INVESTEC SUPER RUGBY OFFICIAL MATCH PROGRAMME | SATURDAY 01 APRIL 2017
BLUES VS FORCE
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR PLAY THE GAME OR CHANGE IT It’s time for another epic season of Investec Super Rugby. With 18 teams competing in the gruelling tournament, we look forward to many action-packed encounters. For the seventh consecutive year, Investec has been the title sponsor of all games played in New Zealand. As enablers of international rugby, we are pleased to see the tournament’s growing geographical interest and reach. We look forward to exciting, fiercely contested matches, made up of many Out of the Ordinary moments. We wish all teams the best. Game on. JANET LARSEN Head of Marketing Investec South Africa
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BLUES VS FORCE | 0 1 APRIL 20 17 3
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BLOOD, SWEAT &TEARS
MEMORABLE MATCHES AGAINST THE WESTERN FORCE
All photos © Copyright Photosport Ltd 2015 www.photosport.nz
Saturday’s match against the Western Force at Eden Park marks the 11th time in the same number of years that these two Investec Super Rugby sides have met. Here are three memorable occasions when those matches resulted in either copious amounts of blood, sweat, or tears.
BLOOD Our first match against the Western Force was notable not just for being our first, but because impressive centre Rua Tipoki went from hero to zero in 80 minutes, scoring three tries but later copping one of the heftiest bans in Super Rugby history. A regretful Tipoki was suspended for a whopping 16 weeks after he broke Western Force first five-eighth James Hilgendorf's eye socket with a swinging elbow, forcing him out of the match early in the first half. Continues page 7 »
BLUES VS FORCE | 0 1 APRIL 20 17 5
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Continued from page 5 The Blues won the match 39-8, but the in-form midfielder’s absence for the rest of the season was a big loss.
SWEAT The only draw between these two sides came early in 2011. Keven Mealamu scored our only try of the match as the Blues battled back from being down 16-9 at halftime to finally clinch the draw with a late Stephen Brett penalty kick just after the hooter sounded. Fortunately, we’ve had nothing but wins against the Western Force since then.
TEARS So it was metaphorical tears in the form of torrential rain, but some of the Force faithful might have been crying after the Blues beat their team 17-13 in Perth last year, extending our winning streak against them to four matches. But it was far from easy. Despite dominating the first half with tries from Jerome Kaino and Tevita Li, our team had to weather (pun intended) a second-half fight back, even while reduced to 14 men after replacement forward Nic Mayhew was yellow-carded for collapsing a maul. Here’s hoping for a similarly composed and strong defensive effort against the Force on Saturday night.
BLUES VS FORCE | 0 1 APRIL 20 17 7
Q&A Tongan-born Aucklander Pauliasi Manu is back in blue this year after a number of seasons south of the Bombays with the Chiefs. We caught up with the powerful scrummager ahead of our home game against the Western Force at Eden Park. What’s your favourite meal? A full pig on a spit, with taros and heaps of other vegetables. Delicious. Tell us something not many people know about you I played softball at intermediate school, but I wasn’t very good. What’s your earliest rugby memory? I started playing rugby in my last year of school, so I don’t really have any early memories. I started out as a second five-eighth, but I was too big and slow, so they put me in the front row. It’s where I’ve been ever since. What has been your career highlight to date? Getting called up to join the All Blacks squad at the last Rugby World Cup. Although I didn’t get to play, it was an honour just to join them in England. Funnily enough, I was out fishing when I got the call, a little bit like Stephen Donald at the World Cup before that.
PAULIASI MANU PROP 1.84M | 115KG | 29YR
Who was your idol when you were a kid? My mum, and she still is. My dad was a professional fisherman, so he’d go away for weeks at a time. So my mum would have to look after all nine of us kids. That’s quite a feat. What’s your favourite place in Auckland? Point England, out in East Auckland. My dad has a boat, so on my days off we like to go out in it, fishing or just cruising. Who on the team will always make you laugh? TJ Faiane is hilarious. Finish this sentence: “When I’m not playing rugby I am…” Either out in the boat or fixing up cars, which is a hobby of mine. Sometimes I spend so much time under the hoods of cars that I miss birthdays and other important anniversaries. Finally, what’s your rugby priority in 2017? To help lay a good platform for our dangerous backs to cause some trouble.
