Another
week closer to the Super 15 starting. It seems that the pre-season games for
the Hurricanes are certainly showing promise for a new team. It is a shame we
will not be in a position to see our team until the fourth week due to them
being overseas playing the Stormers, Lions and Force before returning to play
the Highlanders at home. A "Baptism of Fire" for the new Guys -
especially in South Africa with the heat and the partisan crowd. As a good Wanganui
Pirates Mate of mine would say - Character Building!
For some
time now there has been a lot of discussion on how well Samoa is doing in the
Sevens. I believe they are now firmly in the top echelon of the Sevens
fraternity. The victory over NZ in the last minute of the game in Las Vegas
showed a determination and coolness usually only reserved for the NZ team. I
watched a replay of the game last night and observed the tenacity of the
Samoan play. Even the Commentator mentioned that he had never seen such consistent
accuracy with the Samoan passing - there was none of the 50/50 passes that
often they do. I think the buildup for the Olympics in 2016 is in race mode
already. The Sevens Rugby could be the game of the future Worldwide.
I went to
Manfield on Sunday to watch the racing and the Grand Prix in particular. This
is the very first Grand Prix in the World and is only one of two Grand Prix
events not controlled by Formula 
1. Last week I picked Mitch Evans to take the
NZ Grand Prix win, and he was certainly looking in total control until 8 laps
from the end, his car failed. Nick Cassidy went on to win, so another Kiwi held
the Cup aloft. It was a truly International field with the Kiwi Boys more than holding their own up against high profile competitors from World Champion families and World Champion teams.
All in all
it was a great race meeting with a number of classes on show. Of special note
was one Mark Burgess (our President) who took out Third overall for the weekend
in his class.
We had our
Committee Meeting last night. There are some really good ideas coming up for
the new season. I may be able to give more info next week.
www.tawarugby.co.nz
Club
Captain Report - 8 February
The Sevens
lived up to the hype amidst some great competition. The toughest game that the
Kiwis had was against England. England certainly came to play and quite frankly
I think that Tawa can take some of the credit for their play due to the fact
that they tr
ained on Lyndhurst - yeah a bit weak, but Ozzie have claimed
Crowded House etc. Kenya have come so far in a relatively short time and
continue to be a Crowd favourite. It used to be that the top teams were just
the usual 4 or 5, but now you can include Canada as well as Kenya. By the time
of the Olympics, there is going to be a paradym change. And what a great
spectacle the Ladies put on! Talk about 100mph (160kph for younger readers) running Rugby.
Gordon
Tietjens continues to pull them out - Frank Halai, what can you say? As for
Hosea Gear - the consumate professional - still one of the finest finishers in
World Rugby!! Actually I though DJ Forbes had found some more horsepower and as
usual led by example.
The
Hurricanes had a loss to the Blues in a pre-season game. I thought it was
interesting that we stayed in the game with kicks. Does this mean we may take
better options this season? I for one cannot wait for the season to start,
especially with the Hurricanes team of virtual "no names". These Guys
have been given an opportunity that not many would otherwise have been given
and this is so healthy for the greatest game on the Planet. Hammet has had a
tough one placed in front of him, and I for one will be right behind him this
season. Hurricanes!
This Sunday
is the New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfield. This is one of the best troupes of
overseas Drivers assembled in recent times. I am picking Mitch Evans to win
again, but he will not have it all his way.
