Blues 2018
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We welcome back our All Blacks for Thursday’s final pre-season match against the Hurricanes ahead of the start of the Investec Super Rugby Championship.
Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Jerome Kaino, Rieko Ioane, Sonny Bill Williams and Matt Duffie will start in the match with Patrick Tuipulotu to join in the second half at the Mahurangi Rugby Club, Warkworth A&P Showgrounds starting at 4pm.
Ofa joins Alex Hodgman in the front row with hooker James Parsons returning for his first action of the season, as will Scott Scrafton who starts at lock with Josh Goodhue.
Captain Augustine Pulu starts at halfback inside Bryn Gatland who will guide a powerful backline that includes Sonny Bill, Rieko and Matt. This group will play the first half only with a new combination to play the second half.
Coach Tana Umaga said the starting group had all trained well last week while the Tens team was in Brisbane, and he is pleased to see a number of players back after niggling injuries.
“The experienced players have merged into the squad seamlessly and have worked very hard, and it is also good to see a number of players back training fully after some time out with injuries,” said Tana.
“This is our last hit out before Super Rugby so it is an important game for us to test our systems and our combinations. We will give most of the squad the opportunity to put their hands up for consideration for our first Super game.”
Tana said while it was great to win the Brisbane Global Tens title, his squad have immediately switched their attention to the upcoming Super Rugby season.
“We are excited to transfer the hard work on the practice field, in the gym and in our planning into the game situation.
“As a group we are also excited to support the Mahurangi club and take this game to Warkworth where our North Harbour and Northland fans can more easily come and watch us.”
The Blues starting team is:
1 Alex Hodgman, 2 James Parsons, 3 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 4 Josh Goodhue, 5 Scott Scrafton, 6 Jerome Kaino, 7 Dalton Papalii, 8 Jimmy Tupou; 9 Augustine Pulu ©, 10 Bryn Gatland, 11 Rieko Ioane, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 13 TJ Faiane, 14 Matt Duffie or Jordan Trainor, 15 Melani Nanai.
Second half team: Pauliasi Manu, Leni Apisai, Sione Mafileo, Patrick Tuipulotu, Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, Glenn Preston, Murphy Taramai, Akira Ioane; Jonathan Ruru, Daniel Kirkpatrick, Jordan Hyland, TJ Faiane, Orbyn Leger, Tamati Tua, Jordan Trainor.
Replacements: Mike Tamoaieta, Ross Wright, Jacob Pierce, Sione Havili, Sam Nock, George Moala.
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@kiwimurph Ah, I missed Collins. Missed the Mitre 10 Cup with surgery. Wonder if he is still recovering?
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Colour me skeptical - I'm not convinced a Gatland-SBW-Moala 10-12-13 has enough distribution.
Blues have butchered that area season after season. I fear it could be more of the same.
On the other hand given Moala's effort in the 10s final he's earned the right to have first crack!
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@kiwimurph said in Blues 2018:
Colour me skeptical - I'm not convinced a Gatland-SBW-Moala 10-12-13 has enough distribution.
Blues have butchered that area season after season. I fear it could be more of the same.
On the other hand given Moala's effort in the 10s final he's earned the right to have first crack!
He almost butchered it..
May as well put him on the wing -
@kiwimurph said in Blues 2018:
Colour me skeptical - I'm not convinced a Gatland-SBW-Moala 10-12-13 has enough distribution.
I hope that isn't the first choice
I would have a centre paring of TJ/SBW
Moala on the bench most of the time. Although, I would like to see a specialist outside back (Clarke) on the bench occasionally with Ioane providing midfield cover
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@duluth I agree. Especially with Moala pretty much locked in to be heading overseas.
However I don't see it happening. I think Clarke may make the odd appearance but I wouldn't be expecting to see him regularly this year - for one he is almost certain to be part of the NZ 7s squad for Comm Games.
Perhaps another outside back instead. Trainor was the really pleasant surprise from the 10s - he had a woeful 10s in 2017 but this year at the 10s he was brilliant.
I hope with a proper offseason and further away from his injuries Faiane has bulked up a bit. I'm definitely a fan but he does have a tendency to slip off tackles - if he can tidy that up he can really push for the starting spot.
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@kiwimurph said in Blues 2018:
I think Clarke may make the odd appearance but I wouldn't be expecting to see him regularly this year - for one he is almost certain to be part of the NZ 7s squad for Comm Games.
Oh I'm only talking about 3-4 times
Most of the time I would like the backs bench to be: a halfback, a flyhalf, Moala
It's all moot because we'll definitely have an injury crisis at some stage and Tana will do something stupid like picking Kirkpatrick at 12 in every match
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With the first half team looking close to our first string team, anyone else worried that Tupou is there instead of Akira? Might not mean much come week 1, but Tana obviously loves Tupou.
Papalii has probably improved his stocks the most this pre-season. Only 80 minutes of NPC experience and he could possibly start week 1.
Is Tuipulotu still in Tana's bad books? I hope not, we kind of need to play our best team each week to have a chance in the NZ conference.
It seems we might be trying to transition away from Moala as a starter. We have to try it at least, because our backline attack has been too predictable for too long.
Would've liked to have seen Tumua Manu get a go in this game, he's been pretty productive with every chance he's been given. Likely would've been a better option at centre than Leger.
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Heading up the road to have a look,sensational day north of Auckland,will keep you all posted.
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@steven-harris PM me if you want to catch up.
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@steven-harris Given that Warkworth has already had 400 mm of rain this year (230 mm) this month, it's pretty fortunate that it's such a nice day.
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@dice I think it's worth noting other than Papali'i none of the rest of the first half XV played 10s (except Tupou who only played a game or two).
I'd suggest Tupou in the starting XV is more about giving him a run. I highly doubt Goodhue has passed Tuipulotu/GCT but he is in the first half XV.
Likewise I doubt Faiane will be in the starting XV for the first game - as it looks like he is set up to play in both halves in this preseason game.
Agreed on Tumua Manu - was much better than Leger or Tua at the 10s.
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@tim there is a live steam through the Blues F/B SBI productions,I wonder if they need a commentator..?,lol
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@steven-harris Ha ha. None of us could be worse than TJ.
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@steven-harris said in Blues 2018:
@tim there is a live steam through the Blues F/B SBI productions,I wonder if they need a commentator..?,lol
Bloody hell, found the stream only to informed that it is limited to NZ audiences only due to licencing restrictions.
And here I was, boss free for the day thinking... "Hell yeah, get in a bit of S15 pre-season whilst sitting at the desk with the feet up".
Go the Blues. After so many challenging years as a Blues supporter, I don't want to get my hopes up but right now things are looks as bright as they have in many years.
Cheers
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15 minutes until kick off very big crowd,field in excellent condition,28.5 degrees,should’nt be too much of an issue given where they were last weekend
