Champions make winning Heartland start
High scoring marked the 1st round of the Mitre 10 Heartland championship with defending Meads Cup and Lochore Cup champions, Whanganui and King Country respectively securing wins.
Whanganui swamped the West Coast 74-6 scoring 10 tries, now worth six points under the experimental laws being trialled in the competition this year. All goal kicks are worth two points.
King Country had a much tougher contest in taking an 18-16 win over Wairarapa Bush.
Beaten Meads Cup finalist from last year, South Canterbury snared a 2-point 28-26 win over Buller while North Otago went down 32-40 to Mid Canterbury.
Heartland results were:
North Otago 32 (Shay Tucker, Josh Casey, Joe Pickett, Simon Lilicama tries; Carey 4 con) Mid Canterbury 40 (Jarred Percival 2, Jon Dampney, Brendon Rigden, Timoci Nabakeke, Mike Lynch tries; Percival 2 con). HT: 16-20
Wanganui 74 (Michael Nabuliwaqe 3, Malakai Volau, Roman Tutauha, Te Rangatira Waitokia 2, Gavin Thornbury, Cole Baldwin, Bryn Hudson; Dane Whale 7 con) West Coast 6 (Trent Reti try). HT: 18-6
Poverty Bay 54 (Isaia Vuki, Everard Reid, Devonte Stuart, Ken Houkamau, Siosiua Moala, Tamati Samuels tries; Vuki 3 con, 2 pen) East Coast 30 (Scorers not provided). HT: 32-8
King Country 18 (Stephan Turner, Sean Wanden tries; Zayn Tipping 2 con, pen) Wairarapa Bush 16 (James Googer, Richard Puddy tries; Tim Priest con, pen). HT: 8-8
Thames Valley 30 (John Hale, Lance Easton, Norman Solofa, Jonnie Te Ruki-Chambers tries; Te Ruki-Chambers 2 con, pen) Horowhenua Kapiti 34 (Fa'afoi Ioapo, Ryan Shelford, Andrew Lima, Perry Hayman tries; Hayman 3 con 2 pen)
South Canterbury 28 (Raitube Vasurakuta, Max Morris, Viliame Rogavatu, Kieran Coll tries; Zac Southen 2 con) Buller 26 (Setefano Sauqaqa, David Egelstaff, James Lash tries; Lash 2 con, 2 pen).HT: 8-14
And after the game Pops took me home before we had a pre-match dinner there & after we had dinner we tuned in for round 2 of the Rugby Championship between the All Blacks & Wallabies in the 2nd Bledisloe Cup test at Westpac Stadium in Wellington so here's a recap of the match that also went down to the wire for the full 80 minutes:
Welcome to Westpac Stadium in Wellington for the 2nd Bledisloe Cup match of 2016 between New Zealand and Australia
New Zealand enter this test match as raging favourites after completely outclassing Australia in most areas of the game last week in Sydney.
The starting XV for New Zealand: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown (Test debut), 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody.
A surprise during the week with the Wallabies welcoming back Quade Cooper in the number 10 jersey. The starting line up for Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Bernard Foley, 11 Dane Haylett-Petty, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Scott Sio.
1ST MINUTE, KICK OFF: Barrett puts boot to ball and we are underway in Wellington! An early penalty against Scott Fardy and Barrett deposits the ball into touch just short of the Wallabies' 22m line.
2 MINUTES LATER: Samu Kerevi, from outside the 22, kicks the ball directly into touch so play will come all the way back for the All Blacks.
2 MINUTES LATER: It's been wet in the lead up to this test match and light rain has started falling once again which will make conditions difficult for players on both sides.
1 MINUTE LATER: The tension in the air is palpable - after the Wallabies concede a penalty, a push and shove develop amongst the two sets of forwards.
2 MINUTES LATER, TRY: First blood to the All Blacks! A brilliant run from Aaron Smith has the Wallabies' defence in disarray and, amongst four unmarked All Blacks out wide, Israel Dagg dots down.
