009, 04:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Ripper beat me to this. Daniel Bowden is an absolute ********; in every aspect. Why does he play rugby?[/b]

Care to elaborate ?

Not that I like him myself but you sound like ****** off.

 

[cyRil]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Charles @ Aug 23 2009, 11:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cyRil of Ospreylia @ Aug 23 2009, 04:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ripper beat me to this. Daniel Bowden is an absolute ********; in every aspect. Why does he play rugby?[/b]

Care to elaborate ?

Not that I like him myself but you sound like ****** off.
[/b][/quote]
Well, I just get wound up by brainless rugby players. He missed 3 out of 4 kicks, controlled what ball he had poorly, and, chasing the game in the last 30 seconds, he kicks the ball away into the arms of the grateful full back. What a moron.

 

[jawmalawm24]

I love Daniel Bowden for doing that he's awesome and deserves a medal lol. Nah to be honest I was crapping the hell out of my pants until he kicked it back to us wtf was he thinking. Also he wasn't the only one that had a brain explosion Mat Luamanu picked the ball up from the scrum instead of letting Alby pick it up and kicking it out he's just lucky he didn't turn it over.

That was to tight for comfort but luckily the ref gave me an excuse in the first half when he disallowed Fa'atonu Fili's try so I would of had something to blame it on if we lost.

 

[Jethro]

Bay of Plenty 16
Canterbury 14
Southland 13
Wellington 13
Manawatu 13
Tasman 10
Northland 9
Otago 8
Hawke's Bay 7
Auckland 7
Taranaki 6
North Harbour 6
Counties Manukau 6
Waikato 5

Counties pull themselves off the bottom with a well taken win over the Naki, and the upsets continue through 2009. They should leave it at 12 teams with 2 teams auto promotion/relegation to div 2 imho.

 

[Flux]

How Taranaki managed to lose that one when they looked the most likely throughout the first half is beyond me. Typical though. I hope they can start taking their chances better.