Hi team,
The following is a guest post prepared by the wonderful Scott Donaldson from Super Rugby Tips and his final ITM cup preview.
ITM
Cup Finals Preview 2013 – Who Will Be The Champions?
The ITM Cup 2013 Premiership and
Championship finals are on this weekend with with Wellington hosting
Canterbury, while Tasman hosts Hawke's Bay in the ITM Cup Championship final.
Both of these games are destined to be
closer than the ITM Cup semi-finals where three of the four matches last week
were won by 21 points or more.
Wellington has their best chance to win
their first title since 2000 and this will require a repeat of their round
robin victory. Wellington don't get the
luxury of cavalry in the form of current All Blacks squad members returning for
the final.
Canterbury has won five titles on the trot
and is allowed to play five of their All Blacks squad members.
Wellington has a habit of choking in finals
and although the home team Wellington Lions are the favourites at the bookies,
many locals don't hold much hope for their team, even though the Wellington
side has been impressive with plenty of fringe All Blacks, although Jeremy Thrush
won't be playing. Canterbury on the
other hand is allowed to use five of their All Blacks squad members which means
they can include the likes of Tom Taylor, Luke Whitelock and Dominic Bird.
It will be interesting to see if the ITM
Cup Premiership final in Wellington draws much of a crowd. We all remember back to the 1990's when NPC
finals were sold out, but in all reality the ITM Cup is now a feeder
competition featuring heaps of semi-professional and amateur players. It is also a holiday weekend and lots of
people will be leaving town for the weekend.
It is possible that Tasman gets a bigger crowd for the ITM Cup
Championship final despite having a smaller population.
The ITM Cup Premiership final will be close
and I have this underlying feeling that Canterbury know how to win the big
games when it counts. They have won the
last five titles and I am picking them to win a sixth in a row.
My pick Canterbury by 6 points.
ITM
Cup Championship Final 2013
I would be disappointed if Tasman didn't
beat Hawke's Bay. The Makos have been
the form team of the ITM Cup Championship and haven't simply scrapped through
to reach the final, they have thrashed some good teams. Both Tasman and Hawke's Bay would be at home
in the ITM Cup Premiership in 2014, but only one can get promoted.
Hawke's Bay beat Otago in Dunedin in the
semi-finals last week and so won't be a pushover. They have some too many good players to be in
the ITM Cup Championship really and will definitely have a starting chance against
Tasman.
The two first five eighths Marty Banks of
Tasman and Ihaia West from Hawke's Bay have had massive seasons and with a good
night at the office on Friday night, could topple Otago's Hayden Parker as the
top points scorer in the ITM Cup. Their
match up will be worth the price of admission alone.
Tasman in many ways remind me of Counties
from the ITM Cup 2012 with such a convincing season and given how Counties made
the ITM Cup Premiership semi-finals and won the Ranfurly Shield this season.
The Makos also have some newly signed Super
Rugby players for the 2014 season as a result of their impressive form this
season.
My pick for the ITM Cup Championship final
2013 - Tasman by 7 points.
The winner of the ITM Cup Championship will
gain promotion to the ITM Cup Premiership for 2014, replacing the seventh
placed team from the ITM Cup Premiership.
Who are you picking to win the ITM Cup
Premiership and Championship finals?
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