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Chiefs Manawa preview with Tanya Kalounivale: 'When I enter the field, I’m there to protect my family'

LEVIN, NEW ZEALAND - FEBRUARY 25: Tanya Kalounivale of the Waitomo Cheifs Manawa in action during the round one Super Rugby Aupiki match between Hurricanes Poua and Chiefs Manawa at Levin Domain, on February 25, 2023, in Levin, New Zealand. (Photo by Kerry Marshall/Getty Images)

Tanya Kalounivale was a human wrecking ball in the first 20 minutes of the Super Rugby Aupiki final last year.

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The Chiefs Manawa prop scored two tries and frequently cast aside Matatu defenders like tenpins as the hosts built a 19-0 lead in as many minutes. Inxcelibley that advantage crumbled as the Southerners staged a heroic rally to win the title.

Don’t expect Kalounivale to change her approach when Super Rugby Aupiki starts on Saturday. The first Fijian-born Black Fern has a simple and ruthless mindset when she plays.

“When I enter the field, I’m there to protect my family,” Kalounivale told RugbyPass.

“I play for my teammates; those on the field and injured. I want to do the management proud.

“I saw the opportunity to score tries. I’m grateful my teammates put me into good positions.”

Chiefs Manawa appear to be in a strong position to win their second Aupiki title. There are seven Black Ferns forwards in the squad, including Rugby World Cup winners, Krystal Murray, Kennedy Simon, and Chelsea Bremner.

Black Ferns halfback Ariana Bayler is from Waikato and joins Manawa from the Blues. Two Matatu champions have also ventured North. Black Ferns winger Grace Steinmetz and fullback Renee Holmes join a stacked backline that also features the return of Black Ferns star Ruby Tui and midfield back Chelsea Semple. Internationals Seina Saito (Japan) and Bitila Tawake (Fiji) are the other notable newcomers.

In pre-season Chiefs Manawa beat the Blues 50-24 in Hamilton. Kalounivale was satisfied with the outcome.

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“Our game plan happened the way we meant it to. We were able to build phases and try new combinations

“Our scrum is looking strong. I have Kate Hendwood by my side and she can play both sides. We have good competition in the squad but are keen to help each other.”

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Hurricanes Poua will need to help each other if they are to have any shot of toppling Manawa in the season opener. Last year the hosts were canned 53-21 and 43-21 by Manawa. The Poua have lost Black Ferns prop Krystal Murray, No. 8 Kaipo Olsen-Baker, Wallaroos first-five Carys Dallinger, and top try-scorer Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daily from last season, while star winger Ayesha Leti-I’iga remains sidelined with a long-term injury. They are the youngest side in the competition but Kalounivale is weary.

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“We’re not underestimating Poua. They’ve got some big girls. We are going to have to win the contact area to get our game going.”

Kalounivale hinted that Merania Paraone is a Manawa youngster to watch. She was a winger but is likely to play hooker. Kalounivale wouldn’t hesitate at a chance to play in the backs but says she’ll likely, “stay in my lane.”

Kalounivale burst her way into the Black Ferns in 2022. She was part of the Pacific Four series-winning team. Following a dynamic Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) for Waikato, she was selected for the Rugby World Cup winning team.

She appeared in the comprehensive group victories over Wales (56-12) and Scotland (57-0) recovering from an injury that ruled her out of selection for the opening fixture against Australia.

It was her three older brothers who gave her an appreciation for rugby growing up as a Kanakana villager on the Island of Vanua Levu.

She first played organised rugby in 2017. That year the Kalounivale family migrated to New Zealand in pursuit of a “better life” and soon Tanya was playing for Hamilton Old Boys.

“My Mum went to see Greg Smith to try and get my brothers into the club. Greg had played hooker for Fiji (44 tests). Mum mentioned she had a daughter who loves to play and soon I had to play,” Kalounivale recalled.

“I found it way harder than my brothers’ rugby. There was way more running, but all Fijians are naturally talented,” she laughed.

Blessed with raw power and the aforementioned Fijian flair, Kalounivale helped Hamilton Old Boys win the WRU senior championship and featured six times for FPC semi-finalists Waikato in 2017.

