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Hurricanes player ratings vs Reds | Super Rugby Trans-Tasman

Wes Goosen. (Photo by Grant Down/Photosport)

The Hurricanes ended their Super Rugby Trans-Tasman season with a flourish with a 43-14 victory over the Reds but they had a lot to thank referee James Doleman for in Wellington. Tyrel Lomax was lucky to escape a red and the two Reds’ yellow cards were perplexing to say the least. It got as close as 17-14 but the Reds wilted in the last quarter.

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Ngani Laumape had an energetic day in his final outing before exiting to France, smashing out the first try and punching out hard-earned metres.

Here are the Hurricanes’ ratings.

1. Xavier Numia – 6/10
Hot and cold game for the loosehead. Given a shellacking at scrum time but ultra useful around the paddock. Underlined his work around the park by swooping in for a turnover and stopping Taniela Tupou in his tracks in the 7th minute. Surely he’d be a world-class league player? Off at 55.

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2. Asafo Aumua – 7
Good lineout work this week and Aumua’s throwing looked spot on. The first one of the day set up the Laumape try. Muscular work with a meaty run at 12 minutes where he bumped off Brandon Paenga-Amosa and then put in an offensive tackle on Tupou at 24. Off at 55.

3. Tyrel Lomax – 5
Went down after a nasty knock early and then at 25 went high on Fotuaika for a lucky yellow that has been red so many times before. It was surprising he was impotent against Moeaki Fotuaika at scrum time. Didn’t do his All Black selection chances much good with that performance. Off at 73.

4. James Blackwell – 6.5
Enjoyed the line out work this week, seems to have a better connection with Aumua than Dane Coles and lifters were better. Off at 50.

5. Scott Scrafton – 7
Had a busy night in open play with 16 tackles, the stand out being a boneshaker on Mac Grealy in the 42nd minute and even put in an attacking punt. Won’t get a start at 10 though!

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6. Reed Prinsep – 6
Got the kick-off receipt in the 5th minute completely wrong. Keeps his head down and is dependable.

7. Du’Plessis Kirifi – 7
Smashing turnover off Grealy in 9th minute and busy with the ball, 33 metres in 8 carries. Managed to keep his discipline in check and topped the tackle count.

8. Ardie Savea – 6
Ardie got involved with some playmaking and played a good foil a couple of times with some dummy runs distracting the defence. Off at 50, looking a little broken.

9. Cam Roigard – 6.5
Some good work dealing with the untidy ball off an inferior scrum. Seems to have a touch of the old school about him in the way he passes and kicks. Couldn’t clasp the final pass from Goosen at 39 minutes for a try. Would have learnt a lot from Tate McDermott’s performance. Off at 64.

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10. Ruben Love – 6.5
You can see that the young tyro is more suited to a position further out than 10 after his lovely ad-libbing in broken play in the 14th minute where he set up Laumape for a potential second try which came unstuck on the grounding. A slicing run after 44 minutes gave him a try and a chance to throw his mum the match ball. Skill-plus at 74 minutes, with a laser 25-metre pass off his backhand.

11. Wes Goosen – 7.5
A very good game at left wing, some good work in the backfield dealing with the Reds’ kicking game. Great tackle in the 18th minute when he stopped Filipo Daugunu in his tracks. Low centre of gravity and jinking running style saw him earn 95 metres off 7 carries. Looks great when on his game.

12. Ngani Laumape – 8
The star was well up for his final outing before heading to France. With his first touch he celebrated a five-pointer after cannoning through like a runaway train, and was unlucky not to get a second in the 14th. Then went a bit quiet but regained his energy in the second half, finishing with 95 metres off 14 carries. Off at 73.

13. Billy Proctor – 6
Another workman-like outing. A nice turnover at 36 minutes and made his best run at 74 minutes where he scythed through down the left.

14. Julian Savea – 6.5
He’s had better games this season but there’s no doubt it’s been a wonderful comeback for the Bus. Good on him for getting in shape and showing his developed game after a sojourn in France. Could Laumape follow his path?

15. Jordie Barrett – 8
Wasn’t the best start for the Tower of Power at 15. Scuffed his first punt and denied a try after a knock-on in the 25th minute. Then around the half-hour mark, he really hit the turbo button with some brutal runs and some sterling ball play for his outsides. Over 100 metres run with ball in hand and some startling play that bounced him back from the disappointment of last weekend.

Reserves:

16. Dane Coles – 7.5
On at 55 and couldn’t stop contain his glee as he went over at the 58 minute after lurking on the wing. Then scored another off a driving maul at 76. Scrum improved the instant he came on as well.

17. Pouri Rakete-Stones – 6
On at 55. Scrum improved massively after his introduction.

18. Ben May – 6
On at 26 after Lomax’s yellow card. Continued the inability to cope with Fotuaika at scrum time. Had a good run or two and lay down in a tackle for Proctor to grab a turnover. On again at 73 for more fun.

19. Liam Mitchell – 6
On at 50. Battled well and added some energy.

20. Devan Flanders – 6
On at 50. Scored a driving maul try at 71 and again the energy gave his team a boost.

21. Luke Campbell – 5.5
On at 64. Some nice distribution.

22. Danny Toala – N/A
On at 73.

23. Salesi Rayasi – N/A
On at 64. Some classy offloading at 74.

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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