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

Monday, August 30, 2010

ITM Cup in New Zealand - Highlights from Round 5

There have been quite a few requests for more tries from the ITM Cup in New Zealand, so today here is a package that is ten minutes long and features the best moments from every New Zealand provincial championship game of the weekend.

Starting on Thursday, Taranaki made it four from four as they beat Otago 25-15 in Dunedin. Both sides scored some good tries but Otago failed to get off the bottom of the table as they’re still winless so far.

On the opposite end of the table, Southland continued their fine form as they beat Tasman 21-16 with fullback Robbie Robinson kicking seven penalties. Tasman snuck a bonus point at least, kicking a penalty with time up on the clock.

Waikato scored some nice tries as they powered over Counties Manukau with a convincing 39-3 win in Hamilton. The game was finely balanced at 7-3 at the halftime break, but Waikato stretched their legs in the second, playing some great rugby.

The Wellington and Northland game was a little closer, with the latter taking a 31-28 win in which the impressive Rene Ranger featured prominently. Some sensational tries were scored by both sides, but Victor Vito’s for Wellington would probably pick up the try of the game award.

Canterbury got off to a great start and followed through, eventually winning 35-16 in their match with Auckland in Christchurch. In Rotorua, Hawke’s Bay were to good for Manawatu as they cane out 17-9 winners, while North Harbour won 39-29 against Bay of Plenty in an entertaining match in Rotorua.

The quality of these highlights isn’t fantastic, but the quality of the rugby is never in question. Sit back and enjoy a total of ten minutes of tries as each game of the round is recapped. If there is anything in particular that you spotted on the weekend that you think should be featured as an individual post, please post a request.

Time: 10:12

Oh dear Otago. Some great tries in there though. Decent.

By Dozzy_X, at August 30, 2010 4:45 pm
some awful errors there, some awesome tries though

By Anonymous, at August 30, 2010 5:57 pm
awesome tries :)

By Leeners93, at August 30, 2010 6:58 pm
Did anyone else see the HORRIBLE obstruction by the attacking side right before that little Ranger flick? Took the chasers legs out for gods sake...

By Chambo, at August 30, 2010 8:27 pm
Outstanding

By Anonymous, at August 30, 2010 9:00 pm
great tries.

By Bazz, at August 30, 2010 11:06 pm
I love the ITM Cup
Go the Stags!

By Craig, at August 31, 2010 12:34 am
Rene Rangers don't argue on Savea was massive... Obviously Savea is a gun, but it's a good little lesson on why you should go low in the tackle on players with so much power.

Also, I liked Masaga's new dance moves... Looks like he's getting back some of that X-Factor he lost with all his injuries, he's such an entertainer!

By Nicko, at August 31, 2010 1:17 am
rene ranger is awesome, he would do the ABs jersey proud but its a matter of where do you put him. Depth is looking good.

By olwakachangchang, at August 31, 2010 1:40 am
Wow, Ranger made Savea look pretty silly. Ranger has so much power.

By Anonymous, at August 31, 2010 4:17 am
DANGER RANGER STRIKES AGAIN, haha.

I still love the hit on Zane Kirschner during the tri-nations, such an animal!!

By Anonymous, at August 31, 2010 4:19 am
Really like the longer highlights, great rugby in this comp.

By Bill, at August 31, 2010 8:21 am
I swear these teams would give any team in the Guiness Premiership a good seeing too. The attacking play is just phenomenal, running in tries consistently from within their own half's

By Anonymous, at August 31, 2010 10:51 am
Great rugby but blatant shocking obstruction at 5'10 (cf Chambo's comment). But great entertaining rugby.

By Maximus, at August 31, 2010 11:03 am
I actually love that obstruction, so clever and if the ref lets it fly then why not.

By Anonymous, at August 31, 2010 11:06 am
@Chambo, I wonder about that one too. Shouldn't that one been penalised for obstruction?

By Anonymous, at August 31, 2010 11:20 am
Far from the level in Top14...

By Anonymous, at August 31, 2010 1:03 pm
@anon, you're dead right mate, far above the level of top 14. Could not agree with you more.

By Spaz, at September 01, 2010 4:52 am
Top 14 is a joke of a competition, I fell asleep watching it on ESPN the other day...

It just shows you can throw as much money at it and poach as many SH players as you want and still not get a decent result.

LOL at French people.

By Wake me when its over., at September 01, 2010 7:45 am
^^
HAHAHA! Man you're a clown, everybody knows Top14 is the greatest rugby competition in the world with S15, there's no debate... If you can't see that it means you know nothing about this sport!

By open your eyes mate, at September 01, 2010 9:10 am
@open your eyes mate, top 14 the greatest rugby comp in the world....really? Sure they've taken some really good steps and stuff but NPC and Currie cup have been the best comps of their kind for over 100 years now, these sides have regularly beaten INTERNATIONAL sides for over a century. They are essentially the comps where the rest of the world goes shopping. why? because the quality is exceptional.

