The Southland Stags scheduled clash with North Harbour on Friday night has been shifted to the end of the season and its next home assignment against Counties could follow suit.
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MacLeod was after “actions and intent” from his players and said he saw plenty of that. He said they let themselves down in areas such as the lineout and exiting from their own half, but that was a lot to do with the limited preparation time for many of the players. MacLeod got to have a look at various players who had not played a lot at a level above club rugby, and he said those players would have learned a lot from that outing. He said some players were waiting for players to come to them in defence, while those more accustomed to the next level were getting up quickly and “smacking” opposition players in defence.
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Ethan de Groot is mobbed by a group of his mates after his All Blacks debut against Fiji in Dunedin. Southland coach Dale MacLeod said de Groot contacted him on Sunday advising him that he would not be part of the Rugby Championship squad and would be linking back up with the Stags. MacLeod said de Groot wanted to join the Stags camp as soon as the next day, Monday, but the Southland coach advised him it would be in his best interests to take a small break. “He loves playing for the Stags.” de Groot has had a big year, which started with the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition with the Highlanders. It then flowed into the Super Rugby trans-Tasman competition before he was part of the All Blacks for three.