Highlanders v Crusaders

[chimoaus]

Holy shit, Crusaders win. What a game. Well still a minute left.

[Gunner]

No no fucking no.
Really dumb play by the Highlanders in this last 20.
Sopoaga poor poor decision to take a droppy from 50 out

[mariner4life]

Best game of rugby I've watched in ages! Well done both sides!

[chimoaus]

Well we know what Tony thought of that drop goal lol.

[Stargazer]

Wow, hats off to the Crusaders. Never giving up. Great come back!

[KiwiMurph]

I feel like this is Hammett's doing somehow...

[chimoaus]

Great game. Landers should have won that. Credit to the Saders forwards who stood up in the second half.

[kiwiinmelb]

Awesome game , Nz rugby is in good nick isn't it ?

[SammyC]

So fucking good, haven't yelled at the tv like that in years. We never fought to the end like that under blackaddder.

[Tim]

God damn, what a great come-back/choke combination.

[Stargazer]

Geezus, that was easily the best game of the season thus far. Hoping for many more like this to come. Fantastic rugby.

[gt12]

Holy shit, Sopoaga with a #hongokongdonald moment

Hope he learns from it and kicks a winning goal in a couple of years time.

[African Monkey]

Always felt the HIghlanders were struggling once the Crusaders got the penalty try. I know they love defending but it definitely took its toll on the Highlanders in the last 20.

[Kirwan]

Entertaining game! NZ rugby is very good shape, the Lions B team is in for a battle with these Super Rugby teams.

[Chris B.]

Phew - Razor spends his "Get out of jail free" card. Hope he's got a few more.

Highlanders pretty much ran out of gas - couldn't get the numbers across to the right.

We didn't get the ball into Goodhue or Tamanivalu's hands enough. Break the line and offload to someone with the acceleration of a Morris Minor!

Those are bonus points really - away from home against another NZ team, without Mo'unga.

[jegga]

@KiwiMurph said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

I feel like this is Hammett's doing somehow...

And so it begins.......

[Stargazer]

[akan004]

@Chris-B. Yeah, Crusaders are lacking a bit of firepower in the backs imo. What's happened to Digby Ioane? Injured? He would be a big improvement on Havilli.

[Stargazer]

@akan004 Ioane suffered a hip injury during the Brisbane 10s. He was named in the Crusaders Knights squad that beat the Highlanders Bravehearts tonight, so will probably be good to go next week.
Ioane will probably play on the left wing, with Tamanivalu on the right and Dagg back to fullback.

[Chris B.]

@akan004 I think 12. Crotty, 13. Goodhue, 14 Tamanivalu, 15. Dagg is quite a bit better than what we fielded a lot of the time last year.

I'm far from convinced by Havili at this level - he's a bit lacking in pace and he seems impelled to overplay his hand every time he has the ball. Which is OK when he's playing for the Mako$ and is one of the better backs and needs to spark things, but in the Crusaders he's not, so I'd rather mainly see him playing a role as a "glue man" - linking to the big guns rather than trying to be one. Hopefully Ioane is fit this week, but if he's not I'd start Bridge on the wing.

Inside backs are going to be a problem, especially while Mo'unga is out. Actually Hunt and McKenzie both went better than I expected - possibly outplayed Sopoaga, who I thought was poor - even without the drop goal attempt. Hall went quite well against the Brumbies, but was a distant second to Smith last night.

I wonder if Tony Brown is regretting his decision to pull Aaron for the last 10 minutes or so. Seemed to coincide with a complete loss of control.