Auckland Vs BOP

Auckland: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 George Moala, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Hadleigh Parkes (c), 11 Lolagi Visinia, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Luke Braid, 6 Sean Polwart, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Liaki Moli, 3 Angus Ta'avao, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Sam Prattley. Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 18 Jack Whetton, 19 Sean Brookman, 20 Junior Poluleiligaga, 21 Vince Aso, 22 Tenina Sauileoge. Bay of Plenty: 15 Dave Thomas, 14 Tino Nemani, 13 Brett Mather, 12 Sam Beard, 11 Kimami Sitauti, 10 Willie Ripia, 9 Samisoni Fisilau, 8 Carl Axtens, 7 Beau Robinson, 6 Sam Cane, 5 Keepa Mewett, 4 Yohan Bardoul, 3 Pingi Talaapitaga, 2 Joe Royal, 1 Kane Hames. Replacements: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Albert Anae, 18 Beau Williams, 19 Joe Tupe, 20 Josh Hall, 21 Nick Evemy, 22, Junior Tofa-Va'a.

Tasman Beat Counties

Counites Manukau's tough introduction to life in the ITM Cup Premiership continued with a 40-20 defeat to Tasman on Friday. Having finished top of the Championship last season, the Pukekohe outfit were hopeful of making their mark once more this term, but two heavy defeats at home have already halted their momentum. Championship side Tasman were the team to do the damage this time around, adding to the defeat inflicted by Wellington in Round One. There wasn't much quality on offer early in the encounter, with both sides coughing up the ball on a number of occasions despite the conditions being near-perfect. Tasman eventually opened the scoring courtesy of a penalty from debutant full-back Marty Banks after a high shot on Hayden Cripps. Having lost Baden Kerr to injury just before kick-off, the Steelers were without a first-choice kicker and it showed as they turned down a number of kickable penalties, preferring to go for touch. After a few failed attempts, they were rewarded for their endeavour through a try from Augustine Pulu on the 20 minute mark. The score was built on the back of a strong line-out drive, with a number of backs lending a hand before Pulu dived over as the maul steamed over the line. Ahsee Tuala added the extras. Banks added three more after hitting the post with a penalty attempt, his effort rebounding into play where it was knocked on by Fritz Lee only for one of his team-mates to catch it from an off-side position. Banks would make no mistake with the second chance from right out in front. Counties continued to deal in tries, with two Chiefs players combining for the home side's second five-pointer. From a static maul on the Tasman 22, Pulu ran the ball up to the line, drawing the defence before giving off a little pop pass to Bundee Aki who hit the line at pace, breaking through the defence and dotting down under the posts. Tuala's conversion taking the score to 14-6. While they showed moments of brilliance on attack, Counties failed to execute the basics at times, with restart after restart butchered. They weren't initially punished for wastefulness in their own half, but Tasman did get their try six minutes from the break. Banks was the man who set it up, his break throwing the Counties defence into disarray from where the ball was worked out wide to flanker Liam Squire who went over in the corner. Tasman had the final say in the first period, with Banks' third penalty on the stroke of half-time seeing Counties head into the shed with a slender 17-16 lead. Counties were dealt a blow heading into the second period with Hika Elliot not returning to the field having taken a knock to the head and it was the visitors who began to find space as they stretched the Counties defence with Tom Marshall penetrating well in the midfield. Steelers prop Jarrod Firth could consider himself lucky to remain on the field after his 54th-minute infringement, taking out the Tasman line-out jumper in the air with the Makos five out from the line. Tasman were awarded just a penalty for the dangerous play and they made the most of the situation. Having elected to take the scrum, Shane Christie - playing with seven on his back but stationed at eight for the scrum - picked up from the base and surged over the line. Replacement Sione Molia showed his class from the tee with a 44 metre strike that reduced the lead to just three points at 23-20, only for Banks to reclaim the six-point lead with a penalty of his own in the 62nd minute. With a remarkable record of 100 percent retention of their line-out ball, Tasman were able to secure ball with ease. However, it was a messy line-out from which their third try arrived. Scrum-half Mark Swanepoel did well to gather the loose ball and the Makos did well to keep the ball alive, working the ball through the backs for Kieron Fonotia to go over in the corner. Banks' conversion took the score out to 33-20, with the killer blow having seemingly been landed. Marshall rubbed salt into the Counties wounds with a bonus-point try for Tasman five minutes from time. The soon-to-be Chiefs man was first onto a deft grubber behind the defence into the in-goal area from Cripps, a tactic that nearly paid off in the first period, with the home defence too slow to react. Counties would not go down quietly and nearly three minutes of additional time was played as Tana Umaga's men looked desperately for a consolation score but it did not arrive, with Tasman securing a 40-20 victory. The scorers: For Counties: Tries: Pulu, Aki Con: Tuala 2 Pen: Tuala, Molia For Tasman: Tries: Squire, Christie, Fonotia, Marshall Con: Banks 4 Pen: Banks 4

