Rebels v Crusaders
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Quite a lot of sloppy stuff in that game - lots of line breaks that should have been finished, but weren't. Lots of overplayed hands really.
On the other hand, five points banked and lots of players with a week off after a pretty tough run.
Pete Samu probably gone till after the June internationals I'd think. That shot on crutches didn't look good.
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@KiwiMurph said in Rebels v Crusaders:
Speaking of injuries Sean McMahon got a dislocated elbow for the Rebels.
For the Crusaders Mounga, Whitelock. and Havili were most impressive live.
That Rebels/Japanese 8 Mafi is a gun.
That McMahon dislocation was ugly. His arm was just hanging there....
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@Chris-B. said in Rebels v Crusaders:
Pete Samu probably gone till after the June internationals I'd think. That shot on crutches didn't look good.
I thought Jed Brown was a pretty good replacement. He's not the biggest guy, but he was industrious, hit hard and links well with the backs.
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Fun game to watch even though it wasn't a contest.
Dagg was atrocious.
I like that Mafi for the wallabies, cheika should look at him hard. Korobeti as well
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@mariner4life said in Rebels v Crusaders:
Fun game to watch even though it wasn't a contest.
Dagg was atrocious.
I like that Mafi for the wallabies, cheika should look at him hard. Korobeti as well
Weren't they saying Mafi is "Japanese"?
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Of course, how silly of me, he's obviously Japanese
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@booboo I noted the similarity between Strange and S. Barrett as well.
Funnell has been one of the most improved players under the new regime. End of last season I wouldn't have minded much if he'd been cut, but this year he has been excellent.
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@mariner4life said in Rebels v Crusaders:
Dagg was atrocious.
That's something of a worrying sign for the likes of Read, Kaino and Squire, who will have been out for ages and might be rushed back in because they've got the experience to cope.
Israel himself is probably less of a concern because he's probably got two or three games to sharpen up before the Lions.
Will be interesting to see how Razor plays that card against the Highlanders. If he picks the two form wingers, I'd argue he'd be picking Seta and Bridge, with Dagg sitting on the bench. Didn't think Mataele was at his best in this game - lots of involvement, but he turned the ball over quite a lot, as well.
I think we'll need a pretty close to full strength team vs the Highlanders, so I certainly hope that Todd and Crotty are ready to go.
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Am watching this game for the second time and am noticing (about 5 minutes in) that a lot of the Crusaders players have their hands/fingers strapped (usually only one hand). Noticed it first when I was watching Mo'unga but blamed it on his injury earlier this season, then I saw Whitelock, Alaalatoa, Bedwell-Curtis etc etc.
Never noticed this before. Surely this is precautionary? Didn't notice it in other games; are other NZ players doing the same?
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@Stargazer said in Rebels v Crusaders:
30th min: Aussie commentator says "Tamanivalu makes the wrong the decision" while watching a replay of Tamanivalu's try. Uhm? Yes, he could have offloaded to Mataele, but why would he if he's confident that he can score the try himself?
He absolutely made the wrong decision. He had a man unmarked out wide. Ron Thompson was confident he would score last week and he almost butchered an easy try. Players should take the highest percentage option - which has to be backing yourself to get a pass to an unmarked player outside then going on confidence.
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TBF, if Seta couldnt score in that position, then he has no place playing for the ABs..yes it was a simple draw and pass to put the unmarked winger over, but he also went in pretty much untroubled with a little step.
Amanaki Mafi - Wikipedia