2 MINUTES LATER: CONVERSION: Beauden Barrett makes no mistake with the conversion and the All Blacks have skipped out to a 7 - 0 Lead.
2 MINUTES LATER: The Wallabies applying some heat of their own are rewarded with a penalty well within kicking distance for Bernard Foley.
PENALTY GOAL: The kick from Bernard Foley raises both flags and the All Blacks' lead stands at 7-3.
1 MINUTE LATER: The Wallabies cough up a penalty almost right after the restart and Barrett will line up to post the quick reply for the home side.
1 MINUTE LATER, PENALTY GOAL: The kick from Barrett is right through the middle and the All Blacks push their lead back out to 10-3.
1 MINUTE LATER: The Wallabies, as was the case last week, looking a little shaky on the set piece - the visitors have lost two line outs against the throw in quick succession.
2 MINUTES LATER, SUBSTITUTION: Adam Ashley-Cooper goes in low in his attempt to tackle Dane Coles and comes off second best - the Wallabies' winger is forced from the field to be replaced by Reece Hodge.
2 MINUTES LATER: A solid attacking platform here for the Wallabies after they manage to retain possession at the line out on the All Blacks' 10m line.
2 MINUTES LATER, PENALTY GOAL: Bernard Foley has the radar working early - he bangs home his second penalty goal to reduce the All Blacks' lead to 10-6.
1 MINUTE LATER, TRY: Israel Dagg, on the back of some brilliant lead up play from Barrett, receives the pass out wide before tracking a path to the try line.
1 MINUTE LATER, MISSED CONVERSION: The kick from Barrett is wide of the mark but the All Blacks are once again in the box seat with a 15-6 lead.
1 MINUTE LATER: Some bad news from the bench for the Wallabies - Adam Ashley-Cooper has failed his concussion test and will take no further part in the test match.
2 MINUTES LATER: A penalty for the All Blacks and they look to apply some more heat on the leaky Wallabies' defence by kicking for touch in the corner.
Genia reads the play to play to perfection and effects an outstanding intercept right on the last line of defence.
2 MINUTES LATER: The assistant referee has spotted a possible swinging arm from Dane Coles so we will go to the TMO to have a look at the replay. After a lengthy review, the referee rules that Coles has not used his arms in the clean out and so the Wallabies have a much needed penalty.
2 MINUTES LATER, PENALTY MISS: Barrett lays back on his penalty goal attempt and watches as his kick slides across the face - a let off for the visitors.
1 MINUTE LATER: Some good heat applied from the Wallabies' defensive line has forced a knock on from Brodie Retallick - a scrum feed for the men in gold right on half way.
2 MINUTES LATER: A penalty against Owen Franks at scrum time and Reece Hodge will line up a monster penalty goal from just inside the Wallabies' half.
2 MINUTES LATER, PENALTY GOAL: It's a wonderful strike from Reece Hodge that sails between the uprights - the All Blacks lead by 15-9 with just over five minutes until half time.
1 MINUTE LATER: The Wallabies can't take a trick at the line out at the moment - an error from Stephen Moore results in a free kick to the All Blacks.
1 MINUTE LATER, YELLOW CARD: Adam Coleman takes out Ben Smith after the All Blacks' full back had released the pass and the ref shows no hesitation in producing a yellow card.
2 MINUTES LATER: We have a break in play with Stephen Moore receiving treatment on the touchline. A timely penalty for the Wallabies - Foley sends the ball into touch beyond half way as the Wallabies look to wind down the clock to half time without conceding any more points.
1 MINUTE LATER: The All Blacks in possession after the half time siren - any points here before the break could just about break the visitors.
HALF TIME: A brutal first half comes to an end and at the break it is New Zealand, on the back of two tries to none, who head to the rooms with a 15-9 advantage over Australia.
40TH MINUTE, 2ND HALF: Foley kicks off to begin the second half but the ball doesn't travel the required 10 metres so we will come back for a scrum in the middle of the field.
