Mitre 10 Cup Team of the Season
One thing I can declare after watching 90% of the Mitre 10 Cup rugby for 2018; New Zealand is blessed with a depth of rugby talent. The skills are a delight to watch and no longer do Kiwis have to fear that we can’t match other nations in physical dimensions. There are some whoppers coming through!
Time to sift through almost 500 players who made appearances to come up with 23 that could play an invitational game. We had many All Blacks come and visit for game time like Ngai Laumape so qualification is four games.
Let’s start with the backs.
15. First position to pick and perhaps the toughest. Mention Will Jordan, George Bridge and Wes Goosen and you’d have Shaun Stevenson and Chase Tiatia fans up in arms! Up until the semi-final I think Will Jordan was in the box seat but he did himself no favours in the semi-final loss to Canterbury.
However his form was irrepressible for the regular season, 9 tries and some great counter-attacking so he gets my pick.
14. While fullbacks and left wings shone, the right wing position is more problematic. Melani Nanai showed flashes of brilliance, Jonah Lowe was elusive and combative and no-one will forget Matt Duffie’s amazing aerial effort against Tasman….
I’m going to do a Ben Smith and stick George Bridge in there.
13. Matt Proctor was rewarded with a trip to Japan, Brayden Ennor was one of the stars of the U20 World Championship last year and after a Super season with few chances he got some quality time with Canterbury in the Mitre 10.
They would be quality picks but I’m going to go with Quinn Tupaea from Waikato. He just turned 19 earlier this month and shows an incredible maturity in his play and positioning. He has that canny knack to crack rush defences, his defence and distribution is top-notch.
Can’t wait to see him next year at the U20 global tournament.
12. No argument here, TJ Faiane all the way. He was magnificent in the final against Canterbury as a leader, his quick tap that set up Tumua Manu’s try and moments later the crushing defence that lifted his team and made them believe.
There’re no frills; straight hard running, uncompromising D and a man players will follow. David Havili for injury cover.
11. We scratched for right wings, there’s a buffet of number 11s! Sevu Reece, Tevita Li, Sales Rayasi and Jona Nareki stood out, Solomon Alaimalo and Ben Lam struggled to reach their Super form but are quality players.
Sevu Reece with 14 tries and his top numbers for offloads gets the nod.
10. Interesting mix of experience and youth here. No one had more miles on the clock than Mike Delany and you could hear the wheels come off the Bay of Plenty campaign when he exited the field against North Harbour in Week 5. The two ex-Melbourne Rebels Jack Debreczeni and Jackson Garden-Bachop had their moments too.
Then there were the new boys; Harry Plummer and Brett Cameron. Plummer won the battle of the first fives in general play in the final but he has struggled for consistency from the kicking tee, at just over 50% success rate. Cameron gets the nod.
9. Richard Judd and Finlay Christie featured well in the Duane Monkey medal points, Brad Weber was waving a black and white flag to the AB selectors and of course Mitchell Drummond and Bryn Hall were selected for the end of year tour.
I am a big fan of Bryn Hall’s composure and game management so I’d pump for him.
Now let’s get some grunt up front!
8. Auckland’s winning effort in the final perfectly framed the enigmatic Akira Ioane. After an imperious semi-final performance perhaps he’d turned the corner? Nah!
Strolls on to the field pre kick off, goes missing as Canterbury start squeezing the life out of Auckland and caps off the negatives with a yellow card and penalty try after 30 minutes to see out the first half on the naughty chair.
Then bang! The remaining hour of play he shows why he is a player who COULD be best in the world. He beats out Gareth Evans in my team just for the x-factor. Special mentions to Teariki Ben-Nicholas and Dylan Nel as well.
7 and 6. Dalton Papalii makes my team and there were two other outstanding flankers, Dillon Hunt and Vaea Fifita. Depending on who you select out of them dictates the surprise All Black’s spot. With Akira at 8 let’s go for workmate on the flanks; Dillon Hunt at 7 and Dalton Papalii at 6. Fifita off the bench to make yards and be bruising. Talking about work rate, busy beaver awards to Evan Olmstead and Ethan Blackadder.
5. Luke Romano is awesome. Pure power at tighthead lock, ball runner, big hitter and lifter/jumper.
4. When looking for a complement for the power of Romano, an aerial expert would seem to be the way to go. I like Ben Nee Nee’s athleticism but looking through the stats Pari Pari Parkinson and Josh Dickson won the most line outs and Parkinson was up there for
steals so he gets the start.
3. Angus Ta’avao set the pace and was off to All Black camp after three games. Tyrel Lomax has shown he has the goods and will slot in at tight head.
2. The surprise package was Auckland’s Robbie Abel who would seem to have a lot to offer to a Super franchise. Hooker is also a place where leaders are common and James Parsons, Joe Royal, Ash Dixon and Ricky Riccitelli all showed maturity and authority. The force came from Waikato’s Samasoni Taukei’aho with 9 tries and Andrew Makalio from Tasman and of course the star in the making Asafo Aumua from Wellington continued his development. We’re spoilt for choice but let’s go for Aumua.
1. There’s a good reason why the AB selectors have pitched Taranaki’s Reuben O’Neill into the fray. He is good! Alex Hodgeman anchored the Canterbury machine and the wily Wyatt Crockett enjoyed his time as first-class player and TV pundit!
My pick is Aki Seiuli who got Otago’s season back on track with his solid scrummaging and dynamic running game, then got cut down with a nasty knee injury. Just managed to qualifying 4 games to make the cut.
SUBS
16. With Aumua starting let’s get the old war horse James Parsons on the bench. After his conversion in his 100th match he’ll be up for providing some kicking back up off the tee!
17. Reuben O’Neill is the man to force the issue off the bench.
18. Jeff Toomaga-Allen has been round the clock and will do the job. Oh how we missed his Wellington team mate Alex Fidow this season!
19. One of the unsung heroes for Auckland was Fa’atiga Lemalu. What a workrate! Brad Tucker could also do this job.
20. We’ve already given this role to Vaea Fafita. Evan Olmstead wouldn’t be a bad pick either!
21. Brad Weber for his energy and sniping ability off the bench.
22. Harry Plummer but we’d be doing some place kicking practise!
23. Wes Goosen. He ran for over 1000 metres this year and can play most positions on the outside.
Who did I miss? There’s been so much rugby played and everyone has their favourite players.
Who would you put in your backline? Give your opinion below.
Comments on RugbyPass
Big 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
1 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 commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to comments