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Mike Rehu runs through his Mitre 10 Cup Team of the Week for Round 3.
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15 – Kaleb Trask (Bay of Plenty)
There would have been a few eyebrows raised when Trask got his maiden Mitre 10 start and pushed the in-form Chase Tiatia to the wing. The Baby Black answered in the best way by constantly inserting himself into the line and showing immense skill.
14 – Melani Nanai (Auckland)
Good to see Ben Lam back scoring triples again but he couldn’t quite edge Melani Nanai’s all-round performance against Waikato. Real pizzazz as he heads the pack of over a dozen chasers for the Duane Monkey medal.
13 – Levi Aumua (Tasman)
Part of the reason Tasman share the lead of the Premiership is that they have three big Panzers controlling the middle of the battlefield. Makalio, Frizell, and Aumua draw so many defenders and the backline is feasting off space that these guys earn.
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12 – TJ Faiane (Auckland)
There was a groan when TJ went to the boot on Thursday night and sure enough, it was a dud. Faiane is predictably perfect when he gets the ball on the run and puts his head down running straight. He takes some stopping! Ray Nu’u looked sharp coming off the bench for Southland.
11 – Malo Tuitama (Wellington)
As we’ve seen at the Cake Tin this year, Lam finishes well but credit to players like Tuitama make big, big yards and set up the go forward ball for Big Ben to chime in at the end of the chain.
10 – Jackson Garden Bachop (Wellington)
Even though they went off the boil in the 2nd half Wellington socked the Stags in the first 40 and Garden Bachop set the tempo playing flat and hard, giving the Stags no time to react or reset.
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9 – Finlay Christie (Tasman)
This guy is a real spark and epitomises a feisty, combative halfback. Special mention to Folau Fakatava who stepped up when Brad Webber hobbled off for the Magpies. We’ll see more of him that’s for sure.
8 – Dylan Nel (Otago)
With this year’s Highlanders loosies causing mayhem for Canterbury (Whitelock) North Harbour (Hunt) and Hawkes Bay (Evans) Otago has missed them. Nel stepped up at the weekend showing power and determination to lead Otago to its first victory of the season.
7 – Blake Gibson (Auckland)
When Gibson went down against Northland the week before with a rib issue it looked like he’d be out for a few weeks if not the season. Five days later he’s out on the park looking as padded round the guts as some of us in the stands and giving it his all. Good fillip for his teammates.
6 – Shannon Frizell (Tasman)
His power is unquestioned. The odd rudimentary error underlines he has a bit to work on in terms of finesse but one of the strongest players we have in the Kiwi arsenal.
5 – Luke Romano (Canterbury)
Putting his hand up for when he is needed in black.
4 – James Blackwell (Wellington)
Strong in basics and a smart running game.
3 – Angus Ta’avao (Taranaki)
Big Gus started the round with another stormer against Counties Manukau that launched him into the AB camp. Tyrell Lomax is a post RWC All Black if he can keep his trajectory going.
2 – Robbie Abel (Auckland)
It was great to see Asafo Aumua back with a vengeance but he couldn’t usurp Robbie the rugby gypsy Abel from the hooker’s spot. In the last few years Robbie has played in Perth and Canberra but he looked at home with twin touchdowns at Eden Park last Thursday.
1 – Aki Seiuli (Otago)
Seiuli’s ball carrying stood out in Otago’s first victory of the season against Manawatu and he added leadership to a raw pack.
Best Individual Skill. When Bryn Gatland pumped an attacking cross kick to Matt Duffie’s wing against Tasman it looked slightly overcooked. Before it could get slightly charred Duffie leapt like a salmon, took the ball safely while performing a pirouette to stay in play… and land to the ground for an amazing try.
Watch out this week for two top of the table clashes. Tasman visit Auckland for the top spot in the Premiership, watch at 3.35pm HK on Friday. The day after in the Championship Bay of Plenty needs to beat Hawkes Bay to overtake them for first on the roster. That game is on Rugby Pass, Saturday 12.35pm HK.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt 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 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 comments