waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
A dearth of spectators at sky stadium, too. Hopefully that's not a sign of things to come.
Shield appears to be on the move & 'naki about to join the "only held it for seven days" club (Hawkes Bay have the shortest tenure of them all, six days in 2013).
Edit: Otago's remaining home games are Hawkes Bay, Counties Manukau, Northland, & Tasman. I may be spared the discomfort of being an Auck supporter for a day .
Auckland would have had a challenge for the Shield in two weeks’ time had Taranaki retained the Ranfurly Shield against Otago on Sunday.
As a player and coach, Ieremia has never been involved in a Shield challenge, but he’ll have to wait longer now for that to happen and it won’t be this year as there’s not a scenario where Auckland can play a Shield holder.
In better news for Auckland they may have found a new option for 9 - Funaki on debut was a huge step up from Ruru. He should be the starting 9 for the season and let him develop.