Counties Manukau Vs Tasman Teams

Counties Manukau: 15 Sherwin Stowers, 14 Frank Halai, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Tony Pulu, 10 Baden Kerr, 9 Augustine Pulu, 8 Fritz Lee (c), 7 Maama Vaipulu, 6 Adam Cathcart, 5 Jimmy Tupou, 4 Ronald Raaymakers, 3 Jarrod Firth, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Sam Aiono. Replacements: 16 Michael Lea, 17 Simon Lemalu, 18 Johnny Kawau, 19 Sean Reidy, 20 Kane Hancy, 21 Sam Vaka, 22 Ahsee Tuala. Tasman: 15 Marty Banks, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Tom Marshall, 11 James Lowe, 10 Hayden Cripps, 9 Mark Swanepoel, 8 Tevita Koloamatangi, 7 Shane Christie (c), 6 Liam Squire, 5 Joe Wheeler, 4 Alex Ainley, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Quentin MacDonald, 1 Tim Perry. Replacements: 16 Francis Smith, 17 Siua Halanukonuka, 18 Tevita Cavubati, 19 Gary Redmond, 20 Kaide Whiting, 21 Billy Guyton, 22 Mitchell Scott. Date: Friday, August 30 Kick-off: 19:35 (9:35 GMT) Venue: ECOLight stadium, Pukekohe

Taranaki union set to join the Chiefs for 2014

It is looking increasingly like the Chiefs will be partly owned by the Taranaki Rugby Union among others next season as part of a bid to pump more capital into the champion franchise. And if that happens some home games will have to be played in New Plymouth from now on. Chiefs chairman Dallas Fisher is heading a working party that has been putting together a proposal involving provincial unions within the Chiefs region, the Taranaki union and private investors for months now and said good progress was being made. Such a bid by a consortium, which has yet to go to the New Zealand Rugby Union with a firm proposal, would follow similar arrangements that saw the Hurricanes and Blues both given the green light by the NZRU for joint ownership of their operating licences by a mix of provincial union and private investors and the Crusaders granted a wholly rugby-owned licence but with a private guarantor. Under such arrangements the NZRU still pays the players out of TV rights money distributed by Sanzar but the licence-holders run everything else and are free to market the team to increase their financial return and organise third-party deals to sweeten players' contracts. While the NZRU had earlier nominated a September 1 date to have the Chiefs' bid presented to them, it seems that was not a hard and fast deadline and the Chiefs' working party is still making presentations to potential investors to get the final dollar amounts committed. "We're heading in the right direction but we're still working on it," Fisher said. "It's all going to be sorted within a month. We've been taking deliberate steps towards this and at the moment we've got certain approvals but you're not going to get your final approval till you get your final dollar committed." All the processes needed to stitch the overall deal together took time, he said. It appears the provincial unions are on board but further work is still needed on the licence application and completing the private investement component of the commercial package. The Chiefs need the extra investment in order to press ahead with ambitious plans they have for their Ruakura training base and to compete for big-name players on the New Zealand market, while investors need a deal that provides an opportunity for financial return on that investment. Currently the Chiefs are run by a board representing a trust made up of the provincial unions in the franchise region and must return all profits to those unions.  They then rely on those unions voluntarily returning those profits for any reinvestment in the team. It would seem the price to pay for the Taranaki union and possibly some Taranaki investors putting their money into the Chiefs is to ship up to two home games to Taranaki's 23,000-seat Yarrow Stadium each season. Waikato Stadium, which holds just over 25,000 spectators, currently hosts six home games a season plus playoffs and anything beyond that has proved hard to sell to a saturated market. There are no other suitable venues in the franchise region with only 2000 covered seats at Pukekohe, Mt Maunganui's Baypark Stadium a specialist speedway stadium with a race track around the outside of the playing field that has a poor playing surface that is continually cut up by stockcars and Rotorua's International Stadium has good facilities and playing surface but struggles to attract big crowds. The last two seasons have seen Pukekohe and Baypark each host a game, although the Chiefs were disappointed when only 12,000 turned up to the latter venue last Easter for the plum local derby between the Chiefs and the Blues. It now remains to be seen which venues will lose games to New Plymouth if Taranaki Rugby Union is part of the ownership group that finally gets granted the Chiefs' licence.

