INVESTEC SUPER RUGBY OFFICIAL MATCH PROGRAMME
FRIDAY 15 MAY 2015
Investec – Official sponsor of Super Rugby in New Zealand
Specialists in the field With skill and expertise to boot. At Investec we recognise that it takes a winning spirit to create out of the ordinary performance. Our international teams are well positioned to deliver a distinctive range of specialist banking and investment products and services in private banking, wealth & investment and asset management. Keeping you ahead of the game. www.investec.co.za/rugby
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A MESSAGE FROM
OUR SPONSORS Welcome to Investec Super Rugby 2015. What an exciting World Cup year it promises to be. This is Investec’s fifth year as title sponsor of the Investec Super Rugby tournament in New Zealand. Once again we expect a thrilling five months of top quality rugby as the 15 best teams this side of the equator face off for the right to be crowned club rugby champions of the southern hemisphere. The competition is closely followed by Investec’s clients around the world. With the quality of rugby being as it has been over recent years, it
Welcome to the 2015 season of Investec Super Rugby. On behalf of our 5500-strong team at the Bank of New Zealand, we extend a warm welcome to you – our fellow rugby fans from right around the country. It’s set to be a sensational year for the nation’s game as we look forward to the 2015 Rugby World Cup in the UK. But in the meantime, there are more than 120 games to be played across New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. In the months ahead, there are untold tries to be scored and dozens of new sporting heroes to be crowned – but just one coveted Super Rugby championship title to be awarded. And we can’t wait!
remains a perfect association for the Investec brand. Investec is proud to be involved in a number of other high profile rugby-related sponsorships. These include The Rugby Championship in New Zealand and the Investec International Rugby Academy in South Africa. All of our rugby sponsorships uphold the values of a winning spirit. We wish all teams and all supporters the best of luck for the games ahead. Enjoy the rugby! JANET LARSEN Head of Marketing Investec South Africa
BNZ – like the game of rugby – is steeped in the history, culture and very fabric of this country. We’re proud to have a track record of more than 150 years of enabling a high achieving New Zealand by supporting Kiwis in pursuing their goals and achieving their dreams, which is why we’re delighted to be backing all five New Zealand Super Rugby franchises for the sixth year running. BNZers around the country are also passionate about being bold and brave, and working together as one team – things we know the world’s best sports teams continually strive to achieve, and just another reason why supporting our
ABOUT INVESTEC Investec is an international specialist bank and asset manager that provides a diverse range of financial products and services to a niche client base in two principal markets, the United Kingdom and South Africa as well as certain other countries. The group was established in 1974 and currently has approximately 8,200 employees. Investec focuses on delivering distinctive profitable solutions for its clients in three core areas of activity, namely Asset Management, Wealth & Investment and Specialist Banking. In July 2002 the Investec group implemented a dual listed company structure with listings on the London and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges. The combined group’s current market capitalisation is approximately £4.6 billion.
country’s national game makes so much sense. As we witness the determination of our Super Rugby teams this season and admire their peak physical fitness, it could be a good time to think about your own goals and financial fitness. Our teams across the country are here to help you be good with money, so please pop into your local BNZ store or Partners Centre or give us a call. We’d love to have a chat. Enjoy the game! ANTHONY HEALY Chief Executive Officer Bank of New Zealand
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TWO CAPTAINS, TWO CODES Both know exactly how the other feels. Maria Tutaia, goal attack for the SKYCITY Mystics tells us how she led a team struggling to perform every weekend. And Steven Luatua responds with how he’s leading ours.
MARIA: “You never want to make excuses but we lost our whole defensive end before one of our seasons started, our midcourt started to drop like flies and soon we were ringing in school kids. When it rains, it blimmin’ pours. It was really hard because you would sacrifice so much every single day for the sport. You’d be missing out on birthdays, functions, and you’d be away from family, which is my main thing. You’d get up early to hit the gym, eat the right thing, and then come game time, nothing pans out.