2 MINUTES LATER: The All Blacks build menacingly through the middle of the field, quickly approaching the Wallabies' 22m line.
2 MINUTES LATER: A break in play with Quade Cooper receiving treatment - he looks to be in plenty of discomfort.
1 MINUTE LATER: An opening here for the Wallabies with Genia carrying the ball up toward the All Blacks' 22m line but the men in gold have conceded a penalty off the ball.
2 MINUTES LATER: Some good news for the Wallabies with Adam Coleman returning to the field after 10 minutes in the bin.
TRY: The All Blacks are in for try number 3 - crisp, clean passing across the field from the New Zealand backs creates the overlap out wide for Julian Savea who dives over in the corner.
3 MINUTES LATER, CONVERSION: The Barrett conversion attempt raises both flags - a tall order for the Wallabies with the All Blacks' lead now standing at 22-9.
1 MINUTE LATER, PENALTY MISS: Reece Hodge steps up to the tee - from 48 metres, his kick comfortably carries the distance but is well out to the right.
3 MINUTES LATER: Some movement for the Wallabies near the touch line but Samu Kerevi has lost the ball in the tackle and it crosses the paint for an All Blacks' line out throw.
It's a messy scrum but the Wallabies, through David Pocock, have managed to extract the pill.
1 MINUTE LATER: The Wallabies have won the all-important scrum feed but they are pinned down deep inside their own half.
PENALTY MISS: Barrett lines up from a slight angle but he has pushed his kick narrowly away to the right hand side.
1 MINUTE LATER: A succession of penalties have cruelled the Wallabies effort to take play outside of their half - the All Blacks are completely dominating territory at the moment.
1 MINUTE LATER: Huge pressure here on the Wallabies' line out - they have the throw but are only 5m out from their own line.
1 MINUTE LATER: Tempers are really at boiling point at the moment as we enter a crucial phase of play - a try here for the All Blacks would just about seal victory for the home side.
2 MINUTES LATER, TRY: All too easy in the end for the All Blacks - Aaron Smith feeds the ball to Sam Cane who crashes his way over to score the home side's fourth try of the match.
3 MINUTES LATER, CONVERSION: Barrett virtually puts this test match out of the reach of the Wallabies - the All Blacks are dominating and lead by 29-9.
1 MINUTE LATER: Things just not going the Wallabies' way - the visitors win a penalty however the resultant kick from Foley fails to find touch.
1 MINUTE LATER: Incredible interplay amongst backs and forwards alike down the touch line from the All Blacks, aided by some missed tackles from the Wallabies, and within the blink of an eye play is back inside the visitors' 22.
2 MINUTES LATER: Supreme confidence shown by the All Blacks here - they have won a penalty right in front of the posts and they elect to take the scrum feed.
1 MINUTE LATER: Another penalty against the Wallabies and the All Blacks elect to keep the blowtorch applied to the defence by electing to take the scrum feed.
4 MINUTES LATER: The Wallabies penalised at scrum time and the ref gives the visitors a stern warning that another infringement will result in a yellow card.
1 MINUTE LATER: Finally some relief for the Wallabies' defence - an All Blacks' knock on just short of the line has handed possession to the visitors via a scrum feed.
2 MINUTES LATER: It's a loose ball inside the in-goal area but Quade Cooper manages to somehow find a way back into the field of play where the Wallabies win a relieving penalty.
3 MINUTES LATER: Cooper links up with Israel Folau on his inside and the Wallabies, for one of the few occasions this evening, are on the front foot inside the All Blacks' 22.
2 MINUTES LATER, NO TRY: Nick Phipps makes a desperate lunge at the line but a review of the tape shows that he has lost the ball centimetres above the turf - nothing going right for the men in gold.
2 MINUTES LATER: The siren has sounded but the Wallabies have won a penalty and will have one last crack at scoring a consolation try.
FULL TIME: Another brilliant display from the dominant All Blacks - the result was never really in doubt with New Zealand scoring a comprehensive 29-9 victory over Australia who were more competitive but ultimately outclassed. The victory seals yet another Bledisloe Cup for the All Blacks making it the 14th year in a row they have held the silverware.
And also finally, the Springboks took on Argentina hoping to make it 2 in a row when they travelled to Salta in the other match of the Rugby Championship held in so here's the full news report:
A 78th minute Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias penalty goal helped Argentina battle past South Africa 26-24 in their Rugby Championship clash in Salta.
This was only Argentina’s 2nd victory ever over the Springboks and they deserved it.
This victory was a long time coming. Argentina were the better team overall and this time the Boks’ luck ran out even though they missed quite a few penalties.
The result is a reflection of where South African rugby finds itself at the moment and it will be bitterly disappointed with the result. The 1st half especially was not up to their normal high standards and probably one of the worst 1st 40 minutes in recent memory from the Boks.
Argentina led 23-13 after 55 minutes and it felt like deja vu from last week’s Test in Nelspruit, but this time Argentina held their composure in the final minutes to clinch the win.
The 1st half was terrible, especially from South Africa who just didn’t play with any conviction, structure or fluency. What will be of massive concern for Allister Coetzee is the team’s defence which was all over the place.
The Boks gave away too many possession in the 1st 40, their game plan consisting of box kicks which always went too far. They didn’t have the defensive discipline to cope with the counter attacks los Pumas launched which kept South Africa on the back foot.
Argentina blundered an early opportunity to score when Manuel Montero lost the ball over the line after a desperate tackle from Lionel Mapoe.
Elton Jantjies, who was substituted after 50 minutes, slotted a penalty to get South Africa on the scoreboard after Ramiro Herrera was yellow carded for a late tackle on Francois Louw. It was the only points the Boks managed to get while they were playing against 14 men.
A penalty by Nicolas Sanchez was followed by a superb try for Joaquin Tuculet. Starting in their own 22, Argentina moved up the field and when Vincent Koch shot out of the defensive line it created the space the home side needed to create space on the outside before Tuculet took an inside pass to dive over for a 13-3 lead.
Argentina dominated possession and territory in the first half as the Boks looked clueless.
The second half was slightly better as Coetzee almost emptied his entire bench to try and influence the game.
It worked in patches. Jantjies slotted a penalty before Bryan Habana scored his 20th Rugby Championship try and 65th of his career for a new Tier-one Test record, surpassing David 'Campo' Campese in the process.
The revival was short lived when Juan Manuel Leguizamon collected a cross kick in the Boks 22 and managed to get the ball down despite colliding with Habana on the way down. It gave Argentina a 20-13 lead and left the Boks in deep trouble.
Morne Steyn missed a penalty which would have relieved some pressure before Juan Martin Hernandez extended the lead to 23-13 after 55 minutes.
Steyn pulled three points back 10 minutes later and when Pieter-Steph du Toit, who made an excellent impact off the bench, barged his way over the line four minutes later South Africa only trailed by two points.
Steyn gave his team the lead with 6 minutes to play and the feeling was that the Boks might just pull off another comeback victory, but it wasn’t to be.
With 2 minutes left Argentina won a penalty in the Springbok half which Gonzalez Iglesias converted to give his team their first ever win on home soil over the Springboks.
P.S. And today on Father's Day that I went to see the Richie McCaw movie called Chasing Great with Pops & Jansen & I did enjoy that movie so much so I will be doing a blog about it.
And my Malaysian friend Sophie has sent me an email so here's her message being displayed in it's full entirety:
To my dearest Whetu,
My last words will be "I will be back" just like the movie terminator!
I went to the beach and played mini golf yesterday was very fun! I also bought a lot of presents like honey and chocolate back home for my family.
Yes I like final fantasy, Rikku is my favourite character because Our personality are almost the same. The new final fantasy is coming out and everyone is waiting to play.
I hope you are well! What have you been up to lately? Talk to you soon
Sophia
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