NZ SuperXV squads named

At:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10763354

BLUES :
Gareth Anscombe, Anthony Boric, Daniel Braid, Luke Braid, Charlie Faumuina, Michael Hobbs, Jerome Kaino, Chris Lowrey, Tevita Mailau, Pauliasi Manu, Alby Mathewson, Tom McCartney, Keven Mealamu, Brad Mika, George Moala, Liaki Moli,Lachie Munro, Ma'a Nonu, Filo Paulo, David Raikuna, Rene Ranger, Peter Saili, Benson Stanley, Sherwin Stowers, Angus Ta'avao, Isaia Toeava, Piri Weepu, Ali Williams, Tony Woodcock, Rudi Wulf

World Cup winning backs lead Chiefs squad

CHIEFS:
Ben Afeaki, Alex Bradley, Sam Cane, Craig Clarke, Shane Cleaver, Aaron Cruden, Hika Elliot, Mike Fitzgerald, Romana Graham, Andrew Horrell, Richard Kahui, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Tanerau Latimer,Fritz Lee, Brendon Leonard, Lelia Masaga, Liam Messam, Tim Nanai-Williams, Maritino Nemani, Declan O'Donnell, Brodie Retallick, Robbie Robinson, Mahonri Schwalger, Toby Smith, Ben Tameifuna, Sona Taumalolo, Kane Thompson, Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Scott Waldrom, Sonny Bill Williams, Jackson Willison


HURRICANES:
Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Beauden Barrett, Tim Bateman, Michael Bent, James Broadhurst, Richard Buckman, Dane Coles, Jason Eaton, Chris Eaton, Reggie Goodes, David Hall, Jayden Hayward, Cory Jane, Daniel Kirkpatrick, Jack Lam, Alapati Leiua, Faifili Levave, Karl Lowe, Motu Matu'u, Ben May,Tristan Moran, Charlie Ngatai, TJ Perenara, Tusi Pisi, Mark Reddish, Julian Savea, Brad Shields, Conrad Smith, Chris Smylie, Andre Taylor, Jeremy Thrush, Victor Vito

Four Whitelock brothers in Crusaders squad

CRUSADERS:
Nicholas Barrett, Tyler Bleyendaal, Daniel Carter, Wyatt Crockett, Ryan Crotty, Israel Dagg, Tom Donnelly, Andy Ellis, Corey Flynn, Ben Franks, Owen Franks, Robbie Fruean, Ben Funnell, Zac Guildford, Willi Heinz, Ross Kennedy, Quentin MacDonald, Sean Maitland, Tom Marshall, Richie McCaw, Patrick Osborne, Kieran Read, Luke Romano, Tom Taylor, Matt Todd, Joe Wheeler, Sam Whitelock, George Whitelock, Adam Whitelock, Luke Whitelock

England no.8 named in Highlanders squad

HIGHLANDERS:
Kurt Baker, Josh Bekhuis, Jimmy Cowan, Nick Crosswell, Elliot Dixon, Tamati Ellison, Ma'afu Fia, Hosea Gear, John Hardie, James Haskell, Jarrad Hoeata, Andrew Hore, Chris King, Kendrick Lynn, Jamie Mackintosh, Nasi Manu, Bronson Murray, Chris Noakes, Siale Piutau, Kade Poki, Culum Retallick, Jason Rutledge, Colin Slade, Aaron Smith, Ben Smith, Lima Sopoaga, Adam Thomson, Doug Tietjens, Shaun Treeby, Telusa Veainu

- HERALD ONLINE

In looking at the Canes I think theyre in for a pasting. Not a lot to the forwards or backs. Fairly obvious this team had better invest in a lot of tackling bags.

Crusaders once again look formidable, and with the Whitlock quartet, Tyler Bleyendaal, Fruean, Marshall and Guilford have a perfect mix of young and old to this squad.

Scary...how do they get to have such a squad? Surely some rule is broken somewhere...geez.

James Haskell the no8 for the (Highlanders,) I thought that James haskell went to Japan after the rugby world cup.

majesticimperialman wrote:James Haskell the no8 for the (Highlanders,) I thought that James haskell went to Japan after the rugby world cup.

It says in the link

Haskell is currently playing in Japan, will move to Otago in February and then link up with Wasps in England.

Yes he will be interesting. Good to see some NH presence here.

Actually Thompson,Hoeata and Haskell isnt isnt a half decent loose forward trio.

