Air New Zealand Cup (NPC) 2008 - Discussion and Prediction League

[Somerset]

Only Heath, Brumby and myself have made picks with under an hour and a half to go until the Thursday night game so a late reminder to the other three.

Am picking Wellington, Auckland, Canterbury and Waikato to win comfortably enough, though after last week who really knows. I'm not sure if Toeava will play for Auckland as hes replaced Leon Macdonald in the All Black squad to travel to South Africa. I think Hawkes Bay will narrowly beat Northland, and Counties Manukau will just beat the BoP, while Southland should beat the Turbos but after their victory over Canterbury last week, I can't imagine that will be easy.

 

[Smudge]

I'm in.

 

[Somerset]

What a bizarre first half, incredible scrappy at times, parts of it almost reminded me of the lack of execution you'd expect from a pre-season match. The loss of Kirkpatrick has been quite a blow for Wellington as he ran things pretty well against Hawkes Bay last week, while Harbour aren't exactly at full strength either with Wulf and Upton missing and George Pisi off already. However, both sides have shown glimses of what they're capable of at their best, and ironically its the first time this season that four tries have been scored before half time. The intercept after the half time siren (which must be the loudest in the competition) may be crucial, I think Ian Smith wasn't too far off the mark with his comment that it was effectively a 14 point play from Waqaseduadua. I don't think Wellington deserve to be 14 points behind on the scoreboard, but I do believe that Harbour would've felt a bit aggreived had the Lions scored in the final few phases of the half to lock things up at the break. Hoping Harbour can hang on for the win as I'm sure Wellington will play better in the second spell.

 

[_Ed_]

Go Harbour!

 

[_Ed_]

Oh. That hurts.

 

[Smudge]

Not for my tips, it doesn't...

Although I was sure Wellington was going to put them away by heaps.

 

[Somerset]

Just like their match last week, Wellington too strong in the final 20 minutes of the match. Hardly remember Harbour having an opportunity in that time period, while for Wellington it was constant attack. Better team won in the end though disappointed that Harbour blew that 14 point half-time lead against a rearranged Wellington side.

 

[Somerset]

Points Table after first match in week two:

1 Somerset 8.00
2= SmytheNZ 6.00
2= HeathyD 6.00
4 BoyBrumby 3.50
5 Edmunds 2.50
6 Vimes 1.00

Loving the bonus point system at the moment.

 

[_Ed_]

Very nice first half from Tasman, Waikato have scored twice since half-time though.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

No - only once. It was 13-9 to Tasman at half time. Waikato scored immediately, and then Tasman have been on top since.

The referee in this match has been abysmal.

The highlight from his repertoire being calling Advantage Over, but then waiving that call when Waikato knocked it on straight after.

 

[_Ed_]

And they win it with a droppie!

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Brilliant win from Tasman. Waikato out of the competition already??

 

[Smudge]

Brilliant win from Tasman. Waikato out of the competition already??

I'd hate to be a gambling-happy Waikato fan right now.

 

[Somerset]

Nice to see Tasman finally record a win away from home in the ANZC, it'll make Tuesday's decison very interesting if they decide to drop a couple of sides that have already upset a few of the top teams so far this year. Waikato were very average IMO, and deserved to lose. Apart from Harding's try straight after the break, I hardly remember them having a sustained attacking period. Crowd was very poor, not sure where everyone was in the Waikato tonight. Oh and a quality drop goal from Nikora as well.

As for the other match tonight, was surprised to watch Southland win by so many against a lacklustre Manawatu side. The Turbos started so slowly (didn't help that they didn't touch the ball for the first ten minutes) and barely got into gear. In saying that, credit to Southland for managing to not conceed a point until the 76th minute. Manawatu do seem to have a bunch of talented players, not least their backs in both Matty and Aaron James, Andre Taylor (even though he was very quiet tonight) and Bosch but the execution that was so good against Canterbury just didn't exist and I'm unsure how they managed to produce such an average display after last week.

 

[Somerset]

Brilliant win from Tasman. Waikato out of the competition already??

I didn't rate their side at the start of the campaign (one of the reasons I backed Northland to beat them in week one) and to be honest I can't really see them getting much better. Apart from their relatively more experienced trio of Liam Messam, Sosene Anesi and Kevin O'Neill theres no one that I can really see that I'd have confidence in to be a key role in turning around the Mooloo's disappointing start.

 

[Somerset]

The referee in this match has been abysmal.

The highlight from his repertoire being calling Advantage Over, but then waiving that call when Waikato knocked it on straight after.

Happened in the other game too, advantage over means advantage over, and I personally was disappointed that an advantage over call was reversed in both games tonight.

Agreed that Kelvin Deaker had a poor match, thats a shame given the referring in the opening round was excellent in general IMO.

 

[Perm]

Good win for Southland, still a shame we haven't been able to field our best side yet. Still, a win over Manawatu was vital and hopefully we can move onto next week an the possibility of Jamie Mackintosh being back.

 

[Somerset]

Points Table after three matches in week two:

1 Somerset 9.00
2= SmytheNZ 7.00
2= HeathyD 7.00
4 BoyBrumby 5.50
5 Edmunds 3.50
6 Vimes 3.00

 

[Somerset]

Good win for Southland, still a shame we haven't been able to field our best side yet. Still, a win over Manawatu was vital and hopefully we can move onto next week an the possibility of Jamie Mackintosh being back.

That'll be a big plus for Southland if he does return next week. Whats the go with James Wilson BTW?

 

[Perm]

That'll be a big plus for Southland if he does return next week. Whats the go with James Wilson BTW?

Mackintosh did get half an hour last week for Woodlands in the club final, but he was playing at Blindside Flanker. Apparantly his foot is feeling good enough to be running around on, but scrummaging last week would have been too risky. Can't be long before he's back. James Wilson is about buggered for the season, hurt himself in the warm-up game against North Harbour a few Thursday nights ago and I've heard talk he'll be targetting the Highlanders pre-season.