BLUES VS FORCE | 0 1 APRIL 20 17 9
TRY FEST AT QBE
MAGS & KAIPARA DOMINATE WESTIE PIES SECONDARY SCHOOL 10S Mt Albert Grammar School (MAGS) and Kaipara College have continued their domination of the Westie Pies Secondary School 10s Tournament with wins in the respective boys’ and girls’ division finals over the weekend. It’s the third year in a row that MAGS has won the boys’ division title, following a hard-fought 13-5 victory over an impressive De La Salle College (DLS) side on Saturday. The South Auckland school ran out to an early lead inside three minutes, but were held scoreless for the rest of the match. In their previous game, DLS dominated Kelston Boys High School in the semi final, 31-0. But MAGS were made to work hard in theirs, eventually prevailing over Westlake Boys High School 15-7. Meanwhile, Kaipara College has now won the girls’ division both years that it’s been contested. They surged ahead of fellow finalists Aorere College, leading 12-0 at the break, then outlasted Aorere – who never gave in – to win 24-7.
Blues high performance manager Tony Hanks commented: “The quality of all the rugby being played in the weekend was of a good standard considering it is very early in the season. “Kaipara girls continue to improve and build on their success from last year, while MAGS, De La Salle and Westlake will be teams to watch this season.” Overall, 18 schools competed in the tournament, which kicked off at midday on the outer fields of QBE Stadium. The semi finals and finals were played inside the stadium from 4:20pm, ahead of the Blues v
Bulls Super Rugby match. The tournament was established after the Blues won the inaugural World Club 10s event in Singapore in 2014. Teams of ten played ten-minute halves, often resulting in a quicker, more free-flowing contest than the traditional 15-a-side version. In this week’s KFC curtain raiser ahead of our match against the Force at Eden Park, Blues A will take on the Hurricanes Development side. Kick off is at 2:50pm, before the main event gets underway at the earlier time of 5:15pm.
BLUES VS FORCE | 0 1 APRIL 20 17 1 1
hirabhana.co.nz
PLAYER STATS Pauliasi Manu James Parsons
1.84 M | 115 KG | 29 YR | 10 CAPS
1.85 M | 106 KG | 30 YR | 68 (67 SR) CAPS
Charlie Faumuina
Gerard Cowley-Tuioti
1.85 M | 125 KG | 30 YR | 90 CAPS
1.96 M | 110 KG | 24 YR | 6 CAPS
Patrick Tuipulotu
Jimmy Tupou
1.98 M | 120 KG | 24 YR | 38 CAPS
1.96 M | 109 KG | 24 YR | 5 CAPS
Murphy Taramai
Jerome Kaino
1.87 M | 98 KG | 24 YR | 4 CAPS
1.96 M | 109 KG | 33 YR | 122 CAPS
Augustine Pulu
Piers Francis
1.89 M | 90 KG | 27 YR | 5 CAPS
1.82 M | 92 KG | 26 YR | 16 CAPS
Melani Nanai
TJ Faiane
1.94 M | 90 KG | 23 YR | 29 CAPS
1.75 M | 92 KG | 21 YR | 2 CAPS
George Moala