Baker sidelines sevens, signs Highlanders!

Kurt Baker has put aside his sevens career to concentrate on the 15-man game, signing with the Highlanders for two years. "I had to make a call but I'm playing Super Rugby next year at the Highlanders. I've got two more years down there," the Taranaki fullback said. "From my point of view, I've spoken to Titch [sevens coach Gordon Tietjens] and told him it's time to give someone else a go." Having spent the past two years away from the Highlanders following a back injury at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Baker's professional career has been divided between the national sevens squad and Taranaki. His decision has avoided a potential scheduling conundrum, with New Zealand's first world sevens series tournament clashing with Taranaki's last NPC round robin match. The International Rugby Board has moved the Australian leg of the sevens circuit forward, meaning Baker would have had to choose between the amber-and-blacks or the national side. Baker reckons his time in sevens has helped him immensely ahead of his return to Super Rugby. While he is proud of what he has achieved in sevens, he feels some loyalty has to be shown to Taranaki, especially as he is the most capped back in the squad with 32 appearances and is now a senior member of the squad, despite being only 24. "It's better to stay here because we have lost a lot of senior guys," he said. "Losing another one would probably not be good for our team." He is well aware the side still has to make significant strides to get close to fulfilling their potential. "We're still trying to find out what works. It will come, we just have to be patient." He said he had copped a fair bit of flak from the public after Taranaki's two heavy losses against Canterbury and Wellington but he is convinced the squad has what is needed to see off Southland in Invercargill tomorrow. "From an outsider looking in, you probably think it's all doom and gloom, but it's not, it's just small things letting us down," Baker said. "If we can fix those then we can be a good team. "We have got the players, even the young ones, who I think are some of the best young ones around New Zealand; it's just finding out what works for us." Thankfully for Taranaki, the southerners are unlikely to provide any surprises tomorrow night, with the Stags expected to be full of grunt up front, and full of straight running in the backline. Taranaki has just one try from 160 minutes of NPC rugby this season, but Baker thinks that can change tomorrow. "Sometimes we are getting the ball at the wrong time and when we are wanting it, we're not getting it, so it's guys knowing what's around them," he said. "It probably doesn't look that good if you are outside looking in - people think we're not up to the standard they expect of us - but it's close."

Blues, Chiefs franchises battle for Kaino's class

Jerome Kaino has been earmarked by the Chiefs alongside cross-codes superstar Sonny Bill Williams as the prime targets to ensure a Super Rugby championship treble next year. The news that Chiefs coach Dave Rennie is chasing Kaino comes as Blues coach Sir John Kirwan travels to Japan this week with one of his goals being to convince the 48-test All Black to return to Auckland next season. While Kaino's preference is to rejoin the Blues, the Chiefs are desperate for a No 8. This year the defending champions played four different players in the position. The Sunday Star-Times understands the Chiefs are exploring the possibility of commercial partners aiding their ability to form a competitive offer for the 30-year-old. It is now a two-way battle for his valuable services. If the Blues can't put together a compelling package, Kaino will consider linking with the Chiefs where he would join all-star loose forwards Liam Messam, Sam Cane and Tanerau Latimer. Much of the Blues' budget has been spent on securing Benji Marshall. The franchise will not be able to offer anywhere near the $260,000 third party top-up they pulled together for the rugby league star. If a decent third-party deal can be compiled by either the Blues or Chiefs, Kaino is close to signing a two-year deal that runs until the 2015 World Cup with the New Zealand Rugby Union. A deal could be reached within the next two weeks. Kaino's contract would come with a caveat - an "out clause" if he is not selected for the All Blacks. With incumbent Messam, Steven Luatua's rapid emergence, Brad Shields' potential and Victor Vito's presence in the wings, Kaino faces stiff competition. His promotion to the national team would be no certainty. But if he can recapture anywhere close to the form that saw him recognised as one of the best players in the world in 2011, his physicality will be hard to overlook. Initially, though, at either the Chiefs or Blues, he is likely to switch to No 8. Kaino's main desire is to reclaim the black jersey but he is also conscious of minimising his financial sacrifice. He is thought to be on $1 million annually in Japan and, even with provincial, Super Rugby and NZRU salaries combined, he would be lucky to earn half that amount here. The NZRU is also wary of committing to a large wage before assessing if the 111kg Kaino can re-establish himself after two years in the high-tempo Japanese game. While Kaino's future remains uncertain, senior All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock and No 8 Kieran Read are expected to soon ink three or four-year contract extensions with the NZRU and Crusaders. Both are likely to receive sabbaticals to enable their workloads to be managed through to the British and Irish Lions series in 2017. By that point Read is likely to be All Black captain. Whitelock and Read have been savvy by waiting for last week's sign-off on the collective agreement. Both players will receive a fair slice of the extra $1.8 million available to the All Blacks over the next three years. With still no clear Super Rugby home for nomad All Blacks second five-eighth Ma'a Nonu next year, sabbatical options are now being explored. Veteran hooker Keven Mealamu is expected to gain his wish for a two-year contract extension until the World Cup, but flanker Luke Braid is favoured to take over the Blues captaincy from Ali Williams.

