It's Friday again, and we are so over the rain and the wind. We feel for the good folk in the deep south who have had a heck of a lot more to bear this week than we have; the snow that started to fall on Saturday last became their worst spring nightmare.
So we were absolutely delighted to see Southland beat the Aucklanders last night at a pretty frigid looking Rugby Park in Invercargill. It wasn't a pretty match, but it was hard not to get caught up in those final few minutes as the Stags repelled attack after attack after attack. This was REAL rugby, not the fluff and bubbles version that the rugby hierarchy refers to as its "product". It was no-frills rugby, between two teams who gave everything. The 9-6 scoreline may have been akin to a Northern Hemisphere match (i.e. divisible by the value of penealty goals), but it was a cracking reminder of just how good rugby can be when the contest is primarily between the guys in single-figure jerseys. And is there a better hooker in New Zealand rugby at the moment than Jason Rutledge? What a match he had.
That has set the scene for another weekend of domestic rugby. Whilst the big match will be the Canterbury v Wellington fixture, our eyes will be on Cooks Gardens in Wanganui where the local boys only need a solitary point to head into the Meads Cup round as top qualifier. A third successive Meads Cup beckons for the mighty Wanganui lads.
The Phoenix had a defensive shocker against Melbourne Heart last week, and were deservedly flogged. They'll bounce back tonight against the North Queensland Fury; we hardly imagine that conditions will delight the lads from the tropics! And we're sure that the Yellow Fever faithful will have a very special Wellington welcome for Chris "Hand of" Payne. We're sure that the "Same old Aussies; always cheating" song will be heard more than once tonight.
The NRL has only two weeks to go, and it's crunch time this weekend as the Grand Finalists are found. We'll tip the Roosters to upset the Titans, but the St George v Wests Tigers match is tougher to pick; it will depend on which Tigers team turns up, possibly even which Benji Marshall. If the Kiwis captain can dominate the game, the Tigers might just upset the Minor Premiers.
What have we missed? The Tiger Woods-less Tour Championship will make a golfer very, very rich. F1 heads to Singapore. The Pakistani cricket tour of England has mercifully ended. We're sure there's more, but you can tell us, 'cos this is YOUR place to talk sport on a Friday innit!
7 comments:
Although not a game fully of line breaks and 50m individual tries. The Shield Challenge was a well fought high intensity game and thanks to one of the best goal kickers in the tournament.
Southland managed to hold off the boys from Auckland. And to make it sweeter the victory was the first over Auckland in 39 years.
Well Southland is performing well and I'd love to predict that they would go on to win the whole thing. I think come crunch time you will unfortunately see the big unions slot their All Blacks back into the starting line up. And while I agree that these boys also need game time nothing excites me more to see the depth and talent that comes from some of the smaller provincial teams who have small to no All Blacks at all!
The rest of the games this week seem a little lack luster with exception to the Canterbury Wellington match.
The next game up is BOP Otago and while Otago is finally starting to find some form BOP has had it for sometime even though it may be patchy so I'd have to put my money on BOP.
Canterbury Wellington should provide a high intensity match with lots to play for. Glad to see that SBW has to prove his ability along with everyone else and has been dropped to the bench; however if brought on he will undoubtedly make an impact. And at home to a "sell-out" crowd Canterbury should scrape through with an under-7 win.
Taranaki vs Hawke's Bay. Many would say that the naki has this game home and hosed but my Magpies have proven before that when at home they are a force to be reckoned with. I'm staying strong in my backing and believing the boys can do more than a draw so the Bay by 3!
In the final 3 games I pick Waikato to get up over Tasman based on the consistency of performances between the two teams. Harbour vs Manawatu is a give in Harbour will dominate and the Turbos will suffer another defeat (I know as a Palmy student I should support the Turbos but sorry I just cant). And the last game of the round Northland vs Counties should provide some entertainment with both surprisingly good this year turning out the same high intensity rugby week in week out but I'll go with the home advantage and pick Counties.