What do you think of the Blues Laurie. I actually think Nonu suits Auckland rugby more- even the uniform. If they can get some smarts around 9 and 10 (finally.......!) they might be able to get that forward back link working for the first time this millenium.

Robinson, Schwalger and Sonny Bill moving to the Chiefs is massive for them. Without them, they'd be stuffed. Never heard of a Super franchise losing 14 players in a year.

Agreed - Saders look formidable.

You boys shouldn't forget about Cipriani, he is in the Rebels squad. Wonder how much these guys get paid if we have NH players in the Super XV.

I think Cips gets paid in soapie stars. He's all the way through Summer Bay and last seen heading for Ramsey Street.

Theyre all pretty strong. Blues is (once again) good enough to win it if they can avoid stuffing things up at crucial times again- like the END OF THE SEASON!

Chiefs and Highlanders are handy and will hold their own through the season without making top 6. I'd expect more of last year with Saders and Blues but Canes seriously risk joing the rebels- Westpac stadium will NOT be the place to be next year- pity since I can see it from my house here in Khandallah.

Haskell should respond to Joseph ok, a tough taskmaster and Lauries right, the back 3 as showed in the WCup are becoming the key combination ouitside the front row in todays game.

boomeranga wrote:I think Cips gets paid in soapie stars. He's all the way through Summer Bay and last seen heading for Ramsey Street.

Is he playing for them again Booma? Can't believe they'd take him back- way too many baby sitting requirements needed in the contract. Mind you, England could have done worse than him in the WCup at 10....oh...they already did...

I've shed my tears for the Canes. This is the weakest squad we've ever had. We'll be lucky to get out of the bottom 4.

If otago have got an overseas player in, why haven't we? We freed up LOADS of money with our departing players and haven't got much in to shout about.

As an aside, a Japanese Nov/Dec/Jan coupled with the Super XV could become a big alternative to the NH comps moneywise

chewed_mintie wrote:I've shed my tears for the Canes. This is the weakest squad we've ever had. We'll be lucky to get out of the bottom 4.

If otago have got an overseas player in, why haven't we? We freed up LOADS of money with our departing players and haven't got much in to shout about.

As an aside, a Japanese Nov/Dec/Jan coupled with the Super XV could become a big alternative to the NH comps moneywise

They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn, and in the hour of greatest slaughter, the great avenger is being born.



















Or maybe you should have just signed The Hask.

chewed_mintie wrote:

If otago have got an overseas player in, why haven't we?

True Chewed...how bout cips...even I'd go along for a laugh and he'd become the night prince of Courtney place in quick time...

Why didnt we sign Argie players...you'd think it a must for some of them at least to play at the level that feeds the quad nations...I know theres some kins of restriction but I'd have thought that a natural approach for the Pumas...

Taylorman wrote:Why didnt we sign Argie players...you'd think it a must for some of them at least to play at the level that feeds the quad nations...I know theres some kins of restriction but I'd have thought that a natural approach for the Pumas...

I thought so too. The Argie 7 who slipped Read and McCaw to set up their try looked pretty good and he's playing in Argentina as an amateur. Hammett, sign him up NOW!

Taylorman wrote:

boomeranga wrote:I think Cips gets paid in soapie stars. He's all the way through Summer Bay and last seen heading for Ramsey Street.

Is he playing for them again Booma? Can't believe they'd take him back- way too many baby sitting requirements needed in the contract. Mind you, England could have done worse than him in the WCup at 10....oh...they already did...

Ouch, that hurt.

Taylorman wrote:

boomeranga wrote:I think Cips gets paid in soapie stars. He's all the way through Summer Bay and last seen heading for Ramsey Street.

Is he playing for them again Booma? Can't believe they'd take him back- way too many baby sitting requirements needed in the contract. Mind you, England could have done worse than him in the WCup at 10....oh...they already did...

Taylor,
Good shot at England. Fair, Funny, not mean spirited in any way (almost?). Well done.
That Cirpiani is a real enema, eh mate?

doctor_grey wrote:

Taylorman wrote:

boomeranga wrote:I think Cips gets paid in soapie stars. He's all the way through Summer Bay and last seen heading for Ramsey Street.

Is he playing for them again Booma? Can't believe they'd take him back- way too many baby sitting requirements needed in the contract. Mind you, England could have done worse than him in the WCup at 10....oh...they already did...

Taylor,
Good shot at England. Fair, Funny, not mean spirited in any way (almost?). Well done.
That Cirpiani is a real enema, eh mate?

Doc, you want me to go there again?