Our team knew the situation. We would kick-butt on the court in training but we did a lot off the court as well to relax. We’d go bowling, to the movies, mindless things. The whole of Auckland was against us because we weren’t performing so we just had to pull together with the people who were rowing the boat. And to lighten the mood you can’t go past Cathrine Latu (Mystics shooter). She’s always one to make any tough situation light-hearted. When I was down I’d look at her and she’d just say something stupid or pull a funny face. I think what it takes to turn a team around is each day wanting to be better. For me, my mindset had to change. I started coming into the Mystics thinking I’m going to have fun. I’ll work hard, show up and spend time with my teammates. And I think that’s what the Blues are doing – I feel for them this season, it’s not like they’re getting wasted. It’s good to see that they’re not giving up.”
STEVEN: “It’s been a pretty poor season for us. We’ve got a lot of tradition and a lot of history to uphold. There was a time when the Blues were guaranteed to make playoffs and that’s what people remember – that’s what we’re compared to. But that’s also why we play – we all enjoy the challenge. During the week, we go about our business as normal and try applying ourselves as much as possible. There are guys on the team who have a feel-good, positive attitude and that spreads throughout the camp. Jerome and Keven, for example, are always positive. They come into training with a smile on their face, they
shake your hand, they’re great leaders and they make the rest of us want to follow. They may not be cracking the jokes, but they’re still a light around the place. And when we go away, there are always team activities to bring everybody together. When on tour, there are movies, boys going out and getting coffee, doing as much as you can together without jeopardising preparation. Like Maria, the hardest part for me is that we actually can win, that we’ve got a good enough team, that we have great players and we have the game plan but it’s not coming off on the field. And I hate losing. But everyone deals with it in different ways. Right now I’m focussed on bringing this team home. For some of these players, they might be hanging up their boots at the end of the season and I want to make it as special as I can. Some of the boys haven’t experienced a win in the Blues jersey yet. Those are the ones I’m playing for.”
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PLYING THEIR TRADE Today we’re highlighting four of our Blues “tradies” – trade apprentices turned professional rugby players. Will Lloyd, Sam Prattley, Greg Pleasants-Tate and Blake Gibson have each completed at least one year of a trade qualification at the same time as training for a future in rugby. The day’s smoko was a unanimous favourite for our Blues tradies, with most “missing the banter” from their apprentice days. But professional rugby and the trades have their similarities. “You’ve got to work hard and there’s teamwork in both,” said 20-year-old Blake, who started a drain-laying apprenticeship after high school. “Your boss is like your captain, you’ve got to follow him and respect him.” As is often the case for
tradies, the workdays were tough when combining manual labour with morning and evening rugby training. But it wasn’t all about the long hours. “I enjoyed the work,” said Sam, engineering apprentice and resident metalwork aficionado. “You’d pull something to bits and put it back together again, it’s cool to see it working again.” Sam has turned his trade to a spit-making career, selling mechanical spit-roasters to
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boys on the team and anybody interested. The diversity of the job is what appealed to Will, who is a fully qualified electrician. “We worked on the Navy Base at Devonport, did boats, residential, industrial work in the tunnels, there was heaps of different types of work,” he said. While Greg liked the physical ‘hands on’ nature of the job. “I enjoy doing hands on work so my parents told me to get a trade.” The Takapuna Grammar graduate did just that, taking one year off after high school then jumping in to a plumbing and drain-laying apprenticeship. Blake, Greg and Sam are all looking to complete their qualifications once rugby has died down. But for now the focus is all about perfecting their onfield trade.
LIFTING THE LID ON CAPTAIN’S RUN Captain’s Run is not for the faint of heart. Or for the media. Or coaches. Or anybody, really, aside from the 23 players selected to play. For generations, Captain’s Run has been a final sharpener the day or two before a game. The tradition of Captain’s Run usually starts at the National Provincial Championship level with the ITM Cup and is seen at the Super Rugby and national levels of professional rugby. It’s run by the captain and the playmakers and designed to bring the team together in a fun pre-match practice. “It’s really important for us. It’s our last run before the game and a chance to get out on to the field,” said Jerome Kaino, 2015 Blues captain. “You want to add a little competition and fun to the training so that the boys
get confidence from it.” And fun can take all sorts of forms – sometimes it’s a bit of kick-tennis, other times it’s all about “ripping into it” and nailing every play, as described by Brendon O’Connor.
