Smith Manawatu¯’s most capped All Black
Aaron Smith has now played more games for the All Blacks than any other Manawatu¯ player.
The Feilding halfback played his 67th test for the All Blacks in their 25-24 win over South Africa in Newlands on Sunday.
That pushed him past prop Gary Knight, who played 66 games for the All Blacks, including 36 tests.
Mark Shaw (64 games while associated with Manawatu¯ ) and Aaron Cruden (50 tests) are next on the list.
With Smith just 28 years old and clearly the top halfback in the country, he looks set to open up a sizeable lead.
Too wet for cricket
Well, wouldn’t you know it? The first round of club cricket was scheduled for the weekend, but lo and behold the heavens opened during the week and put paid to that idea.
The grounds are saturated, so ground staff haven’t even been able to get near the grass pitches, or even take the rugby goalposts down. Artificial pitches are looking like getting a fair bit of use in the early season.
It is hoped to get on grass by the end of the month, but with the recent weather, they will be lucky just to be playing by then.
Ranfurly Shield challenge
It sounds like a couple of busloads of Manawatu¯ Turbos supporters could be heading to New Plymouth on Wednesday for the Ranfurly Shield challenge.
Taranaki stunned Canterbury on Friday night, lifting the shield with a 55-43 win on Friday, with Manawatu¯ their sole challenge left in 2017.
One bus has already been booked to head to Taranaki and there has been a lot of excitement around Manawatu¯ getting a crack at the shield. The Turbos will need as many Bucketheads as possible barracking for them to help get them over the line against Taranaki.
Wanted: Chief executive
The Manawatu¯ Rugby Union has advertised for a replacement for chief executive John Knowles.
Knowles announced in August he would step aside from his role at the end of the year.
The advertisement for his role went up on Thursday, with a deadline for applicants on October 27.
Those on a short-list are expected to be interviewed November 6-10, so we should know who the new chief executive is by the end of November.