Now we that are getting into the ‘rhythm’ of the 2015 provincial rugby season within New Zealand (NZ) fans are really getting behind this representative phase of the year. They have put away their Super Rugby jersey’s away [some have] fans supported their club in their goals of achieving success in their region and now they get to enjoy regular ITM Cup matches, Heartland Championship games and the Women’s Provincial Championships matches.
Some new names have emerged from the first few weeks of competition. Chase Tiatia from Bay of Plenty seems to be taking his chances after moving north. Vaea Fafita is yet another dynamo flanker in the Wellington side, who know have a full-deck of loose forward power to improve upon and Michael Allardice is showing what exposure to the Super Rugby environment can do for a player. Both Ash Dixon and Elliot Dixon are both demonstrating that same improvement from twelve months previous.
Those players were ones to watch out for in the future, but to add to the value of this years matches many All Blacks had been released back into the play and were doing their very best to show the national selectors that they are still worthy of selection for an upcoming tournament. Stars like Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Beauden Barrett, Victor Vito and Israel Dagg all helped their sides with the assured polish that comes from wearing the black jersey.
While the focus needs to always be on these competitions, the Gorilla in the corner is Rugby World Cup squad announcements. Last Word On Sports will cover this with the official NZ Rugby media release published immediately after the team is know, and then among all the other LWOS writing team, will look at this side during the next week – but first, fans could all enjoy some great matches over this weekend before all of us sat back to review and analyse this 2015 All Blacks Rugby World Cup 31 man squad (to be announced)
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ITM CUP – Week Three
You could see from the standings after only two weeks, this would be a healthy competition. There had been no absolute ‘cricket scores’ and while North Harbour was provided a 43 point hiding, the results had been ‘good to sublime’ in the competitions factor. And competition means that the reigning ITM Cup Champions from both divisions (now they in the same Premiership race) had actually had disappointing results to start with; that is good for the entire ITM Cup season.
Taranaki had been surprised to not be in a position of authority, so needed to collect a scalp while playing home, conditions not withstanding. Large pools of water covered the New Plymouth ground, and incredibly for them, they ended up being knocked yet again ‘for six’ by a defiant Otago side. They faced their opposition and some outrageously wet conditions to look in a commanding position after 40 minutes, to then come out from the break and to have the match taken from right under their feet. It was a well motivated team who fought back from a 22-6 deficit to recoup the lead on the final scoring play. It was fairy tale stuff, but rugby straight from the heart.
In other matches, Wellington had a second game where the opposition were held scoreless thanks to some brilliance from Cory Jane [again] and the Tasman Makos are leading the competition and looking good at it. Besides the Hawke’s Bay team, that Nelson based provincial side now hold the favourites position and look to be at a level just above Canterbury, even if the ‘Red & Blacks’ beat a talented Auckland side. That close result echoed the Otago and Taranaki one, with sides not letting the other get anymore than seven points in front, and then to overcome them through shear aggression over the ball and resolved defence.
Results: Wednesday 26th August, Bay of Plenty 26 Southland 10 | Thursday 27th August, Tasman 41 Manawatu 21 | Friday 28th August, Counties-Manukau 11 Hawke’s Bay 35 | Saturday 29th August Auckland 21 Canterbury 27 | Taranaki 27 Otago 34 | Wellington 29 Northland 0 | Sunday 30th August, Bay of Plenty 10 Waikato 43 | Southland 25 North Harbour 26
LWOS Player of the Week – Johnny McNicholl.
A new regular feature on the RugbyNZ_ Overview, I’ve chosen to highlight the returning Canterbury player Johnny McNicholl, who showed he is ‘white lightning’ in assisting his team to overcome a tight match against Auckland. With two tries, he was a threat whenever he entered the backline, offloads were a constant menace for the Auckland team to be aware of. He looks to have a good future ahead of him [Crusaders] and has returned well from injury.
Future fixtures: Wednesday 2nd September, Taranaki v Counties-Manukau, New Plymouth | Thursday 3rd September, Manawatu v Canterbury, Palmerston North | Friday 4th September, Otago v Tasman, Dunedin | Saturday 5th September, Waikato v Auckland, Hamilton | Southland v Wellington, Invercargill | Hawke’s Bay v North Harbour, Napier | Sunday 6th September: Northland v Taranaki, Whangarei | Counties-Manaukau v Bay of Plenty, Pukekohe
ITM Cup News – After week two, the ITM Cup had to adjudicate on the first red card penalty for this season’s competition. NZ Rugby judiciary accepted a guilty plea from Matt Talaese of Northland; he had been issued a red card for contravening law 10.4(h) Dangerous Charging, in the ITM Cup match at the weekend. Talaese has been suspended from all forms of the game for three weeks up to Sunday 13 September 2015, so misses the next three games for the Taniwha.
