Brilliant afternoon for rugby, and the Kamo v Moerewa/United Kawakawa match was a pearler! MUKK started off with a hiss and roar, looking like they'd run away scoring twice inside the first 10 against the best defence in the comp to lead 12-0. But just inside 20 mins, Kamo struck back to get on the board, and it would be another 15 mins before either team scored again, and it was Kamo that scored to have the game go to the break at 10-12. The 2nd half was a tight affair, based on some excellent defence by both sides, but particularly MUKK who spent the majority of the 2nd half defending in thier half, with alot inside the 22 as well. Kamo took the lead with a penalty as they headed into the final quarter 13-12. But the drama of the final 10 made a very good game, an excellent one! Blake Hohaia was harshly (IMO) yellow carded as MUKK made a rare visit to the Kamo half, multiple attack phases were repelled and MUKKwere held up over the line, Kamo cleared to the half way. But after winning the subsequent lineout with 4 mins on the clock, MUKK scored what should have been the match winner as one of thier reserve props scored on the wing as Kamo's defence ran out of men. But Kamo werent done, they contested the restart, forced a turnover, and then won a penlty only 5 out, and MUKK also conceded a YC. Several more phases of attack ensued before halfback Donald Boyd crashed over to put Kamo back in front, the conversion made it 20-17, leaving a mere 10 sec on the clock. Kamo regathered the restart, thier centre ran it to the side and punted it out, only for the ref to call a lineout with 2 seconds left...MUKK were unable to secure thier lineout, and the game ended, with Kamo maintaining thier unbeaten run. For Kamo, Blake Hohaia continues to be rocks and diamonds, similarly half Donald Boyd with his strong running and defence, only to be let down with poor decisions, Jayden Laupepe was a threat at the back, while Mason Hohaia ran hard into the physical defence all day. For MUKK Ryan Nankivell stood out at 10, great boot, good pace, but like the rest of his backs, didnt see enough ball in the 2nd half. Half Ilai Arona was a threat darting from rucks and scrums, while veteran Buster Tahere was a menace with ball in hand and knocking back the Kamo runners Other results: Mid Northern continued thier winning ways over OBM 25-7 Waipu snuck a late win over Hora Hora 25-22 The Sharks were too strong for Hika winning 17-34 Wellsford also won it at the death over Kerikeri 21-19 Kamo still top the table with Mid Northern undefeated but a draw to blemish thier record as they open a gap on 3rd and 4th, I think Kamo and MN will face off in 2 weeks.

Absolutely stoked to get a win like that. Score board doesn’t really reflect how well we played or dominated that game but certainly felt like we were in control throughout. Moana did have their chances and moments so credit to them for how they played too. Absolutely stoked for Cam Millar and how well he went today. To be able to put an 80 minute display together like that in those conditions is a great foundation to build off. Also to be able to put that early kick out on the full and missing that early kick behind him and play how he did shows mental strength and not let it get the best of him, good to see for a young 10. Millar has definitely earned that jersey to start next weekend against the crusaders, what better challenge to keep building from! Going to enjoy this one and get pumped for next weekend! Up the landers!

so obviously the highlight of the weekend was Paul Kent getting NRL360-ed in to a tree, but football happened as well We had the Dragons and Souths eliminated from Premiership contention on ANZAC day Friday night the Eels were balls deep in teh game until Mika Sivo decided, for some ungodly reason, to drop the NAS forearm in to the face of one of the most unassuming guys in the comp, gets a deserved 10 (but no suspension??) and Manly immediately score 2 tries exactly where he would be standing on defence (beautifully, both scored by Garrick). Who would be a coach? Brisbane destroyed the Tigers then clocked off early Penrith's best player this season continues to be the opposition losing a centre early The Knights got a much needed win, and then lol at Canberra getting absolutely flogged by the Sharks, who just might have learned some lessons from last year. The media are gunning for two coaches this week, so we'll see where the focus goes.

