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TEAM OF THE WEEK: NPC's opening salvo

OPINION: The New Zealand NPC roared into action this weekend with some tantalising derbies and fascinating storylines.

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Will Canterbury win their 10th Premiership title from 11 years? Can Wellington do the unthinkable and get Championship and Premiership titles in back-to-back years? Are Taranaki capable of clinging to the Ranfurly Shield for the whole season? Will Southland continue their incredible run and successfully gain 23 loses in a row?

First up, a slow start from North Harbour almost gifted their Blues’ rivals Northland a Premiership scalp. But a fine kick from underperforming flyhalf Bryn Gatland got the Hibiscus a 21-20 win at home.

The consecutive champion Crusaders’ catchment teams, Tasman and Canterbury, met in Blenheim on Friday night.

It was a repeat of the Premiership final, but this time the Makos massively dominated first half territory (81 percent) and possession (65 percent) and if it wasn’t for The Colonel, Tom Sanders, work at the breakdown and on defence Tasman would have been much more than just seven points up.

Tasman started the second as they did the first, with a barrage of pressure turning into points. Solomon Alaimalo and Quinten Strange picked up tries.

Canterbury put on a late surge when replacement Tasman prop Blair Prinsep was sin-binned for an early charge from a line-out inside his five metre line. But it wasn‘t enough and Tasman won 25-17.

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One of the more successful teams in the history of the NPC, Waikato, needed a fast start to their 2018 campaign to try to rebound back into the top division after a horror 2017 saw them relegated to the Championship.

A fast start was precisely what they did and the Mooloos grabbed two tries, one scored and the other following a break by Sevu Reece.

However, the Manawatu Turbos had other ideas and the hosts slowly crept back into the match, finally choking the life out of their visitors, 24-19.

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Two of last year’s struggling Premiership teams clashed on Saturday, as Auckland welcomed southern rivals Counties Manukau in a high-speed contest.

Basically this match was the relegation contest, as these two are most likely to drop down come round 10. Auckland have been skirting the drop zone while Counties have not recovered since losing Tana Umaga as coach.

Auckland and Under 20’s flyhalf Harry Plumber had a shocker with the boot, but Counties kept giving him opportunities and eventually he made them pay, dragging Auckland to a 23-19 victory at home.

Finalists Bay of Plenty (Championship) and semi-finalists Taranaki (Premiership) met in the build-up game to the Rugby Championship opener across the ditch.

If you wanted to see more sweaty men on top of each other than in William Katipa’s cell, this was the game for you.

Bay of Plenty had not beaten the Bulls at Rotorua Stadium since 1975 and they put on a clinic of forward-based running, with pick ‘n goes, drives and mauls aplenty leading to hooker and both locks driving over for tries.

Backed up by a perfect kicking game from 63-year old Mike “The Oldest Man in Rugby” Delany and some excellent breaks by their outside backs, the Steamers celebrated the biggest upset of the round, 30-10.

If you stayed up to watch the Springboks face the Pumas you probably missed Wellington host Otago on Sunday.

Wellington destroyed Otago’s vaunted midfield with Tomkinson and Faddes missing a combined 11 while completing only 13 tackles.

All Blacks discard Vaea Fifita had an enormous game at blindside flank for the Lions, making 100 metres from 15 carries, however, he also missed 4 from 7 on defence, showing that maybe the national selectors know what they are doing.

Wellington epitomised the gulf between divisions as the recently promoted capital side picked Otago apart with some classy counter-attacking rugby finishing in four tries to their wingers.

Finally, the two bottom teams of 2017 met in a game that looked like being Southland’s only possibility for a victory this season, against Hawkes’ Bay.

And Southland did not fail through lack of trying, they just failed …

Even with two Magpies in the bin, the Southland Stags couldn’t assert any kind of dominance, tripping over themselves to become the only home side to lose this round, 10-31.

Team of the Week – Round One:

15 – Shaun Stephenson (North Harbour):
The Chiefs’ wing/fullback is going from strength to strength and was a major reason why Harbour didn’t slip up in their first match of 2018.
Scintillating attacking rugby from Vilimoni Koroi (Otago), Tauasosi Tuimavave (Southland) and Chase Tiatia (Bay of Plenty) deserves a mention.
Bubbling Under: Laloifi Junior Laloifi (Manawatu)

14 – Seta Tamanivalu (Taranaki):
Such a destructive runner and a loss for New Zealand rugby with Tamanivalu heading to France to join Bordeax at the end of this season.
Special mention to Declan O’Donnell (Waikato).
Bubbling Under: Malo Tuitama (Wellington)

13 – Levi Aumua (Tasman):
In a major turnaround from last season, Aumua was the only stand-out centre this round, and he made it very difficult for Canterbury with his tank-like running.
Bubbling Under: Tumua Manu (Auckland)