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HEARTLAND CHAMPIONSHIP – Week 2
Results: Saturday 29th August – West Coast 21 Buller 7 | King Country 34 v Horowhenua-Kapiti 28 | Poverty Bay 37 v Thames Valley 43 | South Canterbury 57 v East Coast 5 | Wanganui 28 v Mid Canterbury 30 | Wairapa Bush 16 v North Otago 18
Game of the week – West Coast have faced their neighbours Buller an incredible number of times over their illustrious rugby history stretching well over a century. These games are ingrained on the local communities, and on this occasion the home side took a stronger desire into this game. Played in front of a loyal crowd in Greymouth for the closely contested Rundle Cup; of the 37 challenge trophies contested between two provinces in New Zealand rugby it is of the longest continuous existence, it is also the second oldest provincial trophy after the Ranfurly Shield.
With only a single try and penalty on the scoreboard during the first half, it showed the teams were both determined to show their best in another epic encounter. By the end of the game, it demonstrated West Coasts strengths in withstanding pressure and turning that into attack. Their defence was good all over the park and local hero Hugo Torres scored an impressive 13 points to celebrate 125 years of Heartland rugby.
This gives each side a win each in the Heartland Championship. Wanganui and North Otago each have two victories and have created a small gap back to the others, so going into the next round King Country and South Canterbury will be looking for victory but it is still too early to pick any form. It is just great to see this type of footy being played with it’s Grassroots feel for the game. Get along to your closest game next week, I insist.
Future fixtures: Saturday 5th September, Buller v Wairapa Bush, Westport | Thames Valley v East Coast, Paeroa | Horowhenua-Kapiti v Poverty Bay, Waikanae | Mid Canterbury v King Country, Ashburton | North Otago v Wanganui, Oamaru | South Canterbury v West Coast, Timaru
Heartland News – NZ Rugby announced this week that Mid Canterbury Coach Grant Keenan has been appointed Head Coach of the New Zealand Heartland XV and will be assisted by Poverty Bay Head Coach Mutu Ngarimu. The team is to be selected from within the Pink Batts Heartland Championship sides at the end of this season and will then play a New Zealand Marist side before heading to face an Australian Barbarian selection in early November, 2016.
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WOMENS PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP – WEEK 2
Results: Auckland 70 Canterbury 8 | Otago 32 Hawke’s Bay 14 |Wellington 34 Manawatu 0 | Bay of Plenty 0 Waikato 43
Another demonstration of the great scheduling of these matches, with two out of the four games being played as the curtain-raiser for ITM Cup games and for some at Eden Park, that game would have seen twelve tries scored by the Storm – twice as many as the main game had in total. The Auckland side made their stake for ‘number one contender’ in this years Women’s Provincial Championship (WPC) well known and it will hinder Canterbury’s challenge, losing by 60 odd points to add to last weeks drubbing.
In the Otago v Hawke’s Bay match, we saw a closer game with the hosts triumphing 32-14 while Wellington and Waikato both asserted their authority with one-sided results. Counties-Manukau had the bye, so after the second week we can see the Storm building a huge points differential advantage that will become crucial in the WPC qualifying stages, sharing the top of the table position [currently] with Waikato.
It looks to be a competition that will be decided once all of the ‘big four’ face each other, so next weeks match between Waikato and Wellington will see the winner of that game establish some consistency. Auckland, Canterbury and Otago have the BYE round but it is still early days and after the next two weeks we will start to see a winning trend emerge and determine if the top four sides are consistent with pre-season assumptions.
Future fixtures: Saturday 5th September – Waikato v Wellington, Hamilton | Bay of Plenty v Hake’s Bay, Rotorua | Counties-Manukau v Manawatu, Papakura.
WPC News – Such a big performance from the champion Auckland team can only put alarm bells into all other eight sides. With tryscoring machine Makineti Hufanga crossing four times, she has raised her hand for national selection already, as has Lydia Crossman. The flanker plays what is in front of her and only knows one direction – storming straight ahead. With current Black Ferns captain Linda Itunu leading this team, all provincial (and International sides) will need to work hard to counter this powerful unit that is the Auckland Storm!
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