Far more than just 23 All Blacks on show this weekend
On Saturday night the All Blacks will take on the Wallabies for the first time this year. 23 men will run out to try secure the Bledisloe Cup for the 17th year in a row – but they’re not the only All Blacks you’ll find on show this weekend.
Last night, 2019’s edition of the Mitre 10 Cup kicked off down in Invercargil, with Southland taking on Northland. The hosts, who were on a 21-match losing streak, snuck out to build a small lead but the visitors ultimately emerged victorious.
Whilst there were a few Super Rugby players on display for the ‘lands, such as Chiefs first fives Jack Debreczeni and Marty McKenzie, the well-known faces will be coming out in droves over Friday and Saturday – including a number of past, present and future All Blacks.
First up is the Battle of the Bridge, which sees Auckland host North Harbour. Last year’s defending champions have rolled out a strong lineup, including Blues regulars Tanielu Tele’a, TJ Faiane, Caleb Clarke, Harry Plummer, Jonathan Ruru and Blake Gibson. Hurricanes flyer Salesi Rayasi will also run out in the fullback jersey.
It’s the match’s underdogs who will have the All Blacks on their books, however. Karl Tu’inukuafe, Matt Duffie and Dillon Hunt will all start for North Harbour. Tu’inukuafe will fancy his chances at still making the World Cup squad – even if the odds aren’t in his favour. Tonight’s match will be his first game since the 10th of May. Duffie has run out for New Zealand twice, but both matches (against the Barbarians and a French XV) were uncapped. Hunt has also made two appearances for the All Blacks. His debut came in the uncapped match against the French XV in 2017, whilst he made his first test appearance against Japan last year.
Harbour also have a slew of Super Rugby players in their side, with Shaun Stevenson, Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Bryn Hall, Gerard Cowley-Tuioti and Reds representative Matt McGahan all suiting up.
Tasman will field an exceptionally talented team on Saturday afternoon for their match with Wellington. All Blacks David Havili, Liam Squire, Shannon Frizell and Tyrel Lomax will all take the field for the Mako. Squire took his name out of the selection equation earlier in the year when he decided he wasn’t ready for international football. With a few games to play before the World Cup squad is announced, could Squire still come into the picture?
Other players to watch include Will Jordan, who was tipped to make the All Blacks this year but didn’t quite log enough game time and blindside flanker Ethan Blackadder.
Wellington don’t have any All Blacks available for selection at this point in the season, but their side is still stacked with Super Rugby talent. Wes Goosen, Ben Lam, captain Du’Plessis Kirifi and lock James Blackwell all played major roles in the Hurricanes run to the semi-finals.
The late afternoon game on Saturday sees Taranaki travel to Counties Manukau. If 8000 fans turn out at the match in Pukekohe then the remainder of the Steelers’ home games will have free entry – and the talent on display should get fans along in droves.
Counties have current All Blacks midfielder Sonny Bill Williams to call on. Left wing Etene Nanai-Seturo showed plenty of promise for the Chiefs this year and was one of the New Zealand U20’s best performers earlier this season.
Taranaki have named out-of-favour All Blacks wing Waisake Naholo on their right wing – his clash with Nanai-Seturo is one to savour. Waisake’s younger brother, Kini, will come off the bench. Te Torioa Tahuriorangi will also be itching for game time after spending most of the season camped behind Brad Weber at the Chiefs. Weber has now taken Tahuriorangi’s spot in the All Blacks. Reuben O’Neill is also on track to make his first appearance since being named in last year’s end of year All Blacks tour squad.
Saturday’s final match sees last year’s championship winners host last year’s premiership finalists. Canterbury will travel to Hamilton to take on Waikato in what promises to be an excellent game.
Cantebury will call upon All Blacks Brett Cameron, Mitchell Drummond, Luke Whitelock and Luke Romano. The former three all featured for New Zealand last year, whilst Romano notched up over 30 caps between 2012 and 2017.
Waikato don’t have quite the same calibre of players to call upon – but there’s plenty of potential amongst their ranks. Their only available international is Apisai Naikatani, who’s made 18 appearances for Fiji. U20 stars Rivez Reihana, Ollie Norris and Simon Parker could all make their debuts off the bench however. Their midfield pairing of almost-centurion Dwayne Sweeney and up-and-comer Quinn Tupaea could do some damage to Canterbury – who could start U20 co-captain Dallas McLeod in the centres.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments