NPR

Maniototo Man wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:46 am

Gumboot wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:43 am Why the hell did Akira want to kick it? Poor decision.

Any question that starts wth "Why the hell did Akira ..." will never have an answer.

Maniototo Man wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 6:22 am Even with all their dominance, Auckland went scoreless in the last 30 minutes.

stemoc wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:23 am makalio, double already .hookers on a roll today leni apisai in the previous game

Gumboot wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:28 am TMO fucked that up.

Ymx wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 8:17 am Stunning try from nothing. Jordan brilliance

Monkey Magic wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:55 am Ref just making stuff up at scrum time. First the penalty try, now, not staying straight suddenly turned into loose head collapsing

Otago and Highlanders midfield Sio Tomkinson faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after his red card against Auckland, but All Blacks star Rieko Ioane has little sympathy for him

“I think he’s [Hickey] obviously going to be having headaches for a couple of days,” Ioane told Stuff after Auckland's 38-6 win on Saturday.

“In all fairness it was a pretty cheap shot, and I think Sio would know that, and he understands that.

“I feel for him [Hickey]’, hopefully he recovers fast but it looked pretty bad.”

Tomkinson was sent off for an ugly high shot on Hickey in the closing stages of the game, and has already been banned this year for a tackle on Brumbies fullback Tom Banks when playing for the Highlanders.

His latest offence was made all the more shocking because the game was finished as a contest long before he raced out of the defensive line and smashed into Hickey's head.


“You never want to go out to hurt anyone in the other team, and you never want to intentionally do that,” Ioane said.

“Whether he [Tomkinson] did...I’m sort of going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he didn't, but in the end it looked quite bad.”

At his best, Tomkinson is a confrontational defender who can make a difference with his physicality, but Ioane said he still had significant work to do on his technique.

“He's a hard hitter, he always has been since he went to school, and he just needs to drop his hips,” Ioane said.

“If he gets a lot lower he'll be lining people up.”

Ioane was also still coming to terms with the loss of The Rugby Championship to Australia, which means that the All Blacks could be based in Australia for up to three months.

The painful reality of being away from family was already beginning to hit home, but Ioane said the All Blacks would simply have to grit their teeth and get on with the job.

“I've been hearing a bit like the NBA going away, our own Disneyland for quite some time," he said.

“At the end of the day they'll sort something out, or hopefully things change we can see our families.

“But if we go over there we'll go there to do a job, and I know there are a lot of keen young boys who will want to get over, and they’ll bing that energy.

“Hopefully time will fly quickly, and we’ll be back before Christmas before you know it.”

Still, Ioane was sympathetic to the plight of the new dads in the All Blacks squad, who might miss those first few months of fatherhood.

“It is what it is,” Ioane said. “You take the good with the bad, but it's going to be a bit of a drag the last bit.

“Of the top of my head TJ [Perenara] and Richie [Mo’unga] are new fathers.

“It's not something they'll want to do but I think it's something they have to do.

“Everyone will support them but it’ll definitely be a tough time for them.”

Jb1981 wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 10:50 pm Rieko’s sitting on the fence a bit there. On the one hand he thinks it was a cheap shot but on the other he’ll give Tomkinson the benefit of the doubt that it wasn’t intentional. It sounds like he’s lining up a future career as a defence coach given the technical tackling advice he’s prepared to offer. To be fair, that’s probably a better option for him than sports psychologist.

Gumboot wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 6:15 am Tomkinson's in for a long holiday for that. He has plenty of prior.

Gumboot wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 1:14 am Wonder why they scheduled two games for the same time on every Sunday arvo.