12 – Matthew Johnson (Southland):
Without an easy pick, I’ve gone for Johnson for his overall workrate (11 carries, 7 tackles and a breakdown steal) plus his SBW-like offload as he was falling for Te Tamaki’s try.
Bubbling Under: Peter Umaga-Jensen (Wellington)

11 – Rene Ranger (Northland):
Ranger continues to impress. Continuing on from last year, the wing/centre breaks the line and unselfishly sets his teammates away.
This was the most difficult position to pick with outstanding performances from Tevita Li (North Harbour), Wes Goosen (Wellington), Sevu Reece (Waikato), Solomon Alaimalo (Tasman) and Braydon Ennor (Canterbury).
Bubbling Under: Nehe Milner-Skudder (Manawatu)

10 – Jackson Garden-Bachop (Wellington):
Another fantastic performance from the Player of the Round, he has grown every week since returning from his fateful time with the Rebels and has become an excellent all-round first-five.
Bubbling Under: Mike Delany (Bay of Plenty)

9 – Richard Judd (Bay of Plenty):
Quick service and a surprisingly large amount of carries (12) plus some bone-rattling defence on his opposite, clinch this spot for the new Hurricane.
Bubbling Under: Mitchell Drummond (Canterbury)

8 – Akira Ioane (Auckland):
Continuing on from last year’s NPC and this year’s Super Rugby seasons, the older Ioane brother is a menace with ball-in-hand and has upped his workrate on defence to honestly compete for an All Black spot.
Special mentions to Murphy Taramai (North Harbour) and Sam Henwood (Counties Manukau).
Bubbling Under: Thomas Waldrom (Wellington)

7 – Lachlan Boshier (Taranaki):
100% success rate on defence from an impressive 21 tackles, Boshier was also tough to shift at the breakdown and broke three tackles to rack up 45 run metres.
Yet another incredibly difficult position to nail down with Mitchell Jacobson (Waikato), Antonio Kirikiri (Manawatu), Tom Christie (Canterbury), Jed Brown (Tasman) and Du’Plessis Kirifi (Wellington) all deserving mentions.
Bubbling Under: Slade McDowall (Otago)

6 – Ethan Blackadder (Tasman):
A traditional blindside performance from the son of legendary Todd Blackadder. Ethan is carving out a name for himself with his untiring intensity.
Bubbling Under:
Vaea Fifita (Wellington)

5 – Aaron Carroll (Bay of Plenty):
A spritely performance from the workaholic (15 carries for 45 metres, 9 tackles with no misses, two offloads and an all-around great link game). Oh yeah, he also scored a try.
Bubbling Under: Jack Whetton (Auckland)

4 – Quinton Strange (Tasman):
Made a mess of Canterbury’s talented line-out and grabbed more low-hanging balls than a pervert in a nursing home.
Special mention to Tom Robinson (Northland) who would have won this award if it wasn’t for a lazy running yellow card.
Bubbling Under: Tom Parsons (Hawkes’ Bay)

3 – Marco Fepulea’i (Auckland):
Fantastic debut for the 23-year old, with some neat passing and a great line-break complimenting his solid defence and effort in tight.
Bubbling Under: Kalolo Tuiloma (Counties Manukau)

2 – Andrew Makalio (Tasman):
Powerful running saw Tasman getting a lot of front-foot ball in tight. Makalio is making a name for himself on defence and at the breakdown for great overall performances.
Another exceptionally difficult position to choose with strong performances from Liam Polwart (Bay of Plenty), Ash Dixon (Hawkes Bay), James Parsons (North Harbour) and Greg Pleasants-Tate (Canterbury).
Bubbling Under: Samisoni Taukei’aho (Waikato)

1 – Wyatt Crockett (Tasman):
In a battle of the old men, Crockett got the better of his even older opponent, Chris King. On top of his scrummaging, he picked up a timely breakdown steal and took down 13 opponents.
Bubbling Under: Joe Apikotoa (Hawkes’ Bay)

 Team of the Tournament – 2017: 15 George Bridge (Canterbury), 14 Monty Ioane (Bay of Plenty), 13 Seta Tamanivalu (Taranaki), 12 Jack Goodhue (Northland), 11 Tevita Li (North Harbour), 10 Richie Mo’unga (Canterbury), 9 Mitchell Drummond (Canterbury), 8 Toa Halafihi (Taranaki), 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi (Wellington), 6 Tom Sanders (Canterbury),  5 Jimmy Tupou (Counties Manukau), 4 Mitchell Dunshea (Canterbury), 3 Alex Fidow (Wellington), 2 Asafo Aumua (Wellington), 1 Ross Wright (Northland).

By Richard Neal

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