Hurricanes v Crusaders
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Hurricanes v Crusaders:
The Hurricanes are such a bizarre team. They lose the Super final at home with unarguably their best ever team, but win the next years sans both midfields, both locks and NMS.
Then this year they beat the undefeated Crusaders without BB, giraffe in midfield and TJP playing his worst game all season.
Knock out the Barretts and Saveas and they'll probably go on and win the entire thing.
It was funny how our golden generation fell short only for a bunch of apparent no names to win it all a year later
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guess we will see in a fortnight if thier run has flattered to deceive, I think they are worthy finalists (much, much more worthy than the Brumbies) and could well go all the way*, but the conference system still sucks balls
*and cause more talk about how we lost Aura
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@canefan said in Hurricanes v Crusaders:
I see the lions topped the table without having played a single nz team. I know you can only play who is in front of you but if ever there was an undeserving top qualifier they are it
Hang on doesn't that cut both ways? NZ teams are pretty lucky they didn't have to face the lions.
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@Bones said in Hurricanes v Crusaders:
@canefan said in Hurricanes v Crusaders:
I see the lions topped the table without having played a single nz team. I know you can only play who is in front of you but if ever there was an undeserving top qualifier they are it
Hang on doesn't that cut both ways? NZ teams are pretty lucky they didn't have to face the lions.
The Lions are only one team and the only scary South African team. New Zealand has at least four of the best five teams in the competition and the Blues are probably on par with the Stormers.
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@Damo said in Hurricanes v Crusaders:
@Winger The table I saw was 61 - 64. I could be wrong. My main point still stands though.
If you need 2 scores its quickest to take pk first then go for try. Even if they scored from quick tap, the game would have been over after conversion, whereas kick the goal and there is almost certainly time for a restart.
The table they showed was a live table. As in, that would be the points table if the game finished right then and there. Crusaders were on 63, and would be on 64 points because they were losing by 7 points of less.
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Gutted about that, bloody nervous about playing the Highlanders this week.
Bryn Hall is a huge weakness I reckon, the clearance from the ruck was so much quicker when Drummond came on for the last 10.
Havilli not a 12 either, hardly ran with the ball all night.
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@SammyC Yeah - I know Havili's played a lot at 2nd five last year for the Crusaders and for the Mako$, but he's been much better at fullback. After the lessons from the Lions game I would have definitely played Bateman at 2nd five and put Bridge on the bench - one of Dagg or Tamanivalu can surely play on the left wing.
To be honest, I'm not sure why Digby Ioane didn't feature ahead of Bridge.
Seems like they prefer Hall over Drummond, but I'm not sure why. Drummie needed to convert that break he made, though - that was really the big chance to win the game.
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@SammyC ...and the Highlanders at full strength - that's pretty much a 50-50 proposition. Despite the Canes much vaunted backline, the Highlanders worry me more.
If those bastards get lucky they could still win the title from here - put us away and then potentially get the Chiefs and then the Canes on the back of trips to SA. Never have to leave NZ.
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I'm interested to see the referee appointments for the 4 playoff games. It makes sense to choose a SA ref (Peyper) for the Brumbies-Canes game and an Aussie (Gardner) for the Stormers-Chiefs games.
Then another Saffer can do the Lions-Sharks game, but does Hometown get the Crusaders-Highlanders game? The Crusaders probably think they are owed a few penalties.
Or does he get shipped off to Jo'burg or somewhere else?
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I watched the game a second time and I have to admit that I was really stunned by Sam Lousi. He has improved hugely since his signing. He had never set the world on fire when he was playing off the bench for the Waratahs. But he is now passing well beyond all expectations. He was the best lock on the field and outplayed the All Blacks he faced (Barrett and Romano). A bolter for the EOYT ?
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@cgrant yeah he has been an animal this year. I think coaching from Watt and Plumtree in particular has accelerated his progress. Plus he must be way fitter as his workrate is huge - he's still getting maul turnovers late into the game, and putting in big hits. Agree 100% @booboo, he was very impressive against the BIL.
Really stoked he's come good, especially with the injuries we've had to Fatialofa. That's two league talents the Canes have firing on all cylinders. Hmm maybe Kearney should send the whole squad to Wellington for the off season
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@Paekakboyz said in Hurricanes v Crusaders:
That's two league talents the Canes have firing on all cylinders. Hmm maybe Kearney should send the whole squad to Wellington for the off seasonFunny how they look so much fitter than when they were playing league.
Especially considering how after every preseason the warriors are "fitter than ever"
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Ha!! pretty easy to be fitter than ever when you were pretty average to begin with!! But I don't think that's quite what they meant aye
It does make me wonder how different rugby and league training differs around cardio and weights. Sure league revolves around the tackle count cycle, but players still have to manage multiple repeat sets quite often. So they definitely have that multi-phase challenge like we see in rugby.
