All the weekend's rugby
And maybe I'll mention the All Blacks
The FPC Premiership kicked off this weekend! And I popped down to Jerry Collins Stadium on Saturday to have my heart broken as is the role of any Wellington rugby fan.
My favourite rugby thing had actually happened the day before though, when I was having a chat with Seiuli Fiao'o Fa'amausili (I’ll just pick that name back up off the floor). Captain Fi asked if I was going to the rugby on Saturday and I said, yes but we had named a 10 I don’t know which is a bit of a worry.
Fi’s face was understandably like this.
As an aside, this was the photo that Auckland Rugby chose to use to announce Seiuli Fiao'o becoming their ever women president. SAD TO FI! There are so many pictures of her holding trophies in Auckland colours that they could have used instead.
Her face was like this because she thought I was an idiot who didn’t know who Beauden Barrett was.
But rather than be embarrassed, I was STOKED. This meant I had successfully retrained my brain after making the conscious decision back in 2017 to make rugby default to women’s rugby in my head. So when Fi asked me the question, I immediately thought of the FPC match between the Wellington Pride and Canterbury, not the All Blacks versus Ireland. GREAT SUCCESS.
However, that was the only success a Wellington rugby player had this weekend.
WELLINGTON PRIDE (5) v CANTERBURY (43)
First play of the game saw Canterbury knock on the ball from kick off and that was just about the last thing that went Wellington’s way.
Canterbury got stuck right in and went 17-0 up after 15 minutes. The Pride rallied and will lament the fact that they didn’t get over before half time, despite having plenty of opportunity.
Canterbury came out firing at the beginning of the second half, scored again and I began to disassociate. The consultation try from Ayesha Leti-I’iga didn’t come until the 74th minute.
The good news? Rosie Kelly and Martha Mataele who we named in this newsletter as players to watch, rewarded that endorsement with classy performances. And I got to meet Steph Te Ohaere-Fox properly after being friends on the internet. She was shorter than I expected but that’s what all those scrums will do to ya.
Where to for Wellington? There’s so many things I could say but the main missing ingredient for me was connection. We need to strengthen that sisterhood off the field if we want to perform on it.
WAIKATO (33) v MANAWATŪ CYCLONES (24)
I haven’t yet had a chance to write up my yarn from last week with Kahurangi Sturmey who was, as it happens, a standout for the Cyclones on Saturday. I would describe this game as painfully close for those in the Manawatū region.
The Cyclones have long been written off by bigger regions but they are here to tell you that you underestimate them at your own peril. They were up 18-5 at halftime.
Waikato then woke up and slowly built their way back into this match. It wasn’t always pretty but it worked. It seemed to me the early game plan from Waikato to play the game at width, just played into Manawatū’s hands. It wasn’t until they started to rely on their muscle, that they started to find their way forward.
What impressed me the most? The way the Cyclones didn’t seem to sit in disappointment and were always looking for their next job. This was typified by Selica Winiata’s try just before the halftime break. Waikato rolled the Cyclones scrum but their flanker shot straight out and made an important tackle. This action flicked the teams switch from attack to defence very quickly and then Selica flicked it back again intercepting the ball out wide and winning the 50m footrace to dot down.
Waikato might have looked rusty but I don’t expect them to roll out that way again. They also had the confidence of a defending champion side and looked comfortable chasing a lead.
AUCKLAND STORM (39) v COUNTIE MANUKAU HEAT (20)
The thing about playing Auckland is they are a bunch of tin arses. You can spend 12+ phases building something beautiful only for the ball to come loose and all of sudden you find yourself under the sticks trying to unpack what the heck just happened. The Storm are one of those teams that is almost more dangerous from 80 metres out than they are at 10 metres.
So I felt for the Heat heading into the break 27-8 down despite having most of the possession and territory. Auckland scored again quickly after the half before things slowed and Counties started to find their rhythm.
Fair play to the Storm though, who had a number of players out but still put on some ridiculous individual performances. The Ruahei Demant (10) and Patricia Maliepo (12) combination is explosive, even if I actually prefer Ruahei at 12. Charmaine McMenamin was HISSING at number 8 and proved Ruahei was right when she said their loosies can kick.
EXTRA TIME - FIJIANA (31) v MANU SINA SAMOA (24)
I thought Samoa might just do it. Taylah Johnson will be gutted to have been commentator not coach as she pleaded several times in that last 20 minutes for the Manu Sina to take the 3.
Up halftime, 16-10 over the Fijiana, this brave Manu Sina side couldn’t quite hold on to win an upset Oceania title.
Who was the MVP for Samoa? Cassie Siataga or the Papakura crowd? Tasman Mako will have been stoked to see the performance of their new number 10 put on and will be hoping that late knock doesn’t delay her entry into the Championship.
My old Wellington Secondary Schools team mate, Nina (Ninja) Foaese, was a battleaxe making many storming runs. My Wellington Pride team mate, Bernie Robertson also looked in great form in the midfield. Captain Masuisuimatama’ali’i Tauaua-Pauaraisa left it all on the field.
But the Fijiana take the reward for their union’s investment into their side. Setting an example we hope more Pacific nations follow. I’ve written before about the sleeping giant, waiting to be awoken in our rugby scene. What struck me watching this Oceania series is that this has some of the greatest potential to lift women’s rugby across the board in Aotearoa. In much the same way that the 6 Nations offers chances for Irish, Scottish and Welsh players who participate in the Premier 15s to up their game, so too will more regular game time for Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Papua New Guinea have potential positive impacts on New Zealand’s domestic league.
We need a Moana Pasifika women’s side YESTERDAY. So get to it Super Rugby Aupiki!
FINAL THOUGHTS
The real winner on Saturday night was Jeff Wilson’s performance in that Game of Throne promo.
I’ve just said all of the above about the rugby that was played this weekend and yet, Morning Report wanted me to talk about the All Blacks vs Ireland this morning.
Yeah nah.
For what it’s worth though, I’m stoked for Ireland that they got win they deserved.
As it comes to coaches? Well, if I’ve learnt anything in my 5 seconds on this earth, it’s that you can have all the talent, the intent, the planning in the world but the secret sauce is often timing. So no, I don’t think Foster is a terrible coach, I think his timing is.
Foster’s the one that is left holding on to this mess when the music stopped. He is symptomatic of New Zealand Rugby’s aversion to risk which ends up making them stale or worse, irrelevant.
Good news for the All Blacks is New Zealand Rugby is only ever seen to move quickly (well, quicker) when their best boys are in trouble. So they will get a shake up over a year out from World Cup where as our Black Ferns had to wait til the 11th hour.
With you,
Alice