Blues 2018
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@mn5 I was impressed with the 13 for the Blues as well,was that the same Mark Talea who has turned out on the wing for Harbour..?
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@steven-harris Two different players playing the same game. I too was impressed by the 13.
Mark Telea was on the wing for the Blues development team (11). That is the wing for Harbour.
The 13 for the Blues development team was Tanielu Tele'a - part of the Auckland U19 National Champs team last year and in the NZ U20s squad for the Oceania tournament coming up (assuming his injury isn't too bad).
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@steven-harris said in Blues 2018:
@mn5 I was impressed with the 13 for the Blues as well,was that the same Mark Talea who has turned out on the wing for Harbour..?
@Bones someone is actually asking me a rugby question.....
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NZ Herald this morning
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McKendry keeps pushing his pro Umaga agenda.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12028923
Umaga's defenders will say that he hasn't become a bad coach over the past three months, and, for what it's worth, I agree. It's the inconsistency which hurts the team on the field and their supporters off it, and it's difficult to see how a new coach next year will help with that, even should the Blues find someone suitably qualified at this stage. The likelihood is that Umaga will stay, and that wouldn't be a bad thing in my view. There may be changes in terms of structure or even support personnel next season, but the knowledge that Umaga has gained while with the franchise shouldn't be thrown out. -
I would ring the changes against the Sunwolves and introduce a few new players. I'd like to see a backrow with Sotutu, Ioane and Papaali'i, and maybe Lindenmuth at loosehead. Outside, Tumua Manu looks promising. He could be an upgrade to TJF. Hyland is another possibility though I don't see Duffie being dropped.
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@cgrant Agreed on this. Blues will also have to balance ABs potentially being rested - Ofa and Duffie have been rested 1 week out of their 2, the Ioanes none. You'd think this would probably have been a match they would have identified as one to use to rest players.
I agree with you on the players that should be brought in (I'd seriously look at giving Havilii a run too in the loose forwards) but whats the bet Tana brings in players like Kirikiri/Preston/Trainor etc...
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I like those suggestions. However I think Umaga is in a position where he needs to run up a score. I suspect it will be almost a full strength side.
Hopefully the Ioanes don't play 80mins again. The Blues need to manage their workload better
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From an article on stuff
stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/103041165/super-rugby-five-things-to-look-out-for-this-weekendWhat happens if the Blues beat the Sunwolves in Tokyo? It would insult no-one's intelligence to say the Blues should win this match on Saturday, and by a handsome margin, to extend the Sunwolves' winless run in 2018. But so what if they do? What does it really mean? The reality is the Blues are placed second-last heading into this round, their play-off hopes pirouetting at the end of a frayed rope. There's a danger a bonus-point win at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium would divert attention from the real issue, which is whether this team is simply in a holding pattern. If that's the case, it's hardly good enough. Blues chairman Tony Carter and his board members have some decisions to make. Super Rugby teams are like any other business, they like to plan ahead. It's paramount they prove to their players that their organisation is doing the best for them. Which, in turn, puts the heat on Carter and co to decide whether to offer coach Tana Umaga a contract extension, or to go to the market and seek alternatives. And do NZ Rugby have a role to play in trying to blow life some back into the Blues, a club that hasn't made the playoffs since Pat Lam guided them to fourth place in 2011? Any assistance would be appreciated, surely. This story isn't over by a long shot. -
We've covered this before, but it's worth a revisit given the Blues' ongoing shortcomings. Should the Auckland underachievers renew or tear up Tana Umaga's contract which is about to run out?
Hinton: They should definitely not renew, put it that way. My advice would be wait and see. If the Blues continue to lose regularly and show no signs of coming together into something resembling a competitive rugby team, then I don't see how they can bring him back. I love Tana, and he was one of my favourite All Blacks, but it's hard not to see, as a young coach, that this might be beyond even his scope. It would not be terminal for his career either. Remember Joe Schmidt was a young assistant coach at the Blues from 2004-07, and didn't turn out too bad.
Ad FeedbackBidwell: They should never have hired him and, in real professional sport, he'd be gone by now. Because it's rugby, we limp along to the end of the season. And then some, probably. These are the Blues; they're really not a particularly impressive organisation. So having appointed Umaga, and John Kirwan before him, you imagine they will probably extend him. Umaga might turn out to be a fine coach and he didn't hire himself. But it's hard to see how he's the man for this job at this time.
Van Royen: Waiting to see if the franchise can dig themselves out of a mighty hole first is surely the only option. It would be staggering if chief executive Michael Redman put a contract in front of him before then.
Cully: A tricky one. It's not just whether Umaga gets a new contract, it's how it is structured. Perhaps the best option is to give him a two-year extension with some performance clauses in the Blues' favour should it not work out again. There are some big names possibly coming back to NZ in 2020.
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Super Rugby Team of the Week - Round 8
After a week off, Alex McLeod returns to run you through his next edition of the Super Rugby Team of the Week.
Akira Ioane (Blues) must be mentioned for his supreme defensive showing against the Chiefs, where he made 19 tackles and won two turnovers for his team.
Should he decide to stay in Japan for another two years and complete the required residency tenure, Michael Little would be a valuable asset to the Japanese national team, as his showings for the Sunwolves this season are beginning to prove. The former Blues midfielder has been a constant attacking weapon for the Sunwolves in 2018, and while they went down 50-29 against the Waratahs over the weekend, Little didn’t go down wondering what could have been. The diminutive second-five carried the ball 15 times to chalk up an incredible 132 metres from a trio of clean breaks. His ability to weave his way through and around defences proved to be hugely profitable for his side, as the 25-year- old scored one try and assisted two others. A solitary turnover won for the Japanese outfit capped off a sensational display for Little.
