Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Air New Zealand Cup

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Air New Zealand Cup - Round 1 Highlights

As you now know, New Zealand's domestic rugby competition, the Air New Zealand Cup, kicked off last weekend around the country as the best provincial sides met.

Some great rugby was played with a whole bunch of excellent tries, which is what we've got for you today.

The much anticipated return of Dan Carter couldnt help his sides cause as Canterbury actually surprisingly lost to North Harbour 22-19. Carter was impressive though, landing four penalties, a conversion, and showing his usual tactical kicking prowess.

He showed no signs of favouring or protecting the leg which he injured six months ago, which will be great to hear for All Black fans.

We won't go into detail about every match, but we've got 8 minutes worth of exciting action, including a few stand out tries that are sure to impress.

Enjoy, and let us know if you have a favourite try. There's a few classics in there.

Time: 08:09
Music: My Delirium by Ladyhawke & Degrees of Existence by Dimmer

Thanks for the coverage RD, nice to see domestic rugby from around the world! Keep up the excellent work!

By ConnachtFan, at August 06, 2009 3:24 pm
Nice work RD, I enjoyed that one.. I'm sure alot of other people think so to..

By Anonymous, at August 06, 2009 3:48 pm
Some lovely tries... the offload over the gain line seems to be a killer.

But, there's a lot of help there for attacking teams! In what world is the Bay of Plenty's 2nd try not offside? And Hawkes Bay's hooker gives us a perfect example of double movement. I know the previous forum someone commented on how nice it was to see a ref go with a AR instead of the video. Not if they get the call that wrong it's not.

End on a positive: great that Carter is back. Not a moment too soon for the ABs

By Hackney Griffin, at August 06, 2009 5:00 pm
ok let me state this right now im not some southern hemisphere hating Englishman, i loved seeing these highlights because the skill was sublime on %95 of the tries. But i thought the tackling was a bit slack maybe?

not through bad tackling in particular, just organisation. i saw alot of tries coming from the inside man not working to track the inside pass which made alot of the tries. Just a thought not a hater.......

By Anonymous, at August 06, 2009 5:34 pm
hater.

jokes.

good tries, masaga with the hand off has gas to burn.
benson stanley is quality x

By Anonymous, at August 06, 2009 6:27 pm
Good tries but i was hoping for a punch up video after seeing the photo at the top of the page. Nice false advertising RD :)

By Anonymous, at August 06, 2009 6:57 pm
nice vid RD, keep 'em coming

faitly nice tries from all over the park with counter attacks, nice running lines, gaps used perfectly by the 1/2backs... good rugby over all

but perhaps is there a bit of slacky defence on a few tries...

good to see carter back in action for NPC, after being involved with Southbridge (which he had never played for before), should be good nams for AB

By luxi, at August 06, 2009 6:59 pm
oops,
forgot to mention carter had never played for Southbridge at senior level before (he was involved in the age levels and stuff...)

By luxi, at August 06, 2009 7:01 pm
That Hawkes Bay try -- at 3:45 -- where the scrumhalf jinks out everybody and gets forty meters past the Auckland defense -- that was the best try in this bunch.

By Anonymous, at August 06, 2009 7:21 pm
Hackney Griffin, there is no double movement rule in union, only in league.
And this is the level just below the S14, so the play is not quite as tight. It's still a very high standard, alot of these teams gave the B&I Lions are run for their money.

By Jon, at August 07, 2009 12:57 am
Awesome work!

By erik, at August 07, 2009 1:06 am
Hackney,

you are allowed one movement with the ball to place it after being tackled (doesn't matter which direction) and he first landed on the tacklers chest.

Also its the 1st week of comp. of course the D is a bit down....

But RD awesome.. I am in Oz and we would never see this otherwise

By ned2or3, at August 07, 2009 6:19 am
Jon, no double movement rule in union?? I'm not sure if I misunderstand you, with the way you've worded that, but of course you're not allowed a double movement.

Once you're held, you can reach out to place the ball, or your momentum can carry you over. Anything after that is considered a double movement and will be blown up.

Unless the IRB snuck in a law change without me knowing, but I doubt it. :)

Cheers.. cracking vid. Theres a try scored there by Hosea Gear (I think) for Wellington which is pure class by the whole team.

By FrankyH, at August 07, 2009 8:25 am
If I had a pound for every time I've got up at 6am to watch an Air NZ Cup game and it was a snooze fest I'd be a rich man. My life would be easier if sky showed this kind of thing.

Great tries in there, Hosea Gear's was a superb team effort.

More like this please!

By Will Topps, at August 07, 2009 10:41 am
There most certainly is a double movement rule in union Jon. And ned2or3 the player clearly hits the ground, stops moving, lurches forward in a second movement, reaches out and grounds the ball. They slow it down and show it from the side for you. It's never a try. Poor call from the Assistant.

By Hackney Griffin, at August 07, 2009 10:50 am
as the all blacks continue to stutter and the super 14 loses its lustre - this competition, forever the bedrock of domestic rugby (aside from club footy) is what I prefer to watch and I think a lot of seasoned rugby fans in NZ are turning too. It has everything we used to expect from a rugby compeition - tribal rivalries built over years of NPC games (unlike the s14 which excludes to many regions), local derbies, local fans (ie. not having to mission from say Hawkes Bay to Wellington (3-4hrs travel one way) for Hurricanes matches - its now literally in their backyard) and last but not least a competitive competition due to players from 2 age-grade world champion sides spinkled among the seasoned pros and rep players across the country eg. the crudens, robinsons and kirkpatricks etc mixing it with the masagas, gears and thompsons of the nz rugby scene. They're still inexperienced - but this competition is building up the rugby core left by the mass exodus not just of top NZ players (ABs and S14) but also all the former age-grade reps, provincial journeymen and senior players now plying their trades in far flung places like madrid, portugal, usa, etc.

Just my 2 cents :)

By long live the NPC, at August 07, 2009 2:15 pm
There is nothing in the IRB rule book that talks about a double movement.
It is a term that only applies in league. Half the tries in union would be considered double movements in rugby league.
There is a momentum rule in union.
The player's momentum must be carrying him forwards, towards the dead ball line and he must reach out and score 'immediately'. The second part of that rule is not heavily enforced since the term immediately is subjective.
There is no mention of double movement. So in this case I'd say he scored, since his momentum was carrying him forward and as soon as he could he put the ball down.
But yeah, read the rules.

By Jon, at August 07, 2009 3:58 pm
Great footage, would love to see more of this over the coming months.
Thanks for that.
To the tries, the ones for masaga and gear are my favourites. both showing their class.

By Ben, at August 07, 2009 5:18 pm
the second to last try in the manawatu/counties match was a classic. ball spilled all over the place, what a crazy passage of play

By kevinb, at August 07, 2009 6:13 pm
that second try from the North Harbor vs Canterbury highlight was great ball handling

By Anonymous, at August 08, 2009 12:27 pm
masaga and gear has some serious pace.... what are you doing henry?? these boys are the key; not roks; not at the moment

By Anonymous, at August 08, 2009 9:34 pm
what the song?!

By Bruno Vicenzio, at August 13, 2009 10:17 pm