Some random Sunday morning thoughts from the last few games I watched. Reuben Love looks the goods at 15. I'd expect in to be in the squad and in the 23. Matt Proctor has been playing well and Reiko Ioane has been quiet this year. Not expecting the former to supplant the latter, but good to see some competition for the 13 jersey. Caleb Clarke has been a revelation this season. Seems way more confident and composed - the way he set up the winning try by looking for support while not slowing down being a good example. Pat T has been a powerhouse for the Blues. Hasn't transferred his talents to Test level in the past but may be moving above Vaa'i in the pecking order DMac is playing as mature as I'm seen him. His passing out of hand has moved to another level. Halfback position looks better than a few weeks ago with TJP, Fakatava and Funaki stepping up after Roigards's injury. And Funaki may have ended the Christie debate. Harry Plummer continues to look solid at 10. Strong mentally too and I like the way he got over his kicking yips against the Reds. Good choice for the utility back position. Finau is starting to get criticism of his tackling technique. Good. Much rather have it at this level where he can learn to deal with it at Test level Scooter looks composed wearing the armband and could well be Robertson's choice as Captain

I'm starting this post early because we've finally been beaten. I don't think it's panic stations but the Hurricanes will be eager to hit straight back on Friday with a strong performance against the Tahs. Assuming Moorby and Proctor come back into the fray I think we should be playing our best 23 possible. Anyone that needs a rest can wait until Moana Pasifika which is after the Blues game in a couple weeks. The only ?? is O'Reilly, I assume he won't be available for the Tahs based on the fact he failed HIA protocols and didn't return to play, therefore he will have a week off. I'm also going to go with a 6-2 split on the bench. The Tahs strength is their loose forward trio so I'd put plenty of resource into slowing them down there. My 23 for the Tahs on Friday would be: X Numia R Tuputupu T Lomax C Delany I Walker-Leawere B Shields (C) P Lakai B Iose T Perenara B Cameron K Naholo J Barrett B Proctor J Moorby R Love H Press (started for the Hunters on Friday so I assume he's next man up). He had massive wraps on him in Wellington before he went down to Otago. He played for the Highlanders Under 20 side last year but now he's back in Wellington playing well for HOBM. T Mafileo P Tosi J Sangster D Flanders D Kirifi R Judd B Sullivan/Riley Higgins

I like how Pat Tu'ipulotu didn't even know wh Tim Ryan was haha. Weird hearing him swear too. He normally is very formal in front of the press Cotter made some interesting comments about how good SR is and that’s it’s not promoted well enough. It is haha, just on a personal level slightly off topic, I went to school with him, he heard me swear once and was shocked as he had never heard me swear before. I've known him since we were 5 year Olds and it's the first time I've heard him swear in his life haha. He's always been a humble, polite person. Random crap story but thought I'd throw it in haha. Cotter is right, the comp does need better promotion. You do get some very good rugby played, yet hardly anyone cares about it. The gap between the Kiwi and aussie sides is also closing drastically compared to a few years back. The Blues for arguments sake are 8-1 and play great rugby, but people in Auckland would rather watch the 3 from 8 wahs run around and they're one of the most boring sides to watch in the NRL, so yes, better promotion would help.

Thompson stole a crucial lineout in there too. As you said, McWhannell is very good in the collision. We have some good locks at our disposal when it looked like it could have been a problematic area for us over the last year or two. Was nervous when Nock came on but he did well and kept the tempo up. Clarke continues to go from strength to strength, how good was he off the bench! Eklund actually went quite well apart from getting hit by Fa'agase early. Hard to tell who should be in the matchday 23 between him and Vikena, but Eklund was the better one tonight. Cole Forbes has been a brilliant signing. I didn't know a lot about him, but he's a very well rounded player, does his core roles very well and is very good as a 2nd playmaker and also a good runner of the ball to. There doesn't look like much to him, but he is hard to put down and is very reliable in the air. Scotland should have capped him haha. Scrum went well , Renata has improved massively under Cotter and Fusitu'a is coming along nicely. Funaki again, WOW! The guy is everywhere. Am I going over the top in suggesting that he's worth ABs consideration?