Folau re-signs with Waratahs, ARU

Newly committed to the Wallabies through to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Israel Folau has admitted he'd relish a move to fullback. Announcing a new two-year deal with the Australian Rugby Union and the Waratahs on today, Folau said the prospect of playing at the World Cup in England was a factor in his decision. But he said enjoyment he was getting from his debut season in rugby union was the main reason for staying, in the face of bids to lure him back to rugby league where he made his name. Dual international Folau said it was not his place to comment on criticism the NRL has received for not doing enough to regain his services.  Quizzed over whether rugby league could have done more to get him back and whether the NRL offers were not enticing enough,  24-year-old Folau said: ''It's not so much the offers or anything like that. ''I still obviously watch the game (league) and support the game. It's just at the end of the day, I really enjoy what I'm doing at the moment with rugby and what it presents. ''Also looking down the track as well, there's a lot of exciting things coming up for rugby and I want to be a part of that.'' While he scored three tries in his five tests to date against the British and Irish Lions and the world champion All Blacks, Folau has had relatively few opportunities with the ball on the wing after being crowned Australia's Super Rugby Rookie of the Year for his performances at fullback for the Waratahs. Fellow test rookie Jesse Mogg had two difficult games at fullback against New Zealand, sparking calls for Folau to be switched back to that position to increase his involvement. ''If I get the opportunity to, I'd take it with both hands, that's for sure,'' Folau said. ''But that's something that has got to be decided by the coaching  staff. ''I'm really happy just being on the team first of all and doing my role playing on the wing, but that's entirely up to the coaching staff.'' Folau welcomed the Waratahs' recent signing of his friend Kurtley Beale - a potential rival for the NSW fullback spot - who has battled with alcohol-related problems this year. ''He's had a tough time, I'm really good mates with him and I'm there for his support if he needs anything,'' Folau said. ''It's great to play with him next year, so I'll do everything I can to try and help him whether that's on the field or off the field or whatever he needs.'' Asked if that support extended to giving Beale his No 15 jersey, Folau said with a chuckle: ''Mate, he can have it if he wants to.''

Crusaders Sign Rey Lee-Lo

THE CRUSADERS have confirmed reports they have signed Hurricanes and Counties Manukau midfielder Rey Lee-Lo. The 27-year-old will join the Christchurch-based franchise on a two-year deal next season. It comes after he had been recently linked with a shift south. Lee-Lo starred in his debut Super Rugby season with the Hurricanes this year, usurping the out-of-form Tim Bateman at second five late in the campaign. That, coupled with his fine form for the Steelers in the ITM Cup in recent times, made him an attractive prospect for the Crusaders. “We looked carefully at his performance during this year’s Super season and he had some great statistics. He is a strong, physical back who will be a useful addition to our squad, bolstering our midfield stock,” says coach Todd Blackadder. Lee-Lo is excited about joining the Crusaders and looking forward to training and playing alongside some of New Zealand rugby’s most experienced and highly-regarded players. “This is a fantastic opportunity for me and one I could not pass up,” he says. “I am really grateful for my time with the Hurricanes this year and the experience I gained alongside some first-class teammates and coaching staff. I now relish the opportunity to continue to develop my game in the Crusaders environment.”

Kurtley Beale has signed with the Waratahs!

Injured Wallabies Fullback has signed a one year deal with the Waratahs. The last time Beale played with the Waratahs was in 2011 after moving to The Rebels for the the last two years. He has came but to the Tahs to play Fullback or First Five!

All Blacks Vs Wallabies Teams

New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Tom Taylor, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (capt), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock. Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Charles Piutau. Australia: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Leali'ifano, 11 James O'Connor, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Nic White, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Tevita Kundrani Date: Saturday, August 24 Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington Kick-off: 19.35 (07.35 GMT) Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa) Assistant referees: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa) TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)