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Super Rugby Aupiki teams named for semifinals
Super Rugby Aupiki’s regular season has concluded with the Chiefs Manawa claiming three wins from three to top the season table. All three other sides managed just one win and two losses, Matatu landed in second place while the Blues and hurricanes Poua claimed third and fourth respectively as a result of their points differential.
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The playoffs begin on Sunday with both semifinal matches hosted at North Harbour Stadium.
Hurricanes Poua
The Hurricanes Poua have their work cut out for them as they face the title favourites in the Chiefs Manawa. Coach Victoria Grant has decided to shake things up in the backline for the knockout stages by shifting powerhouse Black Ferns winger Ayesha Leti-I’iga into the midfield, pushing Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali to first-five, with Carys Dallinger looking to provide impact off the bench.
“We are looking forward to the challenge. We’ve been building nicely over the past 3 games and have improved significantly, especially in set piece with 100% in our lineouts and scrums last week. We are focused on putting together a solid 80min performance this week,” said Grant.
Manawat?’s Rachael Rakatau will once again captain the side from lock, alongside Joanah Ngan-Woo.
Hurricanes Poua to take on Chiefs Manawa:
1. Krystal Murray 2. Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate 3. Cilia-Marie Po’e-Tofaeono 4. Joanah Ngan-Woo 5. Rachael Rakatau © 6. Layla Sae 7. Rhiarna Ferris 8. Kaipo Olsen-Baker 9. Milly Mackey 10. Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali 11. Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly 12. Shakira Baker 13. Ayesha Leti-I’iga 14. Bernadette Robertson 15. Isabella Waterman
Reserves:
16. Sosoli Talawadua 17. Baye Jacob 18. Cristo Tofa 19. Maddie Feaunati 20. Aroha Savage 21. Kahlia Awa * 22. Carys Dallinger 23. Crystal Mayes
Chiefs Manawa
Finishing first in the standings to the tune of a mighty 149 points scored over their three outings to date, the Manawa will be confident heading into their matchup with the Hurricanes Poua.
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Head coach Crystal Kaua is eager to keep her side’s unbeaten record alive and claim back-to-back titles in the competition and has named an unchanged 23 from last week’s clash with Matatu, banking on the chemistry she saw in the 46-38 win.
“The team is connected, and you’ve seen that over the past three weeks when things get hard, there’s a real belief within the group that we will find a way,” Kaua said.
Although the results look favourable, Kaua wasn’t shying away from the challenges her team have faced and those that are yet to come.
“We’ve lost ten Black Ferns XV’s or sevens players since last year, what we have delivered to date is special, but these are the moments we train for. In finals footy, we want to see them put out an 80-minute performance, we haven’t done that yet.”
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Chiefs Manawa side to take on Hurricanes Poua:
1. Kate Henwood 2. Luka Connor 3. Tanya Kalounivale 4. Kelsie Thwaites 5. Chelsea Bremner 6. Charmaine Smith 7. Tynealle Fitzgerald 8. Kennedy Simon (C) 9. Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu (VC) 10. Hazel Tubic 11. Georgia Daals 12. Azalleyah Maaka 13. Carla Hohepa 14. Mererangi Paul 15. Tenika Willison
Reserves:
16. Grace Houpapa-Barrett 17. Harono Te Iringa 18. Te Urupounamu McGarvey 19. Dhys Faleafaga 20. Victoria Makea 21. Violet Hapi-Wise 22. Abigail Roach 23. Apii Nicholls
Matatu
While the Chiefs Manawa dominated the opening rounds, Matatu gave the Waikato side their closest contest and will be hoping to topple the Blues as they did in round one in order to set up their rematch with the table toppers in the final.
Two notable moves in the Matatu side are Martha Mataele’s move to the left wing and Alana Bremner’s move to No 8.
“She’s an explosive athlete, powerful, and she adds some real robustness on the outside in both attack and defense,” head coach Blair Baxter said of Mataele.
As for the Black Fern Bremner, Baxter said “we’re expecting to see a different Lanz in that spot. She’s an athlete that has the ability to dive into her running game and showcase some of her superpowers.”
Matatu side to play the Blues:
1. Pip Love 2. Georgia Ponsonby 3. Amy Rule 4. Emma Dermody 5. Cindy Nelles 6. Lucy Jenkins 7. Kendra Reynolds 8. Alana Bremner 9. Di Hiini 10. Rosie Kelly 11. Martha Mataele 12. Grace Brooker 13. Amy du Plessis 14. Chay Robins-Reti 15. Renee Holmes
Reserves:
16. Nat Delamare 17. Ona Palu 18. Steph Te-Ohaere Fox 19. Sara Naiqama 20. Marcelle Parkes 21. Georgia Cormick 22. Cheyenne Cunningham 23. Charntay Poko
The Blues
The Auckland side comes into their semifinal contest with Matatu having claimed their first win if the season last weekend against the Poua.
The big news out of Blues camp is reigning World Rugby Player of the Year Ruahei Demant moves from her familiar first-five position into the midfield, occupying the No 12 jersey. The move makes way for veteran Krysten Cottrell to enter the staring side at No 10.
Demant was upbeat about the positional shift, saying “it’ll be great wearing the twelve jersey and running off Krysten. Whenever she’s come on in previous matches I’ve noticed a difference in our attack so I’m looking forward to starting out there with her.”
“There’s been a buzz around our training base at Eden Rugby Club over the last couple of days. We are walking towards this semi final and embracing the challenge ahead of us. We know Matat? will bring their best on Sunday and we’ll have to be at ours to match them.”
The Blues team to play Matatu:
1. Chryss Viliko 2. Grace Gago 3. Sophie Fisher 4. Eloise Blackwell 5. Maiakawanakaulani Roos 6. Charmaine McMenamin 7. Tafito Lafaele 8. Liana Mikaele-Tu’u 9. Melanie Puckett 10. Krysten Cottrell 11. Katelynn Vahaakolo 12. Ruahei Demant 13. Sylvia Brunt 14. Jaymie Kolose 15. Patricia Maliepo
Reserves:
16. Alakoka Po’oi 17. Toka Natua 18. Letelemalanuola Lavea 19. Maama Vaipulu 20. Shannon Leota 21. Ariana Bayler 22. Kiritapu Demant 23. Tara Turner
Comments on RugbyPass
Should'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.
19 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.
19 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 commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to comments