Weekend Wrap: Crunch time for the Farah Palmer Cup
And thoughts on game one of the O'Reilly Cup
First things first, I thought it was a bloody lovely touch to have Lauren O’Reilly, Laurie’s daughter and her daughter Stella, do the jersey and trophy presentation over the weekend. It was thanks to Lauren taking up the game that her Dad got involved in women’s rugby and the rest is history.
I would love to see this type of moment more often, where we bring past and present together in celebration. We have so many great stories to tell, so let’s shine that light!
This weekend’s results have set things up for an exciting final round. So let’s get stuck in to what I saw.
Wellington Pride (32) v Bay of Plenty Volcanix (13)
Wellington Pride are the most annoying team in the league. I love you, I hate you. Please just pick what team you’re going to be!
Sanita Levave and Nina Foaese had a big impact on Wellington’s fortunes. Both are old war horses for the black and yellow and that means, ya girls know how to secure a ruck. You do that and woah! You can build pressure.
Thamsyn Newton did well at 10. It’s not her usual spot but I liked having the ball in her hands more and her kicking options.
Teilah Ferguson is just getting better, yes she’s a great ball carrier but what excited me more is her timing on defence. She’ll come flying out at you but will be sure to make the hit and she shutdown a lot of Volcanix play on the weekend. I’ll admit I didn’t know much about her coming up from the dirty South but she comes from strong rugby stock with her Mum, Julie Ferguson, a former member of the Hawke’s Bay Tui, NZ League, Touch and sevens teams.
The team that played this weekend could beat Auckland next weekend. But will this team turn up?
Waikato (41) v Auckland Storm (5)
Ariana Bayler was released by the Black Ferns and played like a woman possessed. She was instrumental in the demolition of the Storm.
Waikato seem to have a free flowing tap of front row talent in their region.
The more I see Chey Robins-Reti play 15s, the more I like it.
Auckland, what the heck? Where were you?
I switched over to the Canterbury match after Auckland knocked their nth ball on and were down by 20 points.
Canterbury (36) v Manawatū Cyclones (19)
I switched over as Manawatū dotted down for their first try. Let me tell you, the Cyclones are the best looking losers I’ve ever seen. I feel gutted for them as they have actually put on a more consistent performance week to week than some of the other sides currently sitting higher on the table. But when you can’t get over a try line with two Canterbury players in the bin, you’re not gonna be able to hold your spot in the Premiership.
Canterbury are going to win again aren’t they? I can just feel it.
BONUS: Laurie O’Reilly Cup - Game One
I actually jumped on Morning Report this morning to have a chat about this match. You can listen to that here.
Here are my rapid fire reckons/questions I currently have about this squad:
Scrums finally looking as powerful as the women that are packing down. I take a lot of heart in the fact that we didn’t see a drop off when the front row changed over.
Line outs looked good but we only hit the front. As a hooker, I can tell you it’s easy to look flash when you’re hitting money ball up front but there’s no hiding on a back ball. Captain Fi used to hit an overthrow to the first 5 running on to the 15metre mark with ease, can Ponsonby and Connor do that? We will have to wait and see.
Kendra Cocksedge had the best game I have seen her play in like, 3 seasons. Helped no doubt by the return of Kennedy Simon and Charmaine McMenamin at the ruck.
Tanya Kalounivale has locked in her World Cup place but who will be the other props to join her?
Who is our alternate 9? Tyla Nathan-Wong didn’t have enough game time to confirm anything either way but to be honest, I thought we already had that stitched up with Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu and Ariana Bayler.
Speaking of 7s players, there’s chat about Kelly Brazier and Portia Woodman rejoining the team. Kelly could comfortably slot back in the 2nd five position she’s won World Cups at but what about Portia? Does she really take a jersey off the showstopper Leti I’iga? Or the industrious Ruby Tui? Or she bench Du plessis in the midfield?
What about our 10? Chelsea Bremner’s sidelining of Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali after a training collision gone wrong creates headaches for us all. Do you hold her spot knowing she won’t get a heap of game time before the big dance? I’m not 100% sold on Ruahei Demant in that spot and prefer Hazel Tubic at fullback but that’s just me.
Plenty to ponder and only 46 days to figure it out.
With you,
Alice