Otago v. Counties

[Kiwiwomble]

Otago: Ben Smith, Joe Hill, Jayden Spence, Glenn Dickson, Buxton Popoali'i, Tony Brown, Johnny Legg, Andrew Stead, Adam Hill, Paul Grant, Tom Donnelly (captain), Rob Verbakel, James McGougan, Liam Coltman, Scott Manson.
Reserves: Kees Meeuws, Jason Macdonald, Halani Aulika, Tom Franklin, Gareth Evans, Sean Romans, Hayden Parker, Ben Atiga.
Counties-Manukau: James Semple, Tyrone Lefau, Siale Piutau, Niva Ta'auso, Bundee Aki, Bayden Kerr, Augustine Pulu, Viliami Fihaki, Mark Selwyn, Adam Cathcart, Jamie Chipman (captain), Chris McLaren, Matt Talaese, Grant Henson, Ihipa Thompson.
Reserves: Mark Price, Jeremiah Fatialofa, Simon Lemalu, Taiasina Tuifua, DJ Forbes, Samisoni Fisilau, Tasesa Lavea, Sherwin Stowers.


interesting team for us, I know we have to mix it up to keep people fresh but it must be hard to get combos going

 

[Darwin]

Otago: Ben Smith, Joe Hill, Jayden Spence, Glenn Dickson, Buxton Popoali'i, Tony Brown, Johnny Legg, Andrew Stead, Adam Hill, Paul Grant, Tom Donnelly (captain), Rob Verbakel, James McGougan, Liam Coltman, Scott Manson.
Reserves: Kees Meeuws, Jason Macdonald, Halani Aulika, Tom Franklin, Gareth Evans, Sean Romans, Hayden Parker, Ben Atiga.
Counties-Manukau: James Semple, Tyrone Lefau, Siale Piutau, Niva Ta'auso, Bundee Aki, Bayden Kerr, Augustine Pulu, Viliami Fihaki, Mark Selwyn, Adam Cathcart, Jamie Chipman (captain), Chris McLaren, Matt Talaese, Grant Henson, Ihipa Thompson.
Reserves: Mark Price, Jeremiah Fatialofa, Simon Lemalu, Taiasina Tuifua, DJ Forbes, Samisoni Fisilau, Tasesa Lavea, Sherwin Stowers.


interesting team for us, I know we have to mix it up to keep people fresh but it must be hard to get combos going

Important match for Otago - they really need to get back to winning after two consecutive losses. Very much a second string team for Otago, though Counties too look far from full strength too. Great for Otago to have Ben Smith starting at fullback - I expect he will cause Counties a lot of problems.

I'd expect Otago should have the edge up front, but the loosies look pretty evenly matched, with neither team looking overly strong in this department. I think Otago should have the edge in the halves thanks to Tony Brown's experience, but I think Counties look to be better in the midfield; the experienced Ta'auso and Piutau could cause Dickson and Spence some issues. Otago do look to have a huge edge in the outside backs, with Popoali'i, Hill, and Smith all in great form (and the Counties outside backs all very inexperienced). Overall I'd expect Otago to take win by 10-15 points.

I was actually initially keen to go to this match, but given I'm going to two matches in the weekend (Otago v Southland - the last match at Carisbrook, North Otago v West Coast - the first match in the new Stadium) I couldn't really justify going to another match!

 

[Kiwiwomble]

tv 3 news dude - "Ben Smith shuts the door to the House of Pain"...classic