Derby round perfect opportunity to spy on your Super Rugby franchise's upcoming talent
New Zealand’s provincial rugby competition, the Mitre 10 Cup, kicked off with a bang last weekend.
53 tries were scored over seven matches played – which means more tries are being scored in the Mitre 10 Cup than any other professional rugby competition.
Last year’s finalists, Auckland and Canterbury, were ambushed by less-fancied sides North Harbour and Waikato and failed to secure expected victories. Ranfurly Shield holders Otago were also destroyed by Bay of Plenty, 50-7.
The second week of the competition will see neighbours do battle with neighbours – which means it’s the perfect opportunity for fans to get a glimpse at the talent that’s coming through the ranks in their local regions.
On Thursday, Northland will host Auckland in one of only two games this round between undefeated teams. The Northland halves combo of Sam Nock and Jack Debreczeni bossed the Taniwha around the park last weekend and will likely have their work cut out for them against a probably paring of Jonathan Ruru and Harry Plummer.
Keep an eye out for Hoskins Sotutu, who grabbed a brace for Auckland last week. Sotutu is the son of former Blues and Crusaders flyer Waisake Sotutu and has a flash of his dad’s pace about him, despite playing in the loose forwards.
Counties Manukau travel up the motorway to take on North Harbour in the first of Friday’s fixtures. Etene Nanai-Seturo looked sharped for the Steelers, coming off a season with the Chiefs and the New Zealand Under 20 side. Counties will look to bounce back strongly after falling to Championship side Taranaki last weekend.
Harbour, by contrast, somehow snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat – and would have won the match if either of their last gasp penalty attempts made it between the sticks. Shaun Stevenson looked particularly dangerous for North Harbour in the backfield whilst Karl Tu’inukuafe showed the All Blacks selectors that he’s mobile as any other props in the country.
Hawke’s Bay took a while to warm up last weekend but eventually overcame Manawatu in the wet. They’ll play host to Wellington on Friday night and will be looking to build on a solid if unspectacular start to the season. Sam McNicol has only just returned from a long stint on the sidelines and is on a quest to earn a new Super Rugby contract for 2020.
Wellington were one of the big disappointments of the first round, being well and truly dealt to by the Tasman Mako. Brothers Jackson and Connor Garden-Bachop will play a big role in Wellington’s campaign moving forward.
Saturday’s first match sees the Taranaki Bulls pop over to Palmerston North to try and inflict more misery on Manawatu. The Bulls did well to contain an inspired Counties Manukau last week and have a number of stars in their team – including unwanted All Black Waisake Naholo. It was first five Daniel Waite who probably played the biggest role in the victory, however, pinning back Counties with a number of clever kicks.
The Turbos won’t want to start their season on 0 from 2, however, and have a pair of wily operators in Jamie Booth and Otere Black at halfback and first five. Manawatu will have spent countless hours on their lineout work at training after conceding four tries to driving mauls over the weekend. Watch out for fullback Sam Malcolm, who has a booming punt on him (and is a handy distance goal-kicker too).
Saturday’s showpiece event is the Ranfurly Shield match between Otago and Southland. Southland are on a 22-match losing streak, but all will be forgiven if the Stags can claim the sacred Log of Wood. Big Moses Faletau looks like he could be a useful centre for Southland – and appears to possess some well-maintained kicking boots.
Otago, despite being crushed by Bay of Plenty, will have ample belief that they can defend the Shield for the third time this season. Vilimoni Koroi has the X-factor to step up to the next level but struggled at running the ship last weekend. Otago will again be without Josh Ioane for the clash but may be better served shifting Koroi to fullback where he’ll have more space to work his magic.
The first of Sunday’s matches will see Canterbury and Tasman duke it out to be crowned big brother of the Crusaders region for another year. Canterbury looked dangerous on attack last week but insipid on defence at times. Fullback Josh McKay was one of the best on the park and could be going head-to-head with Koroi for the Highlander’s 15 jersey next season.
Tasman are a side absolutely stacked with talent. Their own outside back, Will Jordan, was also rumoured to be open to a move to the Highlanders for a short time but has re-committed to the Crusaders. His pace was a huge problem for Wellington on the kick chase – a tactic that Tasman will no doubt look to use again this weekend.
In the final game of the round, two of the opening week’s best performing sides will wage war. Bay of Plenty, at home in Rotorua, will host neighbours Waikato. Mitch Karpik was one of the busiest players on the field against Otago and will look to continue his rich form from the Maori All Blacks’ series against Fiji.
For Waikato, Quinn Tupaea continues to look like a future New Zealand superstar. He made countless breaks against Canterbury and packs a hugely powerful fend. His combination with experienced campaigner Dwayne Sweeney was reliable in round one.
There’s plenty to look forward to in the second round of the Mitre 10 Cup, but if you can only catch one match then don’t miss out on the Crusaders sides’ battle for supremacy. That match promises to be an absolute ripper.
Comments on RugbyPass
In the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
5 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
6 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
5 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
6 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
6 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
18 Go to comments