Matt Duffie
1.88 M | 99 KG | 26 YR | 58 (57 SR) CAPS
1.92 M | 92 KG | 26 YR | 12 CAPS
Michael Collins
Matt Moulds
1.87 M | 94 KG | 23 YR | 5 CAPS
1.88 M | 107 KG | 25 YR | 9 CAPS
Sam Prattley
Sione Mafileo
1.96 M | 116 KG | 27 YR | 38 (37 SR) CAPS
1.78 M | 128 KG | 23 YR | 14 CAPS
Scott Scrafton
Akira Ioane
2.00 M | 114 KG | 24 YR | 2 CAPS
1.94 M | 113 KG | 22 YR | 22 CAPS
Billy Guyton
Ihaia West
1.86 M | 90 KG | 27 YR | 20 CAPS
1.75 M | 84 KG | 25 YR | 41 CAPS
Rieko Ioane 1.88 M | 103 KG | 20 YR | 10 CAPS
BLUES VS FORCE | 0 1 APRIL 20 17 1 3
COACH
BLUES VS
ASSISTANT COACHES
Tana Umaga
Alistair Rogers Steve Jackson Dave Ellis
MANAGER Richard Fry
15
5.15pm SATURDA EDEN
Michael Collins
14
Matt Duffie
13
George Moala
12
TJ Faiane
11
Melani Nanai
10
Piers Francis
9
Augustine Pulu
8
Jerome Kaino
7
Murphy Taramai
6 RESERVES 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Matt Moulds Sam Prattley Sione Mafileo Scott Scrafton Akira Ioane Billy Guyton Ihaia West Rieko Ioane
Jimmy Tupou
5
Patrick Tuipulotu
4
Gerard Cowley-Tuioti
3
Charlie Faumuina
2
James Parsons
1
Pauliasi Manu
REFE
Shuhe
ASSISTANT
Ben O'K James D
TM
Glenn N
S FORCE
ASSISTANT COACHES Shaun Berne Joe Barakat Alan Gaffney Kevin Foote
AY 01 APRIL 2017 PARK
EREE
ei Kubo
T REFEREES
Keeffe Doleman
MO
Newman
COACH Dave Wessels MANAGER Adam Crane
15
Dane Haylett-Petty
14
Chance Peni
13
Marcel Brache
12
Billy Meakes
11
Alex Newsome
10
Jono Lance
9
Ryan Louwrens
8
Isi Naisarani
7
Matt Hodgson
6
Ross Haylett-Petty
5
Richie Arnold
4
Matt Philip
3
Tetera Faulkner
2
Tatafu Polota-Nau Ben Daley
1
RESERVES
Anaru Rangi Pek Cowan Shambeckler Vui Richard Hardwick Kane Koteka Michael Ruru Ian Prior Robbie Coleman
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
PLAYER STATS Ben Daley 1.84 M | 114 KG | 29 YR | 80 CAPS
Tatafu Polota-Nau
Tetera Faulkner
1.81 M | 114 KG | 32 YR | 141 CAPS
1.78 M | 117 KG | 29 YR | 55 CAPS
Matt Philip
Richie Arnold
1.99 M | 115 KG | 23 YR | 3 CAPS
2.08 M | 120 KG | 27 YR | 0 CAPS
Ross Haylett-Petty
Matt Hodgson
1.97 M | 118 KG | 24 YR | 15 CAPS
1.85 M | 100 KG | 36 YR | 131 CAP
Isi Naisarani
Ryan Louwrens
1.95 M | 110 KG | 23 YR | 4 CAPS
1.79 M | 91 KG | 26 YR | 19 CAPS
Jono Lance
Alex Newsome
1.83 M | 92 KG | 27 YR | 39 CAPS
1.89 M | 93 KG | 23 YR | 0 CAPS
Billy Meakes
Marcel Brache
1.88 M | 98 KG | 28 YR | 0 CAPS
1.90 M | 91 KG | 30 YR | 38 CAPS
Chance Peni
Dane Haylett-Petty
1.90 M | 97 KG | 24 YR | 0 CAPS
1.90 M | 100 KG | 28 YR | 43 CAPS
Anaru Rangi
Pek Cowan
1.81 M | 113 KG | 29 YR | 5 CAPS
1.85 M | 116 KG | 31 YR | 117 CAPS
Shambeckler Vui
Richard Hardwick
1.80 M | 117 KG | 20 YR | 0 CAPS
1.83 M | 103 KG | 24 YR | 4 CAPS
Kane Koteka
Michael Ruru
1.82 M | 97 KG | 24 YR | 11 CAPS
1.82 M | 93 KG | 27 YR | 0 CAPS