Ok, its a jest with Taylor (don't tell him). He mistyped the word enigma when posting from his phone. But the context how he accidentally used it made it real funny. So I promised I would not let him forget it. All in phun. But here, the context is not all that off the mark, eh?

Not at all, that's why i asked whether you wanted me to go there again.

Shouldn't this be in the club section?

Yes, but it is easier to find here. I saved international as my favourites page.

Hmmm, I guess that opens a new can of worms that shouldn't be discussed here. Apologies for hi-jacking the thread.

Taylorman wrote:CRUSADERS:
Nicholas Barrett, Tyler Bleyendaal, Daniel Carter, Wyatt Crockett, Ryan Crotty, Israel Dagg, Tom Donnelly, Andy Ellis, Corey Flynn, Ben Franks, Owen Franks, Robbie Fruean, Ben Funnell, Zac Guildford, Willi Heinz, Ross Kennedy, Quentin MacDonald, Sean Maitland, Tom Marshall, Richie McCaw, Patrick Osborne, Kieran Read, Luke Romano, Tom Taylor, Matt Todd, Joe Wheeler, Sam Whitelock, George Whitelock, Adam Whitelock, Luke Whitelock

A good few Scottish-eligible sounding names there, think I'll stick my allegiance with the Crusaders!

btw, whatever happened to Callum Bruce? Played once for NZ A in anIRB Pac Nations tournament while with the Highlanders or the Chiefs and then disappeared off the radar? Could have had a bagfull of caps for Scotland at IC if he'd wanted?

As, in certain parts of NZ (ie my kneck of the woods) "MacDonald" is a Maori surname* - that applies to Quentin MacDonald just like his cousin Leon.

Callum Bruce is off earning Yen.



* Back in the 1800s a Scotsman named MacDonald got adopted by a Marlborough iwi (tribe)

One of the more interesting names for the Chiefs is Declan O'Donnell - great sevens player with a shock of red hair, rats tail and Ireland in his genes from his grandfather if I recall.

Lovely fast player and a bit of the Irish fighting spirit too - got himself into a row outside a club where the no-name bouncer decided to cash in on his misfortune.

Comes from a large family - but don't know if any of the brothers are following after him.

Pot Hale,
Are you looking to import him to Ireland? If not, I know someone, somewhere, is wondering if he has an English Grandmother stashed in the closet somewhere...........

doctor_grey wrote:Pot Hale,
Are you looking to import him to Ireland? If not, I know someone, somewhere, is wondering if he has an English Grandmother stashed in the closet somewhere...........

Too late, NZ 7s caps mean he's ours. All ours mwahahaha-

Err, sorry, don't quite know what came over me there

It's been a while since we had a red-headed Maori looking like being a star (Paul Tito never really looked like wearing black).

Hey, stop laughing! England will have to take revenge by co-opting an overweight number 8 who looks like a fat tube of toothpaste with some of the product squeezed out.

Oh, wait a minute...............

doctor_grey wrote:Pot Hale,
Are you looking to import him to Ireland? If not, I know someone, somewhere, is wondering if he has an English Grandmother stashed in the closet somewhere...........

He'd be an interesting import, if he ever got twitchy legs to discover the other half of his Maori roots. I'd fancy him for Leinster.... Here's a clip of tries from sevens in which he scores four of them. Lovely sidestep and pace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV0OBG4r-FA

Doctor_grey - Have a peep at Norton for England who has a Jason Robinson look about him - one for the future.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Taylorman wrote:CRUSADERS:
Nicholas Barrett, Tyler Bleyendaal, Daniel Carter, Wyatt Crockett, Ryan Crotty, Israel Dagg, Tom Donnelly, Andy Ellis, Corey Flynn, Ben Franks, Owen Franks, Robbie Fruean, Ben Funnell, Zac Guildford, Willi Heinz, Ross Kennedy, Quentin MacDonald, Sean Maitland, Tom Marshall, Richie McCaw, Patrick Osborne, Kieran Read, Luke Romano, Tom Taylor, Matt Todd, Joe Wheeler, Sam Whitelock, George Whitelock, Adam Whitelock, Luke Whitelock

A good few Scottish-eligible sounding names there, think I'll stick my allegiance with the Crusaders!

btw, whatever happened to Callum Bruce? Played once for NZ A in anIRB Pac Nations tournament while with the Highlanders or the Chiefs and then disappeared off the radar? Could have had a bagfull of caps for Scotland at IC if he'd wanted?

Totally agree - he plays for Cannon in Japan.

Not sure he's even be eligible now that he's played for the Maoris?