scratch. It’s getting closer to the game, so everyone is focusing more and making sure we’ve nailed everything from the week before.” “You’ve done 95% during the week and captain’s run is
The practice is short, typically only 60 minutes, and it’s a chance to go over the week’s training. “It’s sort of like a sharpener,” described 2014 captain Luke Braid. “Certain plays are run through and you make sure everybody is up to
the final 5%.” And, as the name suggests, it’s the captain with the last say. “It’s really important, especially for home games,” said Jerome. “I love doing our Captain’s Run at Eden Park, I get a huge buzz out of that.”
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2015 BLUES PLAYER STATS
JOSH BEKHUIS
JIMMY COWAN
CHARLIE FAUMUINA
LOCK 2.00M | 115KG | 29YR
HALFBACK 1.86M | 92KG | 33YR
TIGHTHEAD PROP 1.85M | 128KG | 28YR
BLAKE GIBSON
JAMISON GIBSON-PARK
SIMON HICKEY
LOOSE FORWARD 1.86M | 102KG | 20YR
HALFBACK 1.77M | 84KG | 23YR
1ST FIVE-EIGHT 1.74M | 83KG | 21YR
AKIRA IOANE
BEN LAM
WILL LLOYD
LOOSE FORWARD 1.94M | 111KG | 19YR
RIGHT WING 1.94M | 105KG | 23YR
LOCK 2.03M | 110KG | 25YR
STEVEN LUATUA
KEVEN MEALAMU
GEORGE MOALA
LOOSE FORWARD 1.96M | 115KG | 24YR
HOOKER 1.81M | 108KG | 36YR
INSIDE CENTRE 1.88M | 99KG | 24YR
MELANI NANAI
BRENDON O’CONNOR
JAMES PARSONS
LEFT WING 1.94M | 90KG | 21YR
LOOSE FORWARD 1.86M | 100KG | 25YR
HOOKER 1.85M | 110KG | 28YR
SAM PRATTLEY
CULUM RETALLICK
FRANCIS SAILI
PROP 1.96M | 116KG | 25YR
LOCK 1.98M | 116KG | 31YR
OUTSIDE CENTRE 1.80M | 97KG | 24YR
OFA TU’UNGAFASI
MATT VAEGA
LOLAGI VISINIA
LOOSEHEAD PROP 1.95M | 120KG | 23YR
CENTRE 1.78M | 89KG | 20YR
FULLBACK 1.92M | 103KG | 22YR
IHAIA WEST
TONY WOODCOCK
1ST FIVE-EIGHT 1.75M | 84KG | 23YR
LOOSEHEAD PROP 1.84M | 119KG | 34YR
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BLUES VS
7.35 PM FRIDAY 15 MAY 201 REFEREE: Mike Fraser
ASSISTANT REFEREES
BLUES STARTING LINE-UP 15 Lolagi Visinia 14 Ben Lam 13 Francis Saili 12 George Moala 11 Melani Nanai 10 Ihaia West 9 Jamison Gibson-Park 8 Steven Luatua (C) 7 Brendon O’Connor 6 Akira Ioane 5 Josh Bekhuis 4 Culum Retallick 3 Charlie Faumuina 2 James Parsons 1 Tony Woodcock
COACH Sir John Kirwan ASSISTANT COACHES Grant Doorey Glenn Moore Nick White David Hill MANAGER Richard Fry RESERVES 16 Keven Mealamu 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi 18 Sam Prattley 19 Will Lloyd 20 Blake Gibson 21 Jimmy Cowan 22 Simon Hickey 23 Matt Vaega
S
BULLS
15 – EDEN PARK AUCKLAND
S: Nick Briant & Aki Aso
TMO: Glenn Newman
BULLS STARTING LINE-UP 15 Jesse Kriel 14 Francois Hougaard 13 JJ Engelbrecht 12 Jan Serfontein 11 Bjorn Basson 10 Handre Pollard 9 Rudy Paige 8 Pierre Spies (C) 7 Arno Botha 6 Lappies Labuschagne 5 Victor Matfield 4 Flip van der Merwe 3 Marcel van der Merwe 2 Adriaan Strauss 1 Trevor Nyakane