By 2020 she’d established herself as one of the pre-eminent front rowers in the county alongside provincial teammates and fellow Black Ferns Toka Natua and Grace Houpapa-Barrett. She scored a try in the FPC semi-final against Manawat?, but Waikato would lose on a last-play try to Canterbury in the final.

The following season Waikato would gain revenge on Canterbury by winning the FPC final 22-20 in Christchurch. Kalounivale played in wins against Bay of Plenty (27-10), Otago (29-22), and Wellington (34-27) but missed the decider because she was picked for the Black Ferns Northern Tour. Kalounivale saw no game time.

Chiefs Manawa v Hurricanes Poua kickoff at 2:05 pm on Saturday 2nd March (NZDT)

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M
Mzilikazi 29 minutes ago
'Ulster, though no one wants to admit it, isn't much more than a development province right now.'

“I was wondering if the AIL had clubs that were on the tipping point of wanting to become pro, how close could they get to a current Ulster etc”.


The Irish structure has always been the International team at the top, then the four provinces, then the clubs below that. Before the pro era in each province there were senior clubs playing each other, and that was pretty much “ring fenced”…no relegation or promotion. Then below that a series of junior leagues. The top players in the international scene played in the Five Nations(before Italy came in), and against the touring All Blacks or Springboks initially, then later Australia and Argentina came in. Actually I would need to go back and check the history of the teams coming onto the scene ie other than the Ab’s and Boks.


Those International players would only play for their province three times each year in the Inter Pro games, with the Bok, AB etc games only in tour years. Rest of the time, every single Int. player played club rugby every weekend.


Pro era dawned, and the four provinces became the sole pro teams, feeding up to the Int. team. There is no prospect as far as I can see of any AIL team ever becoming professional. Deepete, or someone living in Ireland would know more than I do, but what happens is fringe and academy players can play in the AIL, giving them game time they would not get otherwise. Top International players would rarely play at AIL level.


I think in Australia the tyranny of distance inhibits an AIL type structure. Ireland is tiny, good rail and road sytems, and it is easy to play in Cork, Limerick, Dublin, any where, weekend after weekend. Imagine an All Australian league, and travelling from Townsville for a game in Margaret River, etc. etc.


“I actually had the tables up and had no idea who was who lol”. Neither do I in some cases. A lot of new clubs since I played/lived in Ireland…I have to check who some are !!


Good discussion here JW. Have enjoyed it.

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Rebeccakirby 49 minutes ago
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Rebeccakirby 1 hour ago
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Months earlier, I’d sunk $156,000 into what I thought was a golden opportunity, an online cryptocurrency investment promising sky-high returns. The website was sleek, the testimonials glowing, and the numbers kept climbing. But when I tried to withdraw my profits, the platform froze. Emails went unanswered, support chats died, and my “investment” vanished into the digital ether. I’d been scammed, and the sting of it burned deep.Desperate, I stumbled across Alpha Spy Nest while scouring the web for help. Their site/reviews didn’t promise miracles, just results, specialists in tracking down lost funds from online scams. Skeptical but out of options, I reached out. The process started with a simple form: I detailed the scam, uploaded screenshots of transactions, and shared the wallet addresses I’d sent my crypto to. Within hours, they confirmed they’d take my case.What followed was like watching a high-stakes chess game unfold, though I only saw the moves, not the players. Alpha Spy Nest dove into the blockchain, tracing my funds through a maze of wallets designed to obscure their path. They explained how scammers often use mixers to launder crypto, but certain patterns like timing and wallet clustering, could still betray them. I didn’t understand half of it, but their confidence kept me hopeful. Hours later, they updated me: my money had landed in an exchange account tied to the scam network. They’d identified it through a mix of on-chain analysis and intel from sources I’d never grasp. After 24 hours, i got a message, my funds were frozen in the scammer’s account pending review. Alpha Spy Nest had apparently flagged it just in time.  After some back-and-forth, the exchange with the help of Alpha Spy Nest reversed the transactions, and $145,000 of my original $156,000 hit my wallet. The rest, they said, was likely gone forever, siphoned off early. I never met anyone from Alpha Spy Nest, never heard a voice or saw a face. Yet, their methodical precision pulled me back from the brink. My money wasn’t fully restored, but the recovery felt like a win, a lifeline from a faceless ally in a world of digital shadows. If you find yourself in the same situation, you can also reach out to them via: Email: Alphaspynest@mail.com, whatsapp: ‪+15132924878‬, telegram: https://t.me/Alphaspynest,

