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ITM Cup 2010

Hurricane

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
HeathDavisSpeed said:
Glad I backed Waikato. Thought that Canterbury would be short of some of the intensity we've seen over the last few weeks and that turned out to be the case. Some of the most bizarre rugby I've seen towards the end of the first half when Colin Slade seemed unable to kick the ball into any sort of space - favouring kicking it into his own players, the post or the opposition instead. Incredible.

Was a very emotional evening Chez Heef the other night when David Holwell had his final, final, final retirement and scored and again showed a stellar performance in his final game.
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From what I saw of the game - it was more a case of Waikato playing out of their skins. I havn't seen play like that from them in a long time. It was almost super 15 level play. Such commitment to the tackle. I won't be backing them in the finals to win the whole thing because they need a certain Stephen Donald back.

But they should account for Auckland...if Renata can keep his nerves together.
 
thierry henry

thierry henry

International Coach
Incredibly bizarre opinions from Heath re: SBW in this thread. It's like he has a blindspot for freakish awesomeness or something.
 
Smudge

Smudge

Hall of Fame Member
thierry henry said:
Incredibly bizarre opinions from Heath re: SBW in this thread. It's like he has a blindspot for freakish awesomeness or something.
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I've already discussed it again with him in front of the vending machines at work, but if he was referring to his weakness in terms of defending the offload, that would be understandable, as his defence hasn't been tested, aside from his unsuccessful chasebacks against Taranaki. But if he's referring to his inability to provide offloads, then, well, I simply have to give up, because it beggars belief.
 
BoyBrumby

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Should he play (as seems likely at some point) will SBW be the first former Kiwi to become an All-Black?

Can't think of any others off the top of my head. Of course, we've already had three in Paul, Vainikolo and Hape. Where England leads, others merely follow. :cool: :ph34r:
 
Somerset

Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
Round Thirteen Results:
HeathDavisSpeed 10
Ripper868 10
BoyBrumby 8
Hurricane 8
Somerset 8
Voltman 8
Samuel_Vimes (home team) 7

Standings after Round Thirteen:
Somerset 102
HeathDavisSpeed 102
Samuel_Vimes 101
Voltman 100
BoyBrumby 98
Hurricane 98
Ripper868 84
 
Somerset

Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
Round Fourteen ITM Cup Fixtures: (worth two points)
Canterbury vs Wellington
Auckland vs Waikato

Round Ten Heartland Championship Fixtures: (worth three points)
Meads Cup Fixture:
North Otago vs Wanganui

Lochore Cup Fixture:
Buller vs Wairarapa Bush

-----

My thoughts on the semi-finals of the ITM Cup:

Canterbury vs Wellington
Why Canterbury will win - proven performers at peak times of each season. They're the defending champions and lost their last round-robin match last year (as they did this year) and still won the title. Arguably have the two unluckiest players not to make the All Black squad (Slade and Fruean) and have a number of other AB representatives to call upon (Crockett and Ross) as well as younger players tipped for higher honours (particularly Matt Todd). They haven't lost at home this year. They're up against a Wellington side stripped of All Blacks and inflicted by a number of injuries. The oldest player of their 9-10-12 combination is just 21 years old.

Why Wellington will win - the element of surprise. The Wellington backline is so untried but enthusiastic and potentially dynamic. Theres also combinations at age-grade level, if not in the provincial competition so the backline is surpisingly well-gelled. Wellington are on a three game winning streak and posted 128 points in those three games. Beating Southland in Invercargill last week is no mean feat since only Canterbury managed the feat during the season. Vito has a point to prove missing out on AB selection. They have two former All Blacks in their front row and should hope to dominate given Waikato got the better of Canterbury last week.

Auckland vs Waikato
Why Auckland will win - Auckland haven't lost since week 9 when they went down to Southland by three points. They've won their last three matches with bonus points. Gareth Anscombe's arguably been the form 10 for the last few weeks and he capped that off with a hattrick against Tasman on the weekend. Despite facing slightly weaker opposition in recent weeks its been crucial for Auckland to finally produce consistent results after a rocky start to the year. Almost all of their early matches were also affected by poor weather, hardly suiting their style, so better forecasted conditions should suit their play more.

