Bledisloe #2
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@KiwiMurph said in Bledisloe #2:
Well we are going to get answers on a lot of players after Saturday.
Bridge, Reece, Tuipulotu, Hemopo, SBW, Ofa as a loosehead.
I'm not sure we are going to like all the answers.
Happy with Reece and Bridge - they looked Ok so far in Black.
Opportunity for Ofa, Pat T & Hempopo to step up. And for SBW not to fcuk up too much
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@Dice said in Bledisloe #2:
4th midfield combination in 4 tests this year.
And it will be a different one against Tonga. 5 for 5, a full set.
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@Donsteppa said in Bledisloe #2:
It's almost like they've dropped Reiko because Tuipulotu coming into the tight five would mean "too many Blues" at Eden Park...
Well that’s one thing Hansen got right then...
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@Hooroo said in Bledisloe #2:
Shag said in the beginning of the season that his focus was the Bledisloe and the World Cup.
He lied
Yep, continuing to experiment in a crunch Bledisloe is either arrogance that we'll win regardless, or a clear signal that the RWC is so much more important that we're willing to lose the Bledisloe if it means giving a couple of guys some test match experience beforehand.
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@pakman said in Bledisloe #2:
rucks/scrums/etc.. That concerns me. Also Todd
Yep it could be some things they need to find out about certain players before the WC .
It puts players on notice which is a good thing.
It also tells us they are pretty happy with the depth in the squad.
We just have to trust them I don’t believe it’s all gloom and doom we can still bring the both cups home. -
@No-Quarter said in Bledisloe #2:
@Hooroo said in Bledisloe #2:
Shag said in the beginning of the season that his focus was the Bledisloe and the World Cup.
He lied
Yep, continuing to experiment in a crunch Bledisloe is either arrogance that we'll win regardless, or a clear signal that the RWC is so much more important that we're willing to lose the Bledisloe if it means giving a couple of guys some test match experience beforehand.
The RWC is so much more important.
We get the chance to win the Bledisloe back next year, but it's "four more years" for the RWC.
I'm sure Hansen doesn't want to lose it, but he evidently thinks he needs to take the risk (though based on last week's performance, whatever team we put out would have some significant risks).
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@Bovidae said in Bledisloe #2:
@pakman said in Bledisloe #2:
Laulala is good at scrumtime (only three in first half) and more mobile than Owen, so makes sense. Bigger issue is that Ofa on bench at LH will probably struggle bigtime with Tupou who is six inches shorter. Need Moli or Karl T in RWC squad.
Ofa has more experience than Moli at LH at this point. Moli was injured all of 2018 and only started playing regularly at LH for the Chiefs when he returned this season. We will get a better idea of the scrum battle when it is 8 vs 8.
didn't Ofa play tighthead through the entire Northern tour last year, and handle it more than adequately?
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Im putting a lot of eggs in the Izzy to bankrupt the ARU before the weekend. Its gods will.
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@Chris-B said in Bledisloe #2:
The RWC is so much more important.
I might be in the minority but I would prefer they keep the 25 year unbeaten streak at Eden Park going and the Bledisloe than go three on the trot. It's not even really close.
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@mariner4life said in Bledisloe #2:
didn't Ofa play tighthead through the entire Northern tour last year, and handle it more than adequately?
Ofa actually replaced Big Karl at LH in both the Irish and English tests, and started at LH vs Italy. My point is that although Ofa has mainly played TH prop previously he has also been used at LH by both the Blues and ABs, including both tests he has played this year.
The first time I remember Moli at LH was his AB debut off the bench on the 2017 EOYT vs the French XV, when Hansen mentioned they wanted to convert him into a LH prop. Last year he had a serious leg injury and never played. This year Moli had a late start to the SR season, and then was the regular starting LH prop for the Chiefs. He's still learning his trade at LH.
The AB selectors are still trying to finalise their 5 props with 2 spots to find after Moody, Franks and Tu'ungafasi. Laulala gets his opportunity at Eden Park.
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@mariner4life said in Bledisloe #2:
@Bovidae said in Bledisloe #2:
@pakman said in Bledisloe #2:
Laulala is good at scrumtime (only three in first half) and more mobile than Owen, so makes sense. Bigger issue is that Ofa on bench at LH will probably struggle bigtime with Tupou who is six inches shorter. Need Moli or Karl T in RWC squad.
Ofa has more experience than Moli at LH at this point. Moli was injured all of 2018 and only started playing regularly at LH for the Chiefs when he returned this season. We will get a better idea of the scrum battle when it is 8 vs 8.
didn't Ofa play tighthead through the entire Northern tour last year, and handle it more than adequately?
loosehead!! fucking loosehead!! that was my point at the time. He was a shit loosehead and then they developed him in to a good loosehead as well as a good tighthead
I reckon Ofa is still tainted by that night for the Blues v the Waratahs where he got reamed just so hard, and that's all anybody remembers. His scrummaging for the most part has been really solid for the ABs in the last couple of years.
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@rotated said in Bledisloe #2:
@Chris-B said in Bledisloe #2:
The RWC is so much more important.
I might be in the minority but I would prefer they keep the 25 year unbeaten streak at Eden Park going and the Bledisloe than go three on the trot. It's not even really close.
Luckily it's not mutually exclusive.
But, if it was a real choice I'd much rather bank another RWC, because that's something that can never be taken away - whereas the Eden Park record is up for grabs every time we play there.
Don't think Hansen should be putting the Bled at risk with an experimental line-up though. He should be playing whatever he thinks is our strongest available team this week.
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@Bovidae said in Bledisloe #2:
@Chris-B If this was the plan all along why not play Reece last week with Ioane on the left wing and Bridge this week with BFA?
I'm thinking they played what they thought was their strongest available team last week - so the first choice back three was Rieko, Ben and Beauden.
This week is a shootout for the RWC squad between Reece and Bridge.
But, I could easily be talking shit about this, because I haven't followed the logic of their wing selections from the first game vs the Argies when they played Jordie on the left wing.
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@ploughboy I don't like playing two opensides at all, but I've banged that drum enough.
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@Chris-B said in Bledisloe #2:
@ploughboy I don't like playing two opensides at all, but I've banged that drum enough.
and then having another one on the bench to provide... something
We're balls deep on the strategy too, because their choices for saturday are swap one openside for another, or play the locks for 80.
