Highlanders 2019 Discussion

[Dice]

Is Banks favorite to be the starter at 10 this season?

I'm a bit of a fan of Ioane. I think he's really rounded out his game nicely. He is somewhat similar to Sopoaga, but he attacks the line a bit more than Sopoaga did.

[Bones]

@Dice his shocker in the finals will not be forgotten anytime soon...

[cgrant]

Some players lose their confidence after such displays. I hope Banks is not among them. He's a good all round player and his kicking from tee is second to none in the Highlanders squad.

[Bones]

@cgrant Banks? I meant Ioane...

[cgrant]

Ah ah ! I was referring to Banks's disastrous final against Canterbury two years ago.

[Crucial]

@KiwiMurph said in Highlanders 2019 Discussion:

@shark said in Highlanders 2019 Discussion:

Holy crap, admittedly I don't follow the Waratahs much at all but there are so few names in that line up that I recognise, it's crazy.

perhaps this is why

RESTED: Michael Hooper, Israel Folau, Sekope Kepu, Tolu Latu, Rob Simmons, Ned Hanigan, Jack Dempsey, Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley, Kurtley Beale, Damian Fitzpatrick (calf), Adam Ashley-Cooper.

Taking a rest from getting soundly beaten?

[Stargazer]

Dammit. Only just now I discovered that the PS game is livestreamed!

Can't be bothered to see if the Landers have another link.

http://www.nswwaratahs.com.au/livestream

[Stargazer]

Okay, easy to find. On the Highlanders FB page:

[Stargazer]

Terrible quality stream.

[Stargazer]

After 2 x 30 minutes, the Highlanders are leading 38 -31. A bit of a comeback in the last 15 minutes, because when I posted the link to the livestream, they were trailing 24 - 31. Another 30 minutes to go.

[Stargazer]

Full time: Highlanders 59 - 38 Waratahs

I've seen more buffering than rugby, and the commentating by BFA and Dickson was funny, but often not about the rugby, so not much info. I hope I can re-watch this game at a later time & see more of the game.

Good start for the Landers, but as we know, preseason game wins or losses don't really give a good indication of where a team is at.

[Duluth]

Youtube video of the pre season game. Same resolution, but less skipping

[Stargazer]

Highlanders team to play the Crusaders in Southbridge (k/o 6pm, Friday 8 Feb):

1 Ayden Johnstone
2 Liam Coltman
3 Tyrel Lomax
4 Pari Pari Parkinson
5 Josh Dickson
6 Marino Mikaele-Tu'u
7 James Lentjes
8 Luke Whitelock (C)
9 Kayne Hammington
10 Josh Ioane
11 Tevita Li
12 Sio Tomkinson
13 Rob Thompson
14 Josh McKay
15 Matt Faddes

RESERVES
16 Ray Niuia
17 Sef Fa'agase
18 Josh Iosefa-Scott
19 Maanaki Selby-Ricketts
20 Dillon Hunt
21 Folau Fakatava
22 Bryn Gatland
23 Teihorangi Walden
24 Jack Whetton

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[cgrant]

I thought that Selby-Ricketts had declined this year's selection in the Highlanders squad in order to add a few kgs of muscle.

[Yeetyaah]

@cgrant He signed a dev contract for this year and joins the full squad in 2020.

[98blueandgold]

H/T v Crusaders 14-7 to Crusaders. Pretty uneventful half Crusaders dominating possession and territory. Coleman and Parkinson strong for Highlanders. Crusaders backs look sharpe but Mataele is very dangerous for them.

[Stargazer]

With the try scorers in the first half:

Crusaders 14 (Bateman, Taufua tries; Hunt con 2x)
Highlanders 7 (Coltman try; Ioane con)

[98blueandgold]

Game pretty open now. Fakatava scores 33-31 to highlanders 67 gone

[98blueandgold]

Jordan scores in last minute for Crusaders win. Very open in end. Fakatava looks a prospect and Jordan looked likely every time he touched it.

[Stargazer]

Full time:

Crusaders 43 (Sanders 2x, Bateman, Taufua, Mataele, Dunshea, Jordan tries; Hunt 2x con; 3rd - 4th con ?)
Highlanders 38 (Tomkinson 2x, Coltman, Lentjes, Fakatava, McKay tries; Ioane con, 2nd - 3rd con ?, Gatland con)