COACH Frans Ludeke ASSISTANT COACHES Pine Pienaar Victor Matfield MANAGER Tim Dlulane RESERVES 16 Callie Visagie 17 Dean Greyling 18 Werner Kruger 19 Jacques du Plessis 20 Deon Stegmann 21 Burger Odendaal 22 Jacques-Louis Potgieter 23 Travis Ismaiel
2015 BULLS PLAYER STATS
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ARNO BOTHA
JACQUES DU PLESSIS
FULLBACK/WING 1.85M | 87KG | 28YR
LOOSE FORWARD 1.90M | 103KG | 23YR
LOCK FORWARD 2.01M | 119KG | 21YR
JJ ENGELBRECHT
DEAN GREYLING
FRANCOIS HOUGAARD
WING 1.90M | 95KG | 26YR
PROP 1.86M | 120KG | 29YR
SCRUMHALF 1.80M | 92KG | 27YR
TRAVIS ISMAIEL
JESSE KRIEL
WERNER KRUGER
WING 1.91M | 96KG | 21YR
FULLBACK 1.86M | 95KG | 21YR
PROP 1.89M | 117KG | 30YR
LAPPIES LABUSCHAGNE
VICTOR MATFIELD
TREVOR NYAKANE
FLANKER 1.89M | 105KG | 26YR
LOCK 2.00M | 110KG | 38YR
PROP 1.78M | 121KG | 26YR
BURGER ODENDAAL
RUDY PAIGE
HANDRE POLLARD
FLYHALF/CENTRE 1.87M | 94KG | 22YR
SCRUMHALF 1.69M | 77KG | 25YR
FLYHALF 1.89M | 96KG | 21YR
JACQUES-LOUIS POTGIETER
JAN SERFONTEIN
PIERRE SPIES
UTILITY BACK 1.78M | 90KG | 30YR
CENTRE 1.87M | 97KG | 22YR
NO. 8 1.94M | 107KG | 29YR
DEON STEGMANN
ADRIAAN STRAUSS
FLIP VAN DER MERWE
FLANKER 1.80M | 100KG | 29YR
HOOKER 1.92M | 97KG | 19YR
LOCK FORWARD 1.98M |117KG | 29YR
MARCEL VAN DER MERWE
CALLIE VISAGIE
PROP 1.89M | 112KG | 24YR
HOOKER 1.88M | 108KG | 26YR
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HAYDEN TRIGGS LOCK | 2.01M | 114KG | 33YR | Hayden Triggs has many names on the Blues team: Sheriff, Old Dad, Trigger. But the 201cm man of many names knows what he’s about – he’s done the rounds in New Zealand rugby and has used his experience as an Army Mechanic to bring the team discipline (see: Sheriff). Hayden Triggs is this week’s Q & A. Tell us something not many people know about you I wanted to be a TV presenter back in the day until I saw myself on camera and thought bugger that. What has been your career highlight to date? Definitely playing with and for the NZ Maori team during the 100-year commemoration in NZ. All of the cultural strongholds were unreal and a remarkable experience! What’s your earliest rugby memory? My Dad taking me to a British Lions vs Wellington game at Athletic Park! It was a gorgeous day in the city and so cool to see the bustle of the crowd. Who’s your biggest role model and why? Outside of my parents and family who have always been there for me, rugby wise I have always looked up to Paul Tito, a former Hurricanes lock, for the way he approaches rugby on and off the field. He’s also a great dude in general.
Describe yourself in three words The old dad. What’s your favourite place in Auckland? Shucks, only one? Ponsonby Central for food, Waiatarua reserve for walks with the dog! Britomart is also pretty great. Do you have any match day superstitions? I have a pair of tights Dolf (Steven Luatua) gave me that I’ve worn for two years.
