Blues win percentage against NZ teams
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For a number of years, the Chiefs and the Highlanders were pretty ropey and the Hurricanes were the Hurricanes. Now all the other 4 franchises seem to be well run which makes the Blues stand out as the poorest.
I think it is connected to the head coach but goes beyond that. Look at the injuries the Chiefs are currently coping with. We in the Bay were baffled by Ardron's selection for the Chiefs given his lame work at number 8 for us that saw him benched often. Now not only does he look like a class player, he is also doing it as a lock - not just the head coach can be responsible for that transformation, the environment must be a key factor and the coaching team etc must have done some serious work on his game in the past few months.
And right now all the top 4 franchises seem to be able to bring in guys from anywhere and have them playing well as soon as they walk onto the grass in Super rugby.
With the Blues, it seems to have the opposite effect. Promising players quickly become a shadow of what they were before. Which suggests that the rot runs deep and shuffling the chairs/recruiting a star or 2 isn't going to change that.
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@kiwipie said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
And right now all the top 4 franchises seem to be able to bring in guys from anywhere and have them playing well as soon as they walk onto the grass in Super rugby.
Which suggests that the rot runs deep and shuffling the chairs/recruiting a star or 2 isn't going to change that.
Yes, which has also being discussed in detail by various Blues fans. Problems with the board have been talked about ad nauseam, as have problems with recruitment (which Umaga has some responsibility for)
I know you didn't do this, but there is a strawman that the Blues fans only blame the coach which is absolutely not true
The coach should be judged for what he is control of: initial squad selection, match day selection, coaches he decides to delegate too, game plan, preparation etc etc -
@kiwipie said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
Now all the other 4 franchises seem to be well run which makes the Blues stand out as the poorest.
Well we can expand it to look at a some results against non NZ sides
2 matches ago the Blues conceded 63 points at home against a Saffa side. The worst home defeat in history beating the previous record of 51 from 2004
7 matches ago was the most embarrassing loss in Blues history vs the Sunwolves. Great tactics of throw it around in 42 degree heat to tire out the smaller fitter guys who are used to the conditions..
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Genuine question - are there any Blues fans happy with Umaga?
I see a lot of excuses for Umaga, and indeed support for Umaga, from people who aren't Blues supporters.
I understand that. He was a popular player and supporting him doesn't impact your team. In fact it helps your team..
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@duluth well no it wont skew the %, but given the more frequent matches, and in a bad year you will potentially lose twice as many games as you would in one off years.
Not defending Umaga, just when you say by the end of 3 years he will have had 24 games v NZ teams, whereas say Henry would have taken 6 years for that many (not counting finals had Umagas Blues made it...)
What it does show is that Henry's % over a longer period is even more impressive, whereas short term success is (in theory) easier to achieve.
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@taniwharugby said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@duluth well no it wont skew the %, but given the more frequent matches, and in a bad year you will potentially lose twice as many games as you would in one off years.
Sure, it's possible to 'run up the score' to some degree. However that does not explain the trend, or the drop of from Kirwans shitty tenure.
It does show that he hasn't made gains on the other NZ sides in three years (I know some Umaga sycophants don't think its fair to compare a team to its contemporaries.. which of course is a ludicrous position and should be laughed at)
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@duluth with 3/5 at EP, they should to be 'aiming' for 5 wins, but realistically should be 3/5, and that being the pass mark, but I expect there will be singing in corridors of Mt Eden if they get 2/5....anything less than 2/5 should be totally unacceptable.
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@kiwimurph that wasn't what he asked
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Pass mark is winning all the home games.
You can’t compare to the first part of the season and accept mediocrity as the new normal. We are in a hole, a good coach will get you out of it.
If you can’t even win your home games it’s all over.
Mind you, I though he should have resigned after the utter embarrassment of shipping 63 points on Eden Park.
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@kirwan said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
Pass mark is winning all the home games.
You can’t compare to the first part of the season and accept mediocrity as the new normal. We are in a hole, a good coach will get you out of it.
If you can’t even win your home games it’s all over.
Mind you, I though he should have resigned after the utter embarrassment of shipping 63 points on Eden Park.
I think the Blues will be like the Chiefs of Pre Rennie days. Hopeless but will beat a NZ team at the wrong time to stuff that teams chances come the pointy end.
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Personally I don’t think it would take a hell of lot to change the Blues around ,they have shown despite all the issues they do have with question marks over the coaching and recruitment especially they have for all intensive purposes been very competitive especially in the Conference games. .can think of far too many games over past 3 x seasons that the could of and should of won..but lacked leadership and direction at crucial times.
On the occasion they have let themselves down badly,losses away to the Lions a couple of seasons back,the last game against the Sunwolves from last year and a couple of weeks ago against the Sharks come to mind.
But in the main,they have always been there or there abouts which suggests to me they are not that far off..There’s been a lot of comparisons to the Warriors,and all they have really changed is fitness and some very shrewd recruitment.
I do believe for these changes to happen,a similar mindset has to happen not just within the coach staff but also the organisation as a whole.If Tana Umaga is to stay,coaching staff should get the boot,Tom Coventry should come on board as the assistant,great record with forwards.
From a franchise piece,the Blues have got to work a lot harder to make Auckland,Harbour & Northland super strong,back load all your best talent into those unions so the talent at least stays in the franchise..,make movement around the 3 x unions easy..get some real rivalry within the 3 partners.. -
Gee that doesn't made great reading for Tana. I'd been a defender of his on the grounds that he had inherited a team in bad shape and been unlucky with the sudden emergence of the hurricanes as an elite team, as well as the not so sudden emergence of the Highlanders. But when you look at how much better Lam and Kirwan's record was then it's a lot harder to argue that he's doing the best with what he's got.
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@steven-harris said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
If Tana Umaga is to stay,coaching staff should get the boot,Tom Coventry should come on board as the assistant,great record with forwards.
The coaching staff Umaga picked..
I would be fine with Coventry taking over as head coach and appointing his own assistants. The Blues seem to be in a similar position to where Harbour was a couple of years ago. Jackson had made changes at NH but made no progress in terms of results. Coventry followed Jackson and completed the job
Or Pivac. I have to throw that name in there. I've been calling for him to coach the Blues for 15 years on here.. One day someone might listen to me
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@hooroo said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@kirwan said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
Pass mark is winning all the home games.
You can’t compare to the first part of the season and accept mediocrity as the new normal. We are in a hole, a good coach will get you out of it.
If you can’t even win your home games it’s all over.
Mind you, I though he should have resigned after the utter embarrassment of shipping 63 points on Eden Park.
I think the Blues will be like the Chiefs of Pre Rennie days. Hopeless but will beat a NZ team at the wrong time to stuff that teams chances come the pointy end.
we were the kings of coming home with a wet sail. Played awesome open footy when the pressure of actually getting something out of the season was off. Foster was the master of it.
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What changed? How fast did it change?
