Asafo Aumua could help Lions hand Canterbury their worst start to a season in over 25 years
Unwanted by the All Blacks but sure to be a major pain in the backside for Mitre 10 Cup teams across the country: Asafo Aumua is set for a big season with Wellington.
Aumua will line up tonight at hooker for the Lions as they host New Zealand’s most successful province, Canterbury.
He’ll be joined by Vaea Fifita – who is likely to be named in the All Blacks World Cup squad on Wednesday but could still miss out. Braydon Ennor will also run out for Canturbury after being released by the All Blacks to accrue some game time. Like Fifita, Ennor will be hoping to have his name read out when the national squad is announced next week.
Canterbury have already had their worst start to a provincial season since 1996 courtesy of losses to Waikato and Tasman. If last year’s finalists lose to Wellington tonight then it will be their worst start since 1992. In over four decades of competition, Canterbury have never started the season with four losses on the trot – and it would take an incredibly brave man (read: stupid) to bet on that happening in 2019, with their next opponents being Southland, who haven’t won a match since 2016.
Wellington haven’t exactly been firing this year either. Tasman tore them apart in the first round of the competition, whilst they let a big lead slip last week and ended up with a draw against Hawke’s Bay. Wellington will be be gunning to stop the rot or else their season will be over before it ever really gets going.
Elsewhere, pace-setters Tasman will have access to All Blacks prop Atu Moli for when they host Manawatu on Saturday. Moli will have to settle for a reserve spot, however, with Tyrel Lomax maintaining his spot in the starting lineup.
Later that evening, top-ranked Bay of Plenty will travel north to take on last year’s champions, Auckland. The Steamers won’t have any current All Blacks to call upon for this match (although Nathan Harris may still fancy his chances and getting the national call-up this season) but they’ve looked like a well-oiled machine in their matches to date.
Auckland will be trying to get as much ball as possible to their left wing, where All Blacks tyro Rieko Ioane will be trying to find some spark to light his World Cup campaign. The speedster has been out of form for New Zealand so far and is under plenty of pressure from the likes of Sevu Reece and George Bridge.
Saturday’s final match sees Counties Manukau take on Waikato. Counties have been a mixed bag to date, losing to Taranaki when they probably could have won and beating North Harbour when they probably should have lost. Waikato will be buoyed by the return of Luke Jacobson, who hasn’t taken the field since he debuted for the All Blacks against Argentina. Jacobson last made an appearance for the Mooloos in 2017, spending all of 2018 on the sidelines due to concussion issues.
Sunday’s fixtures see Taranaki host Northland and North Harbour head down to Southland. Taranaki will be hopeful that Waisake Naholo will be available after sitting out last week’s fixture against Manawatu.
Hawke’s Bay and Otago kicked off the round last night, with Hawke’s Bay prevailing 29-21.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments