Table:
| Pos. | Team | P | W | B | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BoP | 3 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
| 2 | Hawke’s Bay | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 3 | Wellington | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 4 | Tasman | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| 5 | Taranaki | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 6 | Northland | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | Canterbury | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 | Waikato | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 9 | Southland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 10 | Otago | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 | North Harbour | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | Counties-Manukau | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | Auckland | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Manawatū | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fixtures:
Friday 23/08:
- Hawke’s Bay v Northland (Ranfurly Shield Challenge)
Saturday 24/08:
- Counties-Manukau v Tasman
- Auckland v Canterbury
- Southland v Taranaki
Sunday 25/08:
- Otago v BoP
- Wellington v Manawatū
- North Harbour v Waikato
Wednesday 28/08:
- Canterbury v Hawke’s Bay
My Predictions:
- Hawkes-Bay 6+ (I’m on call this week so won’t be at McLean Park :( )
- Tasman 18+
- Auckland 6-
- Taranaki 6+
- BoP 6+
- Wellington 27+
- North Harbour 6+
- Canterbury 10-
Absolutely cracking first match in the Hawke’s Bay Ranfurly Shield defence against Northland!
spoiler
Hawke’s Bay 55 - 30 Northland
Folau Fakatava (unwanted by the All Blacks) and Lincoln McClutchie (unwanted by any Super franchise this year) put on an absolute clinic to wrestle the lead back and then trigger the breakaway.
The game was played at a very high tempo through the 80 hence the high scoring affair, referee didn’t stand for any pissing about by either team and they just cracked into it playing a mix of well thought out strikes from set piece, some brilliant phase play attack and then just some moments of genius from the two aforementioned Hawke’s Bay playmakers.
Some might see a score like that and think the defense was just a turnstile but it was hugely physical all game and the breakdown was a willing contest with some real venom in the cleanouts.
Sad thing was i’m on call so couldn’t be at the ground to watch the glorious defense - but hey, we get to keep the Ranfurly Shield for another 2 weeks as our next defense isn’t until September 7th.
C’mon the BAAAAAAAAAAY
I caught bits of Auckland v Canterbury, Southland v Taranaki and watched all of Otago v Bay of Plenty then just the highlights of Wellington vs Manawatū - so much good footie this weekend!
spoiler
Auckland & Waikato being so poos this season is probably the bigger surprise for me so far. Waikato at least had the excuse of an away game, but Auckland looked really flat at Eden Park against Canterbury.
Otago & BoP was a fun watch, real see-saw battle and anyone could have won it at the finish. Wellington struggling so hard to beat the Turbos is a bit of a shocker, though they didn’t help themselves giving up a yellow card.
Final match of Round 3 is on Wednesday with Canterbury hosting Hawke’s Bay.