By Reality Check, at September 01, 2010 9:52 am
@ anon:

Lol, I wouldn't rush myself saying any team from the ITM would give a good seeing to any Guiness Premiership club. Just to give one example, I doubt that would be true against Leicester Tigers who have tons of great players (i.e. Castrogiovanni, Youngs, the Tuilagui brothers...) and also a few international scalps (hey, they beat SA, and thats quite an acomplishment, even if it was a B side).

ITM teams have a lot of class. Vito, Ranger, Gear, So'oialo... But GP clubs can offer some good competition

@ wake me up when its over:

You really don't know what you are talking about, mate. You have to be pretty clueless about rugby to even say that. Even if you are from the SH you have to admit Top14 is one hell of a competition. With players like Wilkinson, Hayman, Van Niekerk, Contempomi, Ngwenya, Leguizamon, Harinordoquy, Parisse, Tuilagui (hell, 4 of the best n8s in the world), Bastareaud, Juan Martin Hernandez, Vilimoni Delasau, Napoleoni Nalaga, Byron Kelleher... you have to be mad to say that isn't one of the best competitions in the world. Toulouse, Toulon, Clermont-Auvergne, Stade Français... They all would be able to compete with ITM teams, and I would dare including Racing Metro and Biarritz Olympique too. You have "bad", "unnattractive" and "slow" games in every competition on Earth, but that certainly is not the standard of Top14

By Xavier, at September 01, 2010 1:14 pm
this is why the ALL BLACKS are killing it!!! this is with out a doubt be the fastest pace most skilled rugby in the world!! Look players who come back to SH from NH are slow.. eg luke mcalester the man left NZ with mad skill running great lines NOW he has learnt BAD BALL skills thanks to those POMMY T@SSER'S well he did learn to kick!!! NH are so behind with the new attacking laws we been playing these rules from grass roots rugby run not kick. This style of rugby comes natural unlike our NH kick clap clap!! jolly good jonny!!!

how often do you see guiness teams run from there 22? oh thats right they kick!!!!

By Anonymous, at September 01, 2010 2:59 pm
^^
You sound like a child, that's funny

By Anonymous, at September 01, 2010 4:24 pm
The T14 is below this level in terms of attacking play, basic skills (such as passing, backing up, handling, breaking tackles) and tactically the T14 is light years behind NZ provincial rugby.

If you compare the GPS stats of T14 players they cover roughly half the number of metres in a game than a player in the S14. The ITM is only marginally belwo S14 level, it's basically all the NZ teams from the S14 minus their current All Blacks.

In the SH players play faster and have a higher skill level.
In the NH (according to GPS stats) the ball rarely goes more than five metres from the ruck on a play and attacking play is rudimentry.

When Luke Rooney came from being the starting fullback for Toulon, to trying to start in the ITM cup in NZ, he got dropped after one game.
The coach said he has all the basic skills from his time in rugby league, but his years in France had changed him into a much less dynamic player.
He basically said that in France all he had to do was catxch the ball and kick it back the other way.
In the ITM cup he has to run the ball back, link play like a five eight and just generally be more dynamic.
He;s slowly learning how to play properly again.

The T14 is good ion terms of the players it attracts, as well as the coaches and the money invested in the squads.

But it is light years behind in terms of tactics and skills.

By Bill, at September 02, 2010 2:15 am
Gotta agree with Bill... Every Sh rugby compilation shows insane running skills and tackles, while the NH ones often show one or two good tries, which are pretty rare.

What do guys eat in Nez Zealand to play rugby the way they do?

Rude obstruction at 5:10!

By Joost, at September 02, 2010 3:50 am
"He basically said that in France all he had to do was catxch the ball and kick it back the other way."

OMFG he obviously didn't ever watch Luke Rooney play with Toulon to say such an idiot thing. And you globally don't know anything about T14 to say such stupid things about it, we can't take you seriously. And where the hell do you take your GPS stats from??? I'd be curious to know... Or you're joing right?

By rodofle, at September 02, 2010 10:17 pm
Got them from the South African fitness trainer who was provided them by the T14 clubs.
And he said that about Rooney because it's true.
You can stick your head in the sand all you want though, that's the kind of attitude that prevents NH rugby from progressing.

By Bill, at September 03, 2010 12:27 am
I don't watch S15, so i can't talk about it. But what i know is that i watch T14 and that what you say about it is absolutely false. Luke Rooney and all the other fullbacks of that competition do a lot, a very lot more than just catch the ball and kick it back. Trust me or don't, i don't care, but watch T14 before telling total crap about it, you don't have a clue what you're talking about. That's ridiculous.

By rodofle, at September 03, 2010 2:08 pm
@rodofle What Bill says is true. Luke rooney has come from Toulon to Hawkes Bay in the ITM cup. The Hawkes Bay Today paper directly quoted Rooney saying that he is finding it very difficult to adjust to the pace. Also we can see clearly that although he was playing in the Top 14 he is blatantly not up to scratch here. He hasn't been in the starting line-up now for several weeks despite being given every opportunity to prove himself. Furthermore what Bill says about GPS is also true. Top 14 coaches FREELY provided their player's GPS information and it was found to be far below SH rugby. These are the facts. Deal with it.

By Reality, at September 04, 2010 10:47 am