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Rebeccakirby 1 hour ago
Fin Smith: Northampton Saints face battle to keep England star

Months earlier, I’d sunk $156,000 into what I thought was a golden opportunity, an online cryptocurrency investment promising sky-high returns. The website was sleek, the testimonials glowing, and the numbers kept climbing. But when I tried to withdraw my profits, the platform froze. Emails went unanswered, support chats died, and my “investment” vanished into the digital ether. I’d been scammed, and the sting of it burned deep.Desperate, I stumbled across Alpha Spy Nest while scouring the web for help. Their site/reviews didn’t promise miracles, just results, specialists in tracking down lost funds from online scams. Skeptical but out of options, I reached out. The process started with a simple form: I detailed the scam, uploaded screenshots of transactions, and shared the wallet addresses I’d sent my crypto to. Within hours, they confirmed they’d take my case.What followed was like watching a high-stakes chess game unfold, though I only saw the moves, not the players. Alpha Spy Nest dove into the blockchain, tracing my funds through a maze of wallets designed to obscure their path. They explained how scammers often use mixers to launder crypto, but certain patterns like timing and wallet clustering, could still betray them. I didn’t understand half of it, but their confidence kept me hopeful. Hours later, they updated me: my money had landed in an exchange account tied to the scam network. They’d identified it through a mix of on-chain analysis and intel from sources I’d never grasp. After 24 hours, i got a message, my funds were frozen in the scammer’s account pending review. Alpha Spy Nest had apparently flagged it just in time.  After some back-and-forth, the exchange with the help of Alpha Spy Nest reversed the transactions, and $145,000 of my original $156,000 hit my wallet. The rest, they said, was likely gone forever, siphoned off early. I never met anyone from Alpha Spy Nest, never heard a voice or saw a face. Yet, their methodical precision pulled me back from the brink. My money wasn’t fully restored, but the recovery felt like a win, a lifeline from a faceless ally in a world of digital shadows. If you find yourself in the same situation, you can also reach out to them via: Email: Alphaspynest@mail.com, whatsapp: ‪+15132924878‬, telegram: https://t.me/Alphaspynest,

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Months earlier, I’d sunk $156,000 into what I thought was a golden opportunity, an online cryptocurrency investment promising sky-high returns. The website was sleek, the testimonials glowing, and the numbers kept climbing. But when I tried to withdraw my profits, the platform froze. Emails went unanswered, support chats died, and my “investment” vanished into the digital ether. I’d been scammed, and the sting of it burned deep.Desperate, I stumbled across Alpha Spy Nest while scouring the web for help. Their site/reviews didn’t promise miracles, just results, specialists in tracking down lost funds from online scams. Skeptical but out of options, I reached out. The process started with a simple form: I detailed the scam, uploaded screenshots of transactions, and shared the wallet addresses I’d sent my crypto to. Within hours, they confirmed they’d take my case.What followed was like watching a high-stakes chess game unfold, though I only saw the moves, not the players. Alpha Spy Nest dove into the blockchain, tracing my funds through a maze of wallets designed to obscure their path. They explained how scammers often use mixers to launder crypto, but certain patterns like timing and wallet clustering, could still betray them. I didn’t understand half of it, but their confidence kept me hopeful. Hours later, they updated me: my money had landed in an exchange account tied to the scam network. They’d identified it through a mix of on-chain analysis and intel from sources I’d never grasp. After 24 hours, i got a message, my funds were frozen in the scammer’s account pending review. Alpha Spy Nest had apparently flagged it just in time.  After some back-and-forth, the exchange with the help of Alpha Spy Nest reversed the transactions, and $145,000 of my original $156,000 hit my wallet. The rest, they said, was likely gone forever, siphoned off early. I never met anyone from Alpha Spy Nest, never heard a voice or saw a face. Yet, their methodical precision pulled me back from the brink. My money wasn’t fully restored, but the recovery felt like a win, a lifeline from a faceless ally in a world of digital shadows. If you find yourself in the same situation, you can also reach out to them via: Email: Alphaspynest@mail.com, whatsapp: ‪+15132924878‬, telegram: https://t.me/Alphaspynest,

