Tryline Far from Squire's Mind
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D2 WEEKENDSPORT Saturday, October 25, 2014 THE PRESS, Christchurch RUGBY Japan gets Tryline far from Squire’s mind the new Wayne Martin ‘‘I wasn’t too worried about [the ● ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● ● injury], I knew it was going to be It’s one of those odd quirks of fate fine.’’ Super that after setting a new season He said that the mood in the tryscoring record for the province Makos’ camp has been excellent last season, Tasman Makos No 8 during this week’s build up. franchise Liam Squire hasn’t crossed the ‘‘It’s exciting, there’s a good feel line once this year. in the camp, the boys are excited With only tonight’s premier- for the challenge and we’ve come a Liam Napier ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● ● ship final against Taranaki in New long way from last year to where Plymouth left, the clock’s ticking. we are now.’’ Japan have been offered the 18th Not that he’s losing sleep over it He said that they are con- spot in an expanded Super Rugby but after scoring a record seven sciously trying to avoid imposing competition. tries in helping the Makos to the any undue pressure on them- Following a meeting of its 2013 NPC championship title, his selves, despite the significance of executive committee, Sanzar current try-drought was a source the challenge. informed the Japan Rugby Foot- of light-hearted bemusement for ‘‘We’re not trying to look at it as ball Union last night that it is the the physically-imposing loosie. being a final, it’s just another game preferred candidate for Super Rug- ‘‘That’s a terrible stat, it’s a bit against Taranaki. If we do our core by’s 18th team when the compe- disappointing, I don’t know what’s roles right and do the basics right tition expands in 2016. going on. I’m setting them all up and turn up on the day, hopefully Singapore was the other bidder now,’’ he joked. that leads us in the right direction from the Asian market but ‘‘I’m giving them all to Joey of getting that win.’’ virtually conceded defeat yester- [Wheeler] now, I’m sharing them He said that Tasman’s gut- day. out,’’ he said in reference to his wrenching last-minute 31-30 loss to Their fate was confirmed in a own powerful burst in the opening Taranaki at Trafalgar Park during statement released by Sanzar chief minute of Tasman’s first round the regular season hadn’t been executive Greg Peters last night. game against Hawke’s Bay in mentioned in the build-up. The Singapore bid issued a Blenheim that helped put lock Joe But the memory of that statement conceding Sanzar was Wheeler across the team’s first try harrowing defeat is still burning ‘‘not ready for a fully privately- of the season. in the back of his mind. owned club’’. ‘‘I think J-Lowe’s [winger ‘‘Yeah, we’ve been practising ‘‘Japan has been the preferred James Lowe] stealing them all at kicking [the ball] out in the 80th option for some time,’’ NZR chief the moment; he doesn’t pass the minute,’’ he joked. executive Steve Tew confirmed. ball much. But I’m not too worried. He certainly recalls the uncom- Meanwhile Tew says New Zea- I just want to play good footy for promising, physical forward battle land Rugby gained the desired lift Tasman.’’ from the previous encounter. in revenue from its new pro- Lowe actually bettered Squire’s ‘‘We’re expecting exactly the visional five-year broadcast agree- 2013 mark when the in-form same from them, if not more. ment with Sky Television. winger scored his eighth try of the ‘‘They’ve had a pretty outstand- NZR and Sky yesterday season in last Saturday’s semifinal ing season and have been playing announced a renewed partnership win over Canterbury. some pretty good footy, but it’s from 2016 to 2020. Now though, the focus is on pro- going to be a massive game for us The finer details won’t be com- ducing the team effort required to as well as them,’’ he said. plete until the end of November add tonight’s premiership title to ‘‘The boys are definitely ready. but it seems the provincial game, Tasman’s rapidly growing list of We’ve got good clarity about expanded Super Rugby compe- achievements. what we need to achieve to get tition and home tests fetched a bot- At 1.96m and 113kg, Squire’s there.’’ tom line increase. still brought all of his customary The final won’t be Squire’s only NZR did not feel the need to test menace to the table, both with and commitment this weekend. the open broadcast market after it without the ball. At 7am tomorrow, he and Tas- had reached agreement inside an There were some extenuating man team-mates Wheeler, Lowe ‘‘exclusive negotiation period’’ circumstances for his unexpected and Shane Christie and six of the with Sky. absence of tries. Taranaki squad fly to Auckland to ‘‘We would have [gone to the He missed the games against prepare for the Maori All Blacks’ market] if we thought it was ben- Otago and Canterbury with a back two-match tour of Japan. eficial for New Zealand Rugby and injury before he returned in the The Maori squad flies out to in the end we decided it wasn’t,’’ final round loss to Counties- Tokyo on Monday. NZR boss Tew said. Manukau, also in Blenheim. ‘‘There’s no rest . it’s taxing No figures were revealed but But even that’s well behind him but it should be exciting,’’ he said. asked, while on a conference call now. Fairfax NZ after this month’s board meeting, whether his organisation had gained the desired lift in revenue, Tew said: ‘‘We are very happy with the arrangements that have been Delight and despair coming up for Marshalls put in place.’’ He also suggested there was be room to ‘‘develop our own Wayne Martin the last of his 36 games for the honest — no drama. I called him He’s also grown into the captaincy platforms’’. ● ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● ● Makos in 2011 before heading [Monday] night, so I’ve got the Tas- after being unexpectedly handed Asked if this centred around Tom Marshall owes his big brother north. man moves all sorted,’’ he joked. the role at the start of the season. also on-line broadcasts, Tew said: one. They’ve opposed each other Tom said that the Makos had ‘‘It’s been good. It’s obviously a ‘‘All we’ve agreed to say at the The Tasman Makos’ second sparingly at both Super Rugby and trained well this week and were lot easier when the side’s going moment is we’ll have a platform five-eighth was on the receiving provincial level and try not to let trying to keep any unnecessary well, so it hasn’t been too hard that will give us an opportunity at end when Taranaki, captained by their enforced rivalry affect their hype out of their buildup. which has been nice. all levels to show the game to older brother James, stole a heart- approach to the game, particularly ‘‘The boys are pretty excited, we ‘‘I can’t say I was too keen on people in New Zealand.’’ wrenching 31-30 last-minute win in one as important as tonight’s. know that we owe them one and doing it at the start of the year, but Tew expressed his disappoint- round six of this year’s ITM Cup ‘‘I haven’t really thought too we’re looking forward to going up it was something I didn’t want to ment that the New Zealand Maori provincial rugby competition at much about it I guess, it’s just there and giving it our all,’’ he say no to,’’ he said. match against the Asia Pacific Trafalgar Park. another game, but I guess it’s said. ‘‘With Kane [Barrett] not being Dragons in Singapore was They’ll be at it again tonight in pretty cool for our parents [Ray ‘‘We’re preparing to play Tara- right, I thought it was only going to scrapped due to poor pitch con- New Plymouth, this time with the and Viv] to be able to go up there naki as opposed to playing in the be the first few weeks sort of thing. ditions. premiership title on the line and and watch both their boys play,’’ final. This is another step up and But with Kane not coming right, The pitch will need to be drasti- with both teams attempting to Tom said. it’s a huge game. it’s been a whole season thing cally improved with Japan’s Super become the first non-Super Rugby- ‘‘It would have been nice if we ‘‘I think everyone’s well aware which has been all good.’’ Rugby bid based around playing based province since Manawatu in were both in the same team, but I of that but we don’t want to get He said that Saturday’s final up to four ‘‘home’’ games at the 1980 to claim the crown. guess that’s just the way it is.’’ overawed by the occasion and we was ‘‘without a doubt’’ the biggest same venue. It was a particularly harrowing The brothers are in contact on a know that if we go up there and go game of his career and didn’t think ‘‘We were monitoring the situ- time for Tom seven weeks ago in weekly basis by phone and expect into our shells, we’re not going to that last weekend’s dramatic, ation very carefully around that Nelson.