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2015 STANDINGS NZ CONFERENCE
P
W
D
L
F
A
DIF
BP
HURRICANES
11
10
0
1
312
197
115
8
48
CHIEFS
11
8
0
3
274
197
77
6
38
HIGHLANDERS
11
7
0
4
282
234
48
6
34
CRUSADERS
12
6
0
6
353
253
100
7
31
BLUES
12
2
0
10
236
303
-67
8
16
P
W
D
L
F
A
DIF
BP
PTS
BRUMBIES
12
6
0
6
260
168
92
9
33
WARATAHS
11
7
0
4
233
208
25
4
32
REBELS
11
6
0
5
222
219
3
5
29
FORCE
12
2
0
10
199
285
-86
7
15
REDS
11
2
0
9
147
319
-172
3
11
AUS CONFERENCE
SA CONFERENCE
PTS
P
W
D
L
F
A
DIF
BP
PTS
12
8
0
4
269
243
26
2
34
BULLS
11
7
0
4
294
246
48
6
34
LIONS
12
7
0
5
236
276
-40
3
31
SHARKS
12
4
0
8
240
321
-81
5
21
CHEETAHS
11
4
0
7
229
317
-88
4
20
STORMERS
OVERALL
PTS
HURRICANES
48
CHIEFS
38
STORMERS
34
HIGHLANDERS
34
BULLS
34
BRUMBIES
33
WARATAHS
32
CRUSADERS
31
LIONS
31
REBELS
29
SHARKS
21
CHEETAHS
20
BLUES
16
FORCE
15
REDS
11
©PHOTOSPORT B LU E S
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2015 FIXTURES ROUND
MATCH
RESULT
ROUND 14 MATCHES
1 BLUES VS CHIEFS
L
18–23
BLUES VS BULLS
2 STORMERS VS BLUES
L
27–16
REDS VS REBELS
3 CHEETAHS VS BLUES
L
25–24
HURRICANES VS CHIEFS
4 BLUES VS LIONS
L
10–13
WARATAHS VS SHARKS
5 HURRICANES VS BLUES
L
30–23
LIONS VS BRUMBIES
7 WARATAHS VS BLUES
L
23–11
CHEETAHS VS HIGHLANDERS
8 CHIEFS VS BLUES
L
23–16
9 BLUES VS BRUMBIES
W
16–14
10 HIGHLANDERS VS BLUES
L
30–24
11 CRUSADERS VS BLUES
L
29–15
12 BLUES VS FORCE
W
13 REBELS VS BLUES
L
Sat 14 Feb / QBE Stadium / 7:35PM Sun 22 Feb / Newlands Stadium / 4:05AM Sat 28 Feb / Free State Stadium / 6:10AM Sat 7 Mar / QBE Stadium / 7:35PM 7:35PM Fri 13 Mar / TBC / 7:35PM Sat 28 Mar / Allianz Stadium / 9:40PM Sat 4 Apr / Waikato Stadium / 7:35PM Fri 10 Apr / Eden Park / 7:35PM Sat 18 Apr / Forsyth Barr Stadium / 7:35PM Sat 25 Apr / AMI Stadium / 7:35PM Sat 2 May / Eden Park / 5:30PM Fri 8 May / AAMI Park / 9:40PM
41–24
42–22
14 BLUES VS BULLS
–
15 BLUES VS HURRICANES
–
17 BLUES VS CRUSADERS
–
18 BLUES VS HIGHLANDERS
–
Fri 15 May / Eden Park / 7:35PM Sat 23 May / Eden Park / 7:35PM Sat 6 Jun / Eden Park / 7:35PM Fri 12 Jun / Eden Park / 7:35PM
©PHOTOSPORT
2 0 B LU E S
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15 May / Eden Park / 7:35PM 15 May / Brisbane / 9:40PM 16 May / Wellington / 7:35PM 16 May / Sydney / 9:40PM 17 May / Johannesburg / 3:05AM 17 May / Bloemfontein / 5:10AM
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