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Months earlier, I’d sunk $156,000 into what I thought was a golden opportunity, an online cryptocurrency investment promising sky-high returns. The website was sleek, the testimonials glowing, and the numbers kept climbing. But when I tried to withdraw my profits, the platform froze. Emails went unanswered, support chats died, and my “investment” vanished into the digital ether. I’d been scammed, and the sting of it burned deep.Desperate, I stumbled across Alpha Spy Nest while scouring the web for help. Their site/reviews didn’t promise miracles, just results, specialists in tracking down lost funds from online scams. Skeptical but out of options, I reached out. The process started with a simple form: I detailed the scam, uploaded screenshots of transactions, and shared the wallet addresses I’d sent my crypto to. Within hours, they confirmed they’d take my case.What followed was like watching a high-stakes chess game unfold, though I only saw the moves, not the players. Alpha Spy Nest dove into the blockchain, tracing my funds through a maze of wallets designed to obscure their path. They explained how scammers often use mixers to launder crypto, but certain patterns like timing and wallet clustering, could still betray them. I didn’t understand half of it, but their confidence kept me hopeful. Hours later, they updated me: my money had landed in an exchange account tied to the scam network. They’d identified it through a mix of on-chain analysis and intel from sources I’d never grasp. After 24 hours, i got a message, my funds were frozen in the scammer’s account pending review. Alpha Spy Nest had apparently flagged it just in time.  After some back-and-forth, the exchange with the help of Alpha Spy Nest reversed the transactions, and $145,000 of my original $156,000 hit my wallet. The rest, they said, was likely gone forever, siphoned off early. I never met anyone from Alpha Spy Nest, never heard a voice or saw a face. Yet, their methodical precision pulled me back from the brink. My money wasn’t fully restored, but the recovery felt like a win, a lifeline from a faceless ally in a world of digital shadows. If you find yourself in the same situation, you can also reach out to them via: Email: Alphaspynest@mail.com, whatsapp: ‪+15132924878‬, telegram: https://t.me/Alphaspynest,

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Months earlier, I’d sunk $156,000 into what I thought was a golden opportunity, an online cryptocurrency investment promising sky-high returns. The website was sleek, the testimonials glowing, and the numbers kept climbing. But when I tried to withdraw my profits, the platform froze. Emails went unanswered, support chats died, and my “investment” vanished into the digital ether. I’d been scammed, and the sting of it burned deep.Desperate, I stumbled across Alpha Spy Nest while scouring the web for help. Their site/reviews didn’t promise miracles, just results, specialists in tracking down lost funds from online scams. Skeptical but out of options, I reached out. The process started with a simple form: I detailed the scam, uploaded screenshots of transactions, and shared the wallet addresses I’d sent my crypto to. Within hours, they confirmed they’d take my case.What followed was like watching a high-stakes chess game unfold, though I only saw the moves, not the players. Alpha Spy Nest dove into the blockchain, tracing my funds through a maze of wallets designed to obscure their path. They explained how scammers often use mixers to launder crypto, but certain patterns like timing and wallet clustering, could still betray them. I didn’t understand half of it, but their confidence kept me hopeful. Hours later, they updated me: my money had landed in an exchange account tied to the scam network. They’d identified it through a mix of on-chain analysis and intel from sources I’d never grasp. After 24 hours, i got a message, my funds were frozen in the scammer’s account pending review. Alpha Spy Nest had apparently flagged it just in time.  After some back-and-forth, the exchange with the help of Alpha Spy Nest reversed the transactions, and $145,000 of my original $156,000 hit my wallet. The rest, they said, was likely gone forever, siphoned off early. I never met anyone from Alpha Spy Nest, never heard a voice or saw a face. Yet, their methodical precision pulled me back from the brink. My money wasn’t fully restored, but the recovery felt like a win, a lifeline from a faceless ally in a world of digital shadows. If you find yourself in the same situation, you can also reach out to them via: Email: Alphaspynest@mail.com, whatsapp: ‪+15132924878‬, telegram: https://t.me/Alphaspynest,

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