Two of last week’s big winners, Waikato and Canterbury, will clash tonight in Hamilton as week two of the ITM Cup continues.
Waikato ($3.70) v Canterbury ($1.25)
Tonight 6:05pm | Bet Now
While most of the talk after the first week was about the 6-times defending champions Canterbury, what can’t be ignored was the performance of a somewhat unheralded Waikato side against Wellington.
Sure the capital city boys were well understrength but Waikato also introduced a number of new players to first class rugby and they came away with a handsome victory.
Canterbury made a very strong start in defence of their title and they simply didn’t allow a fancied Auckland team into the match at any stage. The red and blacks will be favoured in this one but expect a strong showing from the mooloo men.
Waikato: 15 Albert Nikoro, 14 Declan O’Donnell, 13 Jordan Payne, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Joe Webber, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Brad Weber (c), 8 Adam Burn, 7 Zak Hohneck, 6 Whetu Douglas, 5 David Morgan, 4 Nick Ross, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Brayden Mitchell, 1 Loni Uhila.
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 James McGougan, 18 Josh Tyrell, 19 Marty Holah, 20 Harrison Levien, 21 Wharenui Hawera, 22 Shayne Anderson.
Canterbury: 15 Richie Mo’unga, 14 Patrick Osborne, 13 Adam Whitelock, 12 Rob Thompson, 11 Johnny McNicholl, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal, 9 Willi Heinz (c), 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Jed Brown, 6 Matt Todd, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Alex Hodgman.
Replacements: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Siate Tokolahi, 18 Joel Everson, 19 Tom Sanders, 20 Mitchell Drummond, 21 Jack Goodhue, 22 Milford Keresoma.
Hawke’s Bay ($1.55) v Taranaki ($2.35)
Tonight 8:05pm | Bet Now
The game will be followed, at 8.05pm, by Hawkes Bay against Taranaki and although they come from different sections, Hawkes Bay from the Championship, and Taranaki from the Premiership, there may not be much in this game.
Hawkes Bay were dusted last week by Tasman but that is no disgrace because Tasman look to be a side that will trouble every team they meet in 2014.
Taranaki were involved in a real grind against Counties in their first match and it was very hard to get a line on them.
In more favourable conditions Taranaki should be able to show their true credentials this week against a Bay side that is very keen to get back to the Premiership.
Hawke’s Bay: 15 Ryan Tongia, 14 Richard Buckman, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Andrew Horrell, 11 Mikey Vuicakau, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Chris Eaton, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 Tony Lamborn, 5 Mark Abbott, 4 Michael Allardice, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Ash Dixon, 1 Brendon Edmonds.
Replacements: 22 Matt Berquist, 21 Jason Shoemark, 20 Ellery Wilson, 19 Trent Boswell-Wakefield, 18 Tom Parsons, 17 Adrian Barone, 16 Ged Robinson.
Taranaki: 15 Codey Rei, 14 Seta Tamanivalu, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 James Marshall (c), 11 Waisake Naholo, 10 Marty McKenzie, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Berny Hall, 6 Mitchell Crosswell, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Riki Hoeata, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Mitchell Graham.
Replacements: 16 Timo Tutavaha, 17 Sione Lea, 18 Toa Halafihi, 19 Doug Tietjens, 20 Warwick Lahmert, 21 Jackson Ormond, 22 Beaudein Waaka.
Take a Quick Multi on the ITM Cup now
Northland ($4.75) v Wellington ($1.16)
Saturday 2:35pm | Bet Now
Northland has the luxury of opening their season with two home games and Saturday afternoon sees them up against Wellington.
The boys in blue showed some nice touches last week in their narrow loss to Manawatu and they may feel that they can catch a young and relatively inexperienced Wellington off guard.
Coach Chris Boyd has made changes to his side after the Waikato defeat and he will be looking at defence that was a real issue at times for Wellington in their opening game.
RANFURLY SHIELD CHALLENGE
Counties-Manukau ($1.45) v Otago ($2.60)
Saturday 4:35pm | Bet Now
Otago held the Ranfurly Shield briefly in 2013 and they enjoyed it so much they are hell bent on getting it back. They get that chance tomorrow afternoon at Pukekohe when they take on the holders, Counties-Manukau.
Otago started their campaign last week with a solid win over Bay of Plenty and coach Tony Brown was able to get some good value out of players who had never previously surfaced at this level.
Counties, like Taranaki, had to cope with tough conditions in their opener but with the Shield at stake they are certain to raise themselves several levels for this one.
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