Moving onto Heartlands in Pool A with Wanganui vs Thames Valley I predict Wanganui to comfortable cruise into another Meads Cup. South Canterbury vs King Country my money is on the boys from the south and in West Coast vs Horowhenua/Kapiti my money is again with the boys from the south.
In Pool B i pick Mid Canterbruy over the winless East Coast and Poverty Bay to get up over Buller.
Moving onto Football. After a solid draw vs the Victory the Nix let themselves down against the Roar. However back home vowing to make Australasian history with the longest winning streak at home. I don't think anyone could doubt the boys to bring home the whole 3 points against the Fury.
In the other games. Adelaide vs Perth will be a game to watch but as they currently sit top of the table I'll have to back Adelaide. the Roar vs the Heart should be close and with the Heart slowly starting to prove themselves I think they will push the Roar but the Brisbane boys will hold on to win by 1. And the Jets vs Victory well I don't think many will be surprised with a prediction towards the Victory.
This week also sees the second round of the Youth League with Adelaide vs Perth I'll pick one game winners Perth to upset the South Australians. Sydney vs Gold Coast only cause Sydney is my team I'll keep backing them even if their older guys are wooden spooners at the moment. Brisbane vs the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) I'll back Brisbane only cause they managed to get points on the board in the first round and Newcastle vs Melbourne I'll have to go against my gut and back Newcastle based on their performance in the first round.
But the sport that I'm most interested in watching this weekend is the NRL Finals.
Warriors vs Bulldogs in the Toyota Cup Semi 1 kick the weekend off and with the home boys dominating last week I pick Warriors to make the finals and WIN. Roosters then play the Titans and I'm picking the roosters to dig deep and win.
Rabbitohs play the Raiders in the other Toyota Cup Semi and this should be a close game but I think the bunnies should get up to win it.
Dragons vs Tigers will be an intense match. If the tigers turn up on the night and dominate in the first 20 capitalising on the dragons week off then we will have a real game on our hands but I still believe the dragons to do it and go on to win the premiership.
In other sporting news David Mullins is set to attempt a World Record in Freediving tomorrow out at NaeNae in Wellington and needs to swim more than 255m to succeed. He managed to 257m a couple of weeks back during his training run.
Penney is set to realise his dreams and is off to play for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA next season.
The V8 Gold Coast 600 will have some special to watch with Scott Dixon flying in to team up along side old rival Todd Kelly.
The pull of Colin Cooper down at the Highlanders is growing stronger with Nasi Manu said to be leaving the Crusaders to head down south. And while the destination is not known it is tipped that Isaac Ross will take advantage of contract transfers and also the leave the crusaders.
And finally Naomi Shaw has become the new White Sox (Women's Softball) coach after a long and successful career as a player herself. I know my friend who plays for the team is excited by this so hopefully ours girls can up their game and become more competitive on the global scene.
So I know many people want the weather to clear up but I'd be quite happy with some rain and wind, the fire roaring and few drinks and a date with the tv and sky sport all weekend!
Great stuff HB Proud; I'm beginning to think that my job's in danger!!!!
Slightly off topic: Does anyone know how to cancel an ebay bid?
I made a bid on a Mickey Mouse outfit and now I'm ten minutes away from owning Liverpool Football Club.
More sporting funnies heard this morning:
Delhi Commonwealth Games - hosted by Indians, built by cowboys.
Delhi - the only sporting competition where athletes will be tested to make sure they *are* taking their drugs.
Chris Payne unfortunately wont be playing for Fury, he is on Aussie under 23 duty....Pity, I was looking forward to giving him a friendly grreting at the Ring of Fire
Greetings from Prague INV2. It is good to see another HB supporter bursting forth,
I will be back to support him next week lol.
Greetings pdm - hope you're enjoying eastern Europe. "Him" is actually "her", just for the record; a very knowledgeable her too!
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