Ian Prior
Robbie Coleman
1.79 M | 83 KG | 27 YR | 68 CAPS
1.79 M | 84 KG | 27 YR | 80 CAPS Stats taken from www.westernforce.com.au
1 6 BLUES VS FORCE | 0 1 APRIL 20 17
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PLAY ON
W I N E S
FUTURE BLUES
BLUES CLUBHOUSES
2017 STANDINGS NZ CONFERENCE
P
W
D
L
F
A
DIF
BP
PTS
CRUSADERS CHIEFS HURRICANES BLUES HIGHLANDERS
5 4 4 5 5
5 4 3 2 2
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 3 3
147 118 213 156 91
101 73 64 122 120
46 45 149 34 -29
1 3 3 3 1
21 19 15 11 9
AUS CONFERENCE
P
W
D
L
F
A
DIF
BP
PTS
BRUMBIES WARATAHS REDS FORCE REBELS
5 5 5 4 4
2 2 1 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
3 3 4 3 4
101 113 89 73 63
91 158 140 108 186
10 -45 -51 -35 -123
3 0 2 1 1
11 8 6 5 1
SA CONFERENCE 1
P
W
D
L
F
A
DIF
BP
PTS
STORMERS CHEETAHS BULLS SUNWOLVES
4 5 4 5
4 2 1 0
0 0 0 0
0 3 3 5
154 141 100 123
90 166 130 236
64 -25 -30 -113
1 1 1 1
SA CONFERENCE 2
P
W
D
L
F
A
DIF
BP
PTS
LIONS JAGUARES SHARKS KINGS
5 5 5 5
4 4 4 1
0 0 0 0
1 1 1 4
193 163 147 109
130 104 111 164
63 59 36 -55
3 2 1 1
19 18 17 5
OVERALL
CRUSADERS (NZ LEADER) LIONS (SA2 LEADER) STORMERS (SA1 LEADER) BRUMBIES (AUS LEADER) CHIEFS JAGUARES SHARKS HURRICANES BLUES HIGHLANDERS CHEETAHS WARATAHS REDS FORCE BULLS KINGS REBELS SUNWOLVES ©PHOTOSPORT
2 2 BLUES VS FORCE | 0 1 APRIL 20 17
17 9 5 1
PTS
21 19 17 11 19 18 17 15 11 9 9 8 6 5 5 5 1 1
2017 FIXTURES MATCH RESULT
ROUND 6 MATCHES
1
REBELS VS BLUES
18-56
HIGHLANDERS VS REBELS
2
CHIEFS VS BLUES
41-26
BLUES VS FORCE
3
BLUES VS HIGHLANDERS
L
12-16
CHIEFS VS BULLS
4
CRUSADERS VS BLUES
33-24
REDS VS HURRICANES
5
BLUES VS BULLS
6
BLUES VS FORCE
-
7
HIGHLANDERS VS BLUES
-
8
BLUES VS HURRICANES
-
10
BRUMBIES VS BLUES
-
11
WARATAHS VS BLUES
-
12
BLUES VS CHEETAHS
-
13
STORMERS VS BLUES
-
14
BLUES VS CHIEFS
-
15
BLUES VS REDS
-
17
SUNWOLVES VS BLUES
-
ROUND
Thu 23 Feb | AAMI Park | 9:45PM Fri 3 Mar | FMG Stadium | 7:35PM Sat 11 Mar | Eden Park | 7:35PM
Fri 17 Mar | AMI Stadium | 7:35PM Sat 25 Mar | QBE Stadium | 7:35PM Sat 1 Apr | Eden Park | 5:15PM Sat 8 Apr | Forsyth Barr | 7:35PM Sat 15 Apr | Eden Park | 7:35PM Sun 30 Apr | GIO Stadium | 6:05PM Sat 6 May | Allianz Stadium | 9:45PM Fri 12 May | Eden Park | 7:35PM Fri 19 May | Newlands, Cape Town | 5:00AM Fri 26 May | Eden Park | 7:35PM Fri 2 Jun | Apia Park, Samoa | 7:35PM Sat 15 Jul | Chichibunomiya Stadium | 3:05PM
W
L
L
31 Mar | Dunedin | 7:35PM
01 Apr | Auckland | 5.15pm
01 Apr | Hamilton | 7:35PM
01 Apr | Brisbane | 9:45PM W
38-14
STORMERS VS CHEETAHS 02 Apr | Cape Town | 2.05am
LIONS VS SHARKS
02 Apr | Johannesburg | 3.15am
WARATAHS VS CRUSADERS 02 Apr | Sydney | 6.05pm
©PHOTOSPORT
BLUES VS FORCE | 0 1 APRIL 20 17 2 3
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