TAKING THE LAST STEP
Campbell Burnes likes the look of Auckland’s roster this season and can see a pathway to the Premiership title after two inconsistent yet still relatively successful seasons.
Auckland has posted some good numbers in the form book since 2018: it reads champion, semifinalist, beaten finalist.
It is a perennial prime contender after the troubles of 2016-17, and yet there is a feeling that inconsistency has bedevilled the side’s performances since that sterling 2018 campaign.
Alama Ieremia is now into his fourth year at the helm and is thankful to have a full pre-season after a terrible lockdown month in August 2020.
There is no complacency and that is seen in several changes. The first sees steven bates replacing Filo Tiatia as forwards assistant coach, one All blacks no 8 replacing another. Dan bowden will run the attack along with Ieremia, while Craig Mcgrath will again look after the defence, which was solid for much of 2020, only twice leaking more than 30.
The lows were the 23-22 battle of the bridge defeat, an early hiding by wellington, which annexed the Fred Lucas Memorial Trophy and a one-point defeat in the home final to Tasman, a score which did not tell the full tale of how Auckland was second-best at set-piece.
The benchmark display was the 31-10 hammering of the Mako in the regular season, which showed that when Auckland gets physical in the pack, it can match all comers. but the team lacked the requisite consistency, and Ieremia acknowledges this after what he says was “an honest and thorough review”.
Zarn sullivan should be a lock for the fullback berth after such a fine Super rugby season with the blues, and looking the goods for Auckland in 2020. On the wings you have AJ Lam and salesi rayasi, the latter just about unstoppable last season with 14 tries.
Then it gets interesting, with several players able to run out on the flanks or in the midfield. Among this group is Bryce Heem, who played some tremendous
rugby for the blues, and solomone Kata, from the brumbies via the nrl. He played his First XV rugby at sacred Heart College. Another leaguie returning to his 15-a-side roots is warriors captain roger Tuivasa-sheck, who should be free next month once his warriors and MIQ commitments are completed. we have not even mentioned Caleb Clarke, who will be coming back from the Olympics via MIQ and could be available later this month. One would think he doesn’t have a free pass into the All blacks, so he will need to prove his form and fitness.
nz under 20s rep Corey evans is an option at second five.
Dan Hollinshead, who will be back soon from the usa, will likely act as Harry Plummer’s back-up as simon Hickey will be out for the season, still injured, though the former captain will be involved in the leadership group. Taufa Funaki, similarly, will be the back-up halfback to Jonathan ruru, though Ieremia does have two younger nines as options.
“There’s a lot of new stuff we are adjusting to in our attack, a lot of new ideas we’re planting. It’s time we changed things up. roger brings that dynamic that adds to the profile of how we are going to play. He’ll be on the wing but will have a roving role. we have players in the backline that pop up everywhere, so, for example, salesi rayasi does not always just stay on his wing,” says Ieremia.
“we’re quite excited by that because it brings a fresh look and feel to the backline.”
There is depth aplenty in the pack, with the versatile waimana riedlinger-kapa back from injury. Adrian Choat and blake gibson could well operate in tandem on the side of the scrum, taking care of the allimportant breakdown. Do not forget niko Jones, who made his foray into the NPC last season.
scott scrafton is the senior lock, but the signing of Queensland reds lock ryan smith, a borderline wallaby, could bear fruit. Jamie Lane has reversed his retirement and will want to continue his club form.
Auckland is well covered at hooker, with the return of 2018 rake robbie Abel from Australia, while soane Vikena should be ready to rock. Leni Apisai is another experienced option.
Alex Hodgman will seek to work on his game on the loosehead side to regain his All blacks berth, while there’s a chance Ofa Tuungafasi will need to prove his fitness for a few games after injury. Jordan Lay has come over from bay of Plenty and bristol to join his brother James, who will cover the tighthead side with the reliable Marcel renata.
“we spend a lot of time putting squads together and it’s really important to get that balance right,” says Ieremia.
“we have a very strong squad and it’s
‘Alama Ieremia is now into his fourth year at the helm and is thankful to have a full pre-season after a terrible lockdown month in August 2020.’
about finding what we have to do on the field to get over that last hurdle. Most importantly, we haven’t reinvented but refreshed and adjusted a few things.”
Last season Auckland used 44 players, so if you are in the Auckland bs, there is plenty to play for. A strange draw sees Auckland start with four Premiership games then all four of its crossover games on the bounce. expect this side to feature well into October.