The second round of the Bunnings NPC promises to be something of a cracker with some heavyweight clashes in store. The pick of the bunch sees reigning Premiership champions Tasman take on last year's runners-up, Auckland.
We’ll take an in-depth look at the aforementioned headline Premiership game below and the Championship clash between Northland and Taranaki.
Our writer also gives his tips for the remaining fixtures.
Pick of the Premiership
Tasman v Auckland
Saturday 14 August
Trafalgar Park
04:05
To Win (80 Mins)
Tasman 73/100
Draw 22/1
Auckland 23/20
There’s an absolute belter in-store for us at Trafalgar Park this Saturday as Tasman and Auckland clash in a repeat of last season’s Premiership final.
Both teams head into this one off the back of straight-forward wins with Tasman beating Championship side Bay of Plenty 14-27 and Auckland impressing with a 35-24 win over a talented Canterbury outfit.
Both teams do have some issues to sort out, however. Auckland will need to ensure they don’t take their foot off the gas, which was the case last weekend where they lost the second half 10-21.
While Auckland finished their game slowly, Tasman took an age to get going with their first try coming just before the stroke of half-time. And while they did kick on scoring two further tries in the second stanza, they weren’t as clinical as they would have liked to have been. They can ill afford to pass up opportunities against an Auckland team who scored 25 points during the first 40 last week.
Verdict: Auckland 23/20
They really impressed me last week and I was rather bitter that I went against them. I expect the visitors will have made it two wins from two starts once the final whistle goes at Trafalgar Park.
Northland v Taranaki
Sunday 15 August
Okara Park
06:35
To Win (80 Mins)
Northland 5/2
Draw 25/1
Taranaki 32/100
Next up we’ve got a red-hot Taranaki Bulls side taking on a Northland side that will be licking their wounds after going down 54-7 to a stacked Wellington outfit last Saturday.
As stated above, the visitors got their campaign off to a very tidy little start as they beat Hawke’s Bay 33-19 despite coming into the clash as underdogs. They looked extremely impressive with ball-in-hand with Steve Perofeta playing a blinder from fullback.
Northland were always on a hiding to nothing last week as they faced a Wellington side that featured TJ Perrenara, Peter Umaga-Jenson and Asafo Aumua. What was disappointing, however, was the fact that Northland could only score one try. They will need to work on their attack if they are to feature in the Championship semi-finals.
Verdict: Taranaki 32/100
The Bulls impressed last week, and I’m expecting them to do it again this weekend.
Other tips:
Counties Manukau win (32/10) v North Harbour
Hawke’s Bay win (46/100) v Otago
Canterbury win (1/33) v Manawatu
Southland win (6/1) v Bay of Plenty
Wellington win (56/100) v Waikato
