Crusaders are a class act and hard to beat
pressure, and McKenzie cracked.
At one stage the Crusaders were down to 13 players, yet their professionalism held, and really they won the match with ease.
So where does Robertson go from here? It’s obvious that certain delegates on the NZ Rugby Union don’t want him as the future All Black coach. He lost out last year to Ian Foster, who was assistant to Steve Hanson, with little success.
Scott Robertson will move on. There is nothing left for him in this country. Who knows? The French are very interested in him.
Sledging par excellence
Talk about sledging, after British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland named his team for the tour of South Africa, South African rugby writer Mark Keohane reckoned the captain, Welsh great Alun Wyn Jones, is an over-hyped plodder and that Gatland’s squad will struggle to beat the Springboks in the three-test series.
Even Irish sports writer Eamonn Sweeney labelled Gatland’s Lions selection as an insult to Irish rugby, and to its intelligence.
I have to agree. For Gatland to select a large number of England players, who this year suffered three defeats in the Home Nations, is madness.
Easy for Eastern
Eastern went through the motions on Saturday, easily knocking over a somewhat depleted Kaitaia 46-14, led by No. 8 Hayden Jurlina, who took all the lineout ball, and a brilliant try by Troy Harvey. The townies had no answer.
Now Kaitaia takes on Awanui under lights at Arnold Rae Park tomorrow night. Awanui are fuming after losing to Kaikohe 10-14, but they were heavily punished by the referee. They had no retaliation. There was no flair in the backs and the defence at times was non-existent. Kaikohe, a big team, looked classy, both forwards and backs producing the skills. Te Rarawa had their best game of the season so far, knocking over hapless O¯ kaihau 62-21. “We really clicked,” coach Thomas Rogers said.
Te Rarawa travels to O¯ haeawai, who just beat Otiria 25-19, this weekend, and Eastern are at home to Otiria.
And that’s how Mat sees it.