Mitre Cup – Week 1

There’s more domestic rugby headed your way this coming weekend with the 2021 NPC getting underway this Friday. 

The competition features two tiers – the Premiership and Championship – with teams playing a couple of cross-conference games and also playing everyone in their division once. 

This season promises to be a really intriguing one with a number of ex and current All Blacks returning to the land of the long white cloud before the start of the Rugby Championship. 

Pick of the Premiership

Auckland v Canterbury
Sunday 8 July
Eden Park
04:05

To Win (80 Mins)
Auckland 58/100
Draw 21/1
Canterbury 29/20

We kick things off over in Auckland where last season’s Premiership runners-up will be looking to get one over the most successful team in the history of the competition. 

The hosts will be in a confident mood heading into this tournament with the majority of the squad having been involved in the Blues Trans-Tasman title winning campaign. 

Auckland have added some seriously impressive names to their roster with  Bryce Heem – who was amazing for the Blues during the Super Rugby campaigns – and Rugby League super star,  Roger Tuivasa-Sheck the two marquee signings. 

Canterbury will be a massive acid test for Auckland, however. The Cantabs hada massively underwhelming Mitre campaign last season and failed to qualify for the Premiership semi-finals for the first time in ages. They do have a handy squad which features the likes of stalwarts Luke Romano and Reed Princip as well as talenting youngsters Cullen Grace and Dallas Mcleod. They have also bolstered their stocks bringing in nine players including former All Black, 

Waisake Naholo. 

Verdict: Canterbury 29/20
I’m expecting an absolute cracker of a game here. I think Canterbury may just sneak this one as the will be looking for a fast start while Auckland could still be suffering a bit of a hangover from their most recent success. 

Pick of the Premiership

Otago v Southland
Saturday 7 July
Forsyth Barr
06:35

To Win (80 Mins)
Otago 1/14
Draw 33/1
Southland 7/1

While this game doesn’t exactly scream “stand out fixture” it should be rather intriguing. Southland made some good progress last term and managed to record three wins which saw them just miss out on a place in the Championship semi-finals. 

This weekend’s visitors have made some smart acquisitions over the off-season bringing in cult figure Marty Banks, who will start at fly-half this Saturday. Other notable names in the matchday 23 are Greg-Pleasants Tate, Lisati Milo-Harris and Solomon Aliamano. 

The going will be tough for Southland, however, as Otago will field a solid team which could feature Liam Coltman, Josh Dickson, James Lentjies, Josh Ioane, Matt Faddes and Jonah Nareki.

Verdict: Otago 1/14
Otago should win this one but I think Southland will cause them problems. I really am keen to see how the visitors go as they could be something of a cash cow later in the tournament.  

Other Tips

Counties win v Manawatu 49/100
Wellington win v Northland 1/16
Taranaki win v Hawke’s Bay 12/10
North Harbour win v Waikato 5/4 
Tasman win v Bay of Plenty 41/100