Southland vs Waikato

[TRF_woosaah]

Round one game two.

This time last year Southland held Waikato to a fantastic 7-6 victory in Hamilton.

Can they do it again this year at home?

Teams (Note that each team will name 23 players in 2011, with three-front row forwards among the eight reserves.)

Southland: 1. Jamie Mackintosh (capt), 2. Jason Rutledge, 3. Chris King, 4. Josh Bekhuis, 5. Ben Nally, 6. Alex Taylor, 7. John Hardie, 8. Elliot Dixon, 9. Scott Cowan, 10. Scott Eade, 11. Glen Horton, 12. Matt Saunders, 13. Kendrick Lynn, 14. Mark Wells, 15. Robbie Robinson.

Reserves: 16. David Hall, 17. Nick Barrett, 18. Joe Tuineau, 19. Kaleni Taituli, 20. Sonny Rangitohereri, 21. James Lew, 22. Tim Cornforth, 23. Michael Peterson.


Waikato: 1. Ben May, 2. Aled de Malmanche, 3. Nathan White (capt), 4. Toby Lynn, 5. Romana Graham, 6. Matt Vant Leven, 7. Marty Holah, 8. Alex Bradley, 9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 10. Stephen Donald, 11. Declan O'Donnell, 12. Jackson Willison, 13. Save Tokula, 14. Sitiveni Sivivatu, 15. Trent Renata.

Reserves: 16. Marcel Cummings-Toone, 17. Toby Smith, 18. Chris Middleton, 19. Zack Hohneck, 20. Brendon Leonard, 21. Tim Mikkelson, 22. Rena Schuster, 23. Ted Tauroa.

 

[Darwin]

Should be good battle in the forwards, but Waikato do look to have a big edge in the backline with the likes of Kerr-Barlow, Donald, Sivivatu... However the likely weather conditions in Invercargill (it wouldn't surprise me if it was snowing..), mean that their advantage in the backs doesn't really count for anything. I think the result of the game will depend on how young Scott Eade goes on debut: if he plays well can see Southland winning the match, as they have the home advantage and a tight-five that is really suited to these conditions. Overall I'm picking Southland to win it by 3 points (and I'd imagine most of the scoring will be in 3's...)

 

[Larksea]

My two fav teams!

Looking forward to this game more than I have any super rugby game this year.

I expect the southland lineout to be far superior and the scrums to be fairly even.

But Waikato look like they have a pretty big advantage in the backs and on the bench as well.

I expect big games from Alex Bradley and Stephen Donald to who looked like he was nursing minor injuries during the super15.

Sivivatu doesn't have much time if he really wants to impress the all black selectors. He needs to prove he's hungry and working on his speed and fittness to force Henry & Co. To give him a chance.

Conditions will play a big part and give Southland an advantage.

Key for Waikato is going to be using the ball. Avoiding lineouts and holding their own when they have to at the lineout.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Was a dull game, but happy Waikato won it. Go Mooloos

 

[Sam Owen]

Was a dull game, but happy Waikato won it. Go Mooloos

True that. I thought Kerr-Barlow looked good, I like his style. He was impressive in the last ITM cup and then disappeared in Super Rugby but hes back and playing like he should.

 

[Darwin]

True that. I thought Kerr-Barlow looked good, I like his style. He was impressive in the last ITM cup and then disappeared in Super Rugby but hes back and playing like he should.

Kerr-Barlow certainly does add a bit of spark at halfback. At times I feel he tries to do to much himself though - either going himself or trying fancy flick passes when they aren't really on. He certainly has all the tools to be an AB's halfback in the future though.

As others have mentioned it wasn't the most exciting game. Waikato's win was built around dominance up front (particularly at the scrum). Both Number 8's had strong games. Bradley appeals as an old school number 8 - powerful with the ball in hand, and he does a great job supporting the back three. Dixon ran a bit wider than Bradley but was equally effective, he is certainly someone with a big future.

Donald showed how good he is at this level with a strong game (scoring all Waikato's points). I thought O'Donnell looked good on his debut, but Sivivatu was reasonably quite on the other wing. I thought Scott Eade had a very impressive debut (the early missed tackle on Donald aside). He is great kicker both out of hand and at goal, and he started to show his running game as the match progressed.

 

[Jayatron]

The manner in which Southland lost this game is what annoyed me. We've got Canterbury next Saturday in RS match and I can see the Stags upsetting anyone.

 

[Larksea]

I actually didn't think it was a dull game though yes it was dominated by defense and unlike last year waikato were better in this area.

heck how can you call a game with 4 yellow cards dull

Early on there was some great attacking moves by waikato that really stung southland but they lifted their intensity. Southland came back and starved the moloo of ball but the waikato line held up ok.

Impressive games from the guys i tiped Donald and Bradley.

barlow was impressive but he still has a habit of making silly mistakes at the worst times, doing something complicated when the easy option was all that was needed. Has a lot of potnetial though, made some good tackles. Really important part of a halfbacks game to be able to stop the #8 when he detatches. Weepu really impressed me when he did that to Spies constantly last year and barlow reminded me of that the way he nailed the 8.