Ranfurly Shield, ITM Cup & Heartland Championship: NZ domestic comps 2015

[waiopehu oldboy]

Heartland results:

West Coast 21-7 Buller
Poverty Bay 37-43 Thames Valley
South Canty 57-5 East Coast
Wanganui 28-30 Mid Canty
North Otago 18-16 Wai-Bush

 

[2bluesfan]

@ 2Blues you going to Bay Park tomorrow? Should be a pretty decent game, maybe you could do a live post or two?

It's actually on at Tauranga Domain. I went to have a look at the ground yesterday and it looks a nice community facility. I'll see what I can do in terms of a few live posts, hopefully the Steamers can get up.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

The mighty 'nua denied again:

King Country 34 (Sean Wanden, Sam Mason, Iliesa Ratuva tries; Zayn Tipping 2 con, 5 pen) Horowhenua Kapiti 28 (Jim Morgan, Teegan Minkley, Michael Tambour tries; Brandyn Laursen 2 con, 3 pen).HT: 23-19

Wairarapa-Bush v North Otago is apparently a night game which is unusual for the Heartland.

Pissing down in New Plymouth (local wisdom: if you can't see the mountain, it's raining; if you CAN see the mountain, it's gonna rain), 'naki 22-13 Hogs with ~15 to go.

@twoblues, conventional wisdom is that you're doing OK if you win one of your double-whammy round matches, two wins in four days would be an outstanding effort & something that's not often achieved. Surprised they're using the Domain, thought there'd be plenty of Mooloo supporters crossing the Kaimais for this one. Looking forward to whatever you can manage before, during & after the match.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Time up, 27-27 & the Hogs' 9 goes over, ref unsighted so sends it upstairs.........

TMO says T-R-Y & the champs are 0/3. Extras added, Hogs 34-27 'naki.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Cantabs v Aucks highlights, including FABJAM's two gems:

 

[2bluesfan]

A real carnival feeling here in Tauranga for the match between Bay of Plenty and Waikato. Plenty of entertainment in the centre of town and with weather being kind to us the portents for a good match are good. Having said that, Waikato womens team was far too strong for the BOP ladies.

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[2bluesfan]

Penalty goal to Dan Hollinshead after 6 minutes. BOP 3 Waikato 0.

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[2bluesfan]

Try to Brad Webber after 19 following a poor kick offers Stephenson a chance to offload. Converted. Waikato 7 BOP 3

Mayhew scores at 22 minutes and BOP are looking disjointed. McKenzie converts. Waikato 14 BOP 3

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[2bluesfan]

Retallick binned at 25 for not retreating. Silly play from a leader.

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[2bluesfan]

35 minutes Mckenzie kicks a penalty following a dominant scrum for Waikato

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[2bluesfan]

Nice stepping from Mckenzie and an offload to Brad Webber leads to the nippy half scoring under the posts just before the halftime siren regulation conversion.

BOP are struggling at restarts and seem like they will need to sneak out to start the second half early.

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[2bluesfan]

Transition to defence following a quick tap from a penalty proves to be a fatal flaw for the BOP as Jordan Payne reaps the benefit of fast thinking to score. 31 to 3. Will be hard for bop from here ☺

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[2bluesfan]

Waikato 7 is rewarded with a try not converted. 36 to 3 with 22 to go.

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[waiopehu oldboy]

Keep them posts coming, @2blues.

 

[2bluesfan]

Serious injury to BOP player Tim Bond following an attempt to tackle Waikato prop Uhila who has been a handful.
19 to go. Ben Tameifuna replaced. Ben has had his usual match. The two Waikato props too strong. Waikato lock Tucker has worked hard too.

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[2bluesfan]

BOP muscle up from 10 metres out and Joe Tupe score. Hollinshead converts. 36 to 10 with 5 to go

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[2bluesfan]

43 to 10. Tucker scored inthe corner Mckenzie great conversion

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[2bluesfan]

Overall summary:

Rugby at Tauranga Domain was being promoted heavily in the town centre and at the ground. The BOPRU seem very keen to move to the Domain permanently and I'd say they could be onto a winner. There was great atmosphere and the locals and visitors seemed to appreciate the easy access. It's a good place to watch a match. There are some preliminary proposals to build a 15000 seat facility. I'd certainly go there again. SWMBO took a few photos and I'll try to post some later.

To the match itself:
Waikato were a class above a lacklustre BOP and might well have won by a much larger margin if they had kept their "starters" on for longer. Impressive dominant display from the Waikato pack with Tucker impressing with a high workrate but all of them went well.

Webber was probably the best on ground (but he's a halfback and thereby disqualified from receiving my MOTM). As previously mentioned Tucker was everywhere and in everything. He was ably supported by the rest of the pack. McKenzie is a very good flyhalf and he lived up to his reputation while new kid on the block Stephenson was dangerous both running and with his long kicking game.

For the BOP there was no lack of effort but perhaps the three matches in eight days was too big a task for them. They needed to run straighter and with more conviction but both wingers occasionally looked like they might be able to do something if only they could get more ball in better situations. I hope they bounce back because I've invested in a BOP beanie and I'd like to get my money's worth.

 

[Dan54]

The mighty 'nua denied again:

King Country 34 (Sean Wanden, Sam Mason, Iliesa Ratuva tries; Zayn Tipping 2 con, 5 pen) Horowhenua Kapiti 28 (Jim Morgan, Teegan Minkley, Michael Tambour tries; Brandyn Laursen 2 con, 3 pen).HT: 23-19.

Thats bloody it!!! The Refs must be crooked, how the Mighty Nua can be denied again is scandalous!! WOB I going to screen printers tomorrow to get
'Justice for The Nua' armbands printed!!

 

[Dan54]

Been away for weekend, so missed most of rugby since friday night's game, but have to say I enjoyed the half I saw of the Southland/NH game. NH boys will be happy with that win, and one on the fulltime siren is alway a real bonus!