Why Waikato will win - any side that beats Canterbury by 20 points deserves recognition as a real threat to not only win their semi-final but take out the title. Their forward pack was outstanding last week and they've only lost one forward (Messam) to All Black duties. Waikato's backline is also boosted by Sivivatu staying behind to appear in the match. Renata's finally stepped up and performing as a 10, and theres real depth at halfback (particularly if Leonard passes his concussion test) and in the centres (with Brumby Leali'ifano not making the starting XV in recent weeks). Auckland's been greatly affected by the loss of their All Blacks, with Braid a particularly big blow. They haven't faced a top seven opponent since the Southland loss in week 9. And significantly, Waikato have already beaten Auckland at Eden Park this year, back in week 2.
 
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Smudge

Smudge

Hall of Fame Member
Way to overanalyse. I was impressed by his efforts to make it back (unlike his team mates) but unfortunately he undid his chases with handling errors when he got there. Certainly not helped by a greasy ball, but they weren't his finest moments.
 
ripper868

ripper868

International Coach
Round Fourteen ITM Cup Fixtures: (worth two points)
Canterbury vs Wellington
Auckland vs Waikato

Round Ten Heartland Championship Fixtures: (worth three points)
Meads Cup Fixture:
North Otago vs Wanganui

Lochore Cup Fixture:
Buller vs Wairarapa Bush
 
Smudge

Smudge

Hall of Fame Member
Canterbury vs Wellington
Auckland vs Waikato

North Otago vs Wanganui
Buller vs Wairarapa Bush
 
BoyBrumby

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Round Fourteen ITM Cup Fixtures: (worth two points)
Canterbury vs Wellington
Auckland vs Waikato

Round Ten Heartland Championship Fixtures: (worth three points)
Meads Cup Fixture:
North Otago vs Wanganui

Lochore Cup Fixture:
Buller vs Wairarapa Bush
 
Hurricane

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
Round Fourteen ITM Cup Fixtures: (worth two points)
Canterbury vs Wellington
Auckland vs Waikato

Round Ten Heartland Championship Fixtures: (worth three points)
Meads Cup Fixture:
North Otago vs Wanganui

Lochore Cup Fixture:
Buller vs Wairarapa Bush
 
HeathDavisSpeed

HeathDavisSpeed

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Round Fourteen ITM Cup Fixtures: (worth two points)
Canterbury vs Wellington
Auckland vs Waikato

Round Ten Heartland Championship Fixtures: (worth three points)
Meads Cup Fixture:
North Otago vs Wanganui

Lochore Cup Fixture:
Buller vs Wairarapa Bush
 
Somerset

Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
A couple of really entertaining semi-finals in the ITM Cup. 98 points in the Canterbury vs Wellington game with Fruean and Vito the stand-outs. Another high scoring match this evening at Eden Park, with Waikato managing a try in extra time - cruel for Auckland given they did the same to them in the round robin stage of the competition.

I'll update points tomorrow.
 
HeathDavisSpeed

HeathDavisSpeed

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
More importantly, North Otago broke Wanganui's hold on the Meads Cup with a solid home win and Wairarapa Bush take the Lochore Cup back home after what sounds like a bit of a grindout down in Buller.
 
Somerset

Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
HeathDavisSpeed said:
More importantly, North Otago broke Wanganui's hold on the Meads Cup with a solid home win and Wairarapa Bush take the Lochore Cup back home after what sounds like a bit of a grindout down in Buller.
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Saw a few highlights, good on North Otago. Didn't expect Wairarapa Bush to upset Buller though it appeared as though Buller had a few chances in the dying moments to score a last minute try and take the title after the Bush were down to 14 players.
 
HeathDavisSpeed

HeathDavisSpeed

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I've been painting my hallway all day today, so missed the Heartlands games. Disappointing after having struggled to watch any Heartlands all season to have to miss both live games. In better news, it sounds like the Heartlands 2011 will cross over with the RWC to try and get some tourists along to a couple of the games. Matches will be played earlier at 1pm so as not to clash with the main event, but it should be good.
 
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