Kiwis abroad - Six Nations special
We run the rule over the weekend’s form of the eight New Zealand-born players who appeared in the Six Nations.
Hadleigh Parkes (Wales)
You know what you’ll get with Hadleigh Parkes, the best Kiwi in Wales: a low error-rate, a high work-rate, solid on defence and knowing when to pass.
The Red Dragons’ No 12 did all that against Scotland, leading a parsimonious defensive effort, making holes with nice angles and even unleashing a hefty metre-eating punt. Parkes also gave the last pass, though it may have been forward, for Steff Evans’ try. His 73m run was second only to Evans.
His old man Bill, straight from Hunterville, was over too, beaming in the Principality Stadium stands.
Gareth Anscombe (Wales)
It must be very frustrating for Anscombe, now relegated to, at best, the fourth-ranked No 10 in Wales.
In his 18 minutes, he slotted in at first five, making one nice thrust but also dropping the ball when the line was open. He still offers value off the pine, though, with his ability to operate at fullback.
Sean Maitland (Scotland)
You had to feel sorry for Maitland, entering the fray on the wing at 53 minutes with his side under the knuckle.
He carried twice for 20m and made a tackle. That was his lot. But there was time to share a laugh post-match with another former Cantabrian, Hadleigh Parkes.
Bundee Aki (Ireland)
The France-Ireland clash was not one tailor-made to give free expression to Bundee Aki’s attacking bent.
The defence was too gnarly for that, but the Connacht man did his job in a full 80 minutes. There was a sweet early offload, and then followed 16 carries for 32m and six tackles. He will be hoping Johnny Sexton can create more space for him in the next four games.
Dean Budd (Italy)
The former (Auckland) Blues player impressed in a losing cause.
He made seven carries, nine tackles and pulled down a couple of lineouts. But he was also pinged twice. Budd’s high point was an incisive thrust which led to the Azzurri’s first try, to wing Tommaso Benvenuti.
Jayden Hayward (Italy)
The former Hurricanes, Force and Taranaki man slipped on late at the back for Italy and made one run, one carry and one tackle.
Sounds forgettable? Hayward won’t forget it. That was a test debut for the Hawera-born utility back, who turns 31 this Sunday.
Dylan Hartley (England)
Eddie Jones loves the Rotorua-born rake.
And with good reason. Not only is Hartley his skipper, but he does his core tasks with aplomb. Against Italy, England claimed all 11 of his lineout throws and, while his other stats do not appear startling, they don’t need to be. He can be solid as a rock until Jamie George is injected into the action.
Ben Te’o (England)
Te’o didn’t do a lot in his first start in four months. He didn’t need to.
But the centre did his job, carrying six times for 17m and making seven tackles. There were no mistakes. He will be the better for this, and will soon give England a razor-sharp cutting edge in its speedy threequarters when he is firing on all cylinders.
*Many New Zealanders were rested for the fourth round of the Anglo-Welsh Cup, but a handful made telling impacts.
Northampton’s 36-10 win over Harlequins featured a double to Ken Pisi, a single to Ahsee Tuala and four goals to Piers Francis.
James Marshall slotted six goals in London Irish’s 42-21 victory over Cardiff Blues. Jacob Umaga got amongst it in Wasps’ 50-28 defeat of Leicester, scoring a try and kicking five goals for 15 points.
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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