After nine weeks of challenging domestic rugby, the New Zealand competition for Provincial pride reaches it’s completion over the nations holiday weekend. It is the ITM Cup – Premiership and Championship 2015 finals.
Played in a 14 team system within two divisions where the Premiership is the highest honour for New Zealand (NZ) rugby unions. While the Championship is a second-tier below the Top seven sides, it is in no way second-rate division. All sides have challenged each of the other division sides once this year and with several cross-promotion matches it has sprung up some surprises over the season when Championship teams have upset their more fancied Premiership rivals.
Supported by mass coverage on subscription Sky Television and replays on free-to-air Prime TV, the current ITM Cup form has been a great success and the semifinals included eight sides who each fancied their chances of qualifying. There were many fine games played. and the RugbyNZ_ Overview salutes all teams and all players involved.
Results from last weekends semifinals: Premiership – Auckland 44 Tasman 24 | Canterbury 46 Taranaki 20 | Championship – Hawke’s Bay 33 Bay of Plenty 26 | Wellington 34 Otago 14
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ITM CUP 2015 Finals
Championship final – Friday 23rd October – Hawke’s Bay v Wellington, McLean Park Napier
In this final match, it is the most even of the two clashes. The hosts have the better winning record, although losing the Ranfurly Shield to Waikato was not within their seasons goals. But reaching the final definitely was each teams end-goal, so well done guys.
It will mean a lot for the Hawke’s Bay Union, not only to restore some regional pride but also to make good on the disappointment of losing in the Championship final to Manawatu in 2014 (won by Manawatu) Lead by Brendan O’Connor, they won’t want to slip up again and need to rely on the boot of Ihia West and the firepower of flanker Elliot Dixon but as a group, they must cap the points they are giving away to the opposition. Defence must still be primary, even in a home final.
This side seemed to have a great winning sequence, downing Counties-Manukau and Auckland before a huge setback against Waikato looked to have taken the wind from their sails until a quality performance last week, winning against Bay of Plenty, put’s them in a commanding position to make that step up into the Premiership.
On the Lions side, coach Earl Va’a has had the polar opposite season to his predecessor Chris Boyd. His 2015 season has been all about progression, minus many top stars appearing in the All Blacks Rugby World Cup squad (an amazing eight players out of 31) Considering those issues, they have needed to makeup for after being relegated last year. In that ,the side has achieved a great reward over the course of the season.
With three losses and the one draw, it had been a perfect start to the year with the ‘cross-promotion’ games seeing them take the win against Taranaki only to falter to their neighbours across the straight [Tasman] and also record a draw in the encounter they had with the Bay only a month ago.
In this final, it will require all their strengths to match a Hawke’s Bay side who are the more accustomed to winning. The Lions are well know for scoring points, but they have also leaked them–against Otago, when they relinquished a lead late in the game and in the Manawatu game, when they dropped the ball poorly. It will be a measure of Jeremy Thrush and his players if they can turnaround some late jitters, and take the win away from The Bay.
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Premiership final – Saturday 24th October – Canterbury v Auckland, AMI Stadium Christchurch
Most will say that the two best sides have reached the final, unless you live in New Plymouth [Taranaki] The most consistent sides have stood tallest, with Canterbury again showing provincial dominance to continue an era where they have been the commanding union across the country.
Winning nine out of ten matches is impressive, and the Scott Robertson coached team have quality throughout the teamsheet. A number of All Blacks will do this, with Ryan Crotty, Tom Taylor and Luke Whitelock all being senior figures who have each driven their campaign. They traveled north in August, taking a tight victory off of Auckland and in most games, they have defended well and scored plenty against the majority of teams.
Canterbury have the appearance of ‘invincibility’ which is similar to the All Blacks or Barcelona in Football. They know their strengths, are technically proficient in all areas and can attack from anywhere. So the question for the Auckland team is, how do you stop them?
Many have seen a steady improvement from the Auckland team, re-building on years of below-par results. With similar issues to their Super Rugby franchise, a quality first-five has eluded them, but in 2015 Simon Hickey has been very good and with George Moala performing brilliantly (10 tries) Ben Lam finally returning on his natural ability, Bryce Heem is a good player and the growing figure of Akira Ioane, they have firepower now that could be a match for the co-ordinated Canterbury side.
Losing twice and with a single draw, Auckland are not invincible. Some will count the pedigree of the South Island team and be assured that they will surely command the match, but if Auckland can string together possession, put on early points and play ahead of, or keep Canterbury within striking distance, they might take the game to the final quarter. Fitness should not be an issue and the weather looks good down in Addington, Christchurch.
I expect a good challenge, and with Canterbury having the more confidence, they should account for their longtime rivals. But don’t count Auckland out. In rugby, the bounce of the ball can go either way, kicks can be missed and penalties; as we have seen at the Rugby World Cup, can decide outcomes. Both teams deserve to be in the final, as Tasman went off the boil in the last stages and Taranaki drop four games to lose their chances. This should be a worthy final – may the best side win.
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Player of the Year: Vaea Fifita.
Six tries, nearly seven hundred metres, 31 defenders beaten (on so many occasions, more than three) 14 offloads and in his capacity as a flanker/lock, he has stolen 12 lineout throws from the opposition. If you were to announce that at the annual awards evening, I think many people would applaud this sensational ITM Cup season. The 23 year old is not the tallest, not the loudest either but when he is on form, alongside Ardie Savea and Brad Shields (before he got injured) this Lions side have loose forwards that any International side would pay dearly for.
With his agility and athleticism, Fifita gets around the park and has real gas to burn. He does his core role well, working in unison with the lightning fast Savea and in the tight. Scoring many tries, his running down the sideline to score is impressive and the highlight for this young man will be signing for The Hurricanes in August. His three year deal will bolster that side and Fifita will be hoping that his Lions team can go one step further than the Super Rugby franchise team managed.
The ITM Cup – Premiership and Championship 2015 finals now take centre stage and with two great matches planned, fans will continue to enjoy quality rugby matches, as our national team search for World Cup supremecy abroad. “It’s a great time to be an NZ Rugby fan”
“Main photo”
