The second round of the Air New Zealand Cup  threw up mixed fortunes for the top teams.

  • Hawkes Bay ruffled some feathers with a punch in upsetting powerhouse Wellington;
  • Canterbury and Auckland dominated Counties and Bay of Plenty respectively in lopsided matches;
  •  Waikato and Otago were made to work for their narrow wins despite playing at home against Southland and Northland;
  • North Harbour retained the Shield on Saturday night against a gutsy Taranaki side. And finally,  Tasman got off the foot of the with an easy win over Manawatu.

The big talking point of Hawkes Bay's upset 8-6 win over Wellington is the punch landed by Bay prop Clint Newland on his opposite number Neemia Tialata. The big All Black front row was knocked out and missed the rest of the game. Questions are being raised as to how Newland remained on the field for the rest of the game, considering the increasing role that touch judges are playing these days.

The punch was a seemingly unprovoked response to Tialata standing in the wrong spot at the preceding lineout. It helped to spur the home side into life as they out-passioned the big-city Wellingtonians, who suffered especially at scrum time with a replacement prop on against an incredibly fired-up Magpies scrum.

'Newland hasn't really been villified for his actions, yet if Tialata, from a highly-resourced union, had decked Newland from the "have-not union", would it been so well received?


Another question mark concerns how the incident needlessly disadvantaged Wellington, and left the Hawkes Bay team with their full complement of players. A one-man overlap would surely have meant a struggle for Hawkes Bay for a majority of the match. Would a role reversal have meant doom and gloom for Wellington?

Newland hasn't really been villified for his actions, yet if Tialata, from a highly-resourced union, had decked Newland from the "have-not union", would it been so well received? If Tialata was knocked out of the World Cup by the punch would the hero status of the punch be changed? 

The Air New Zealand Cup moves into Round Three with the competition starting to take shape. Hawkes Bay will surely be without Newland, but should continue to post victories in a giantkilling run. The big boys should continue to win with limited use of World Cup-bound All Blacks. This weekend gets more difficult for punters with big odds because there are so many potential upsets and close games.

Game One - Bay of Plenty have been demolished in their opening two games against powerhouse franchise-based sides Canterbury and Auckland. They host a Northland side currently punching above their weight with a draw against North Harbour and a narrow loss to Otago. The TAB suggests an away win for Northland, but I am going for a narrow win to the Bay of Plenty Steamers. Prediction: Bay of Plenty 12-

Game Two - North Harbour have the Ranfurly Shield locked away and hit the road to play Counties Manakau. North Harbour generally struggle when not defending the Shield, scraping together a draw in Northland. They were strong against Taranaki, eventually putting them away. Counties have been feeling the pressure and gone down against strong  Auckland and Canterbury sides. Prediction: North Harbour 12-

Game Three - Tasman Makos, looking to repeat last week's victory over Manawatu, will have their work cut out against giantkillers Hawkes Bay. If Hawkes Bay can maintain their form from the past two weeks, then they will win in a canter. Prediction: Hawkes Bay 13+

Game Four - The Wellington Lions will be too fired up after their loss last week. They return home and will give Manawatu a thrashing. Manawatu will stay at the bottom of the table. Prediction: Wellington 13+

Game Five - Heavyweights Auckland and Waikato clash in the match of the competition so far. This match will be intense, with some special players on display. Watch for Auckland to win at home in a close one.
Prediction: Auckland 12-

Game Six - The pride of Otago goes on the line when they host Canterbury in a local derby. This is another season of rebuilding for the blue and golds and they will struggle against the Canterbury juggernaut. Canterbury are missing several players to national duties, but they still get the results.  Prediction: Canterbury 13+

Game Seven - The two most traditional provinces, Taranaki and Southland, clash in New Plymouth on Sunday. They both rely on a solid forward pack and a sprinkling of quality backs. Taranaki have a win and a loss, but haven't played any of the big guns. Southland were thumped by the giant-killing Hawkes Bay and then gave Waikato a hurry-up. This match will be close. Southland could take it in an upset, but it will be close either way.  Prediction - Southland 12-