Hurricanes v Blues

Canes4life

I think 100% of Canes fans will be glad to see Blackwell getting the pine job for this week, defs need a bigger team vs the Blues.

Two cracking teams, looks like Jordie is covering flyhalf which could work wonders for us moving forward, means we can leave Marshall out. Probably would have had Tiatia ahead of Proctor.

I wonder if it's the first time ever in Super Rugby that all players in the back three are over 1.90 metres.

Kirwan

@Hooroo said in Hurricanes v Blues:

Looking at both those line-ups, this should be a cracking match

Should be a good game, am worried about the last 20mins with all that travel and the delay in getting home. Really happy with the side picked though.

Bovidae

Akira needs to make this opportunity count.

Kirwan

@Bovidae said in Hurricanes v Blues:

Akira needs to make this opportunity count.

Not really. He needs to play well for the team, but in terms of minutes, he's going to get more opportunities. We can't play Sotutu and Robinson in every game.

I'd like to see a back row of Dalton at 7, Akira at 8 and Sotutu at 6, with Robinson playing lock again. Akira's particularly good at cleaning up messy scrums (not that we have had many this year).

Frank

I wonder why Akira doesn't look in shape this year.

It should have been bloody obvious to him that with Read retiring that the number 8 sport was wide open. It should have really motivated him.

KiwiMurph

@Frank From Leon

Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.

Kirwan

@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Frank From Leon

Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.

People see what they want to see. Just looking at the Blues instragram you can see he looks fit.

African Monkey

It's great that Akira finally isn't being forced to play every minute of every game. I expect him to be very effective because of it.

Frank

@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Frank From Leon

Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.

@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Frank From Leon
Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.
People see what they want to see. Just looking at the Blues instragram you can see he looks fit.

@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes v Blues:

It's great that Akira finally isn't being forced to play every minute of every game. I expect him to be very effective because of it.

Well. Three posts on the Fern is good enough for me.
Akira for MOTM then.

Kirwan

@Frank said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Frank From Leon
Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.
@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Frank From Leon
Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.
People see what they want to see. Just looking at the Blues instragram you can see he looks fit.
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes v Blues:

It's great that Akira finally isn't being forced to play every minute of every game. I expect him to be very effective because of it.

Well. Three posts on the Fern is good enough for me.
Akira for MOTM then.

You could try listening to the coaches opinion or looking at recent photos.

Or just keep repeating an inaccurate opinion.

African Monkey

@Frank huh? All I said was that I expect Akira to be more effective this year with more rest periods for him as opposed to last year where he faded at the back end and the coaches were reluctant to give Sotutu gametime.

cgrant

@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Bovidae said in Hurricanes v Blues:

Akira needs to make this opportunity count.

Not really. He needs to play well for the team, but in terms of minutes, he's going to get more opportunities. We can't play Sotutu and Robinson in every game.

I'd like to see a back row of Dalton at 7, Akira at 8 and Sotutu at 6, with Robinson playing lock again. Akira's particularly good at cleaning up messy scrums (not that we have had many this year).

Robinson is a better 6 than 5, IMO.

nzzp

@cgrant said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Bovidae said in Hurricanes v Blues:

Akira needs to make this opportunity count.

Not really. He needs to play well for the team, but in terms of minutes, he's going to get more opportunities. We can't play Sotutu and Robinson in every game.

I'd like to see a back row of Dalton at 7, Akira at 8 and Sotutu at 6, with Robinson playing lock again. Akira's particularly good at cleaning up messy scrums (not that we have had many this year).

Robinson is a better 6 than 5, IMO.

That's the Fern's view I think. And it's right.

pakman

What's the Fern take on Canes LH, Numia?
Loosies look balanced, but last week set the bar very high.
Like the look of our bench more.

Nogusta

@African-Monkey speaking of Simon Hickey....

Tim

@Nogusta Coming back to NZ?

Canes4life

@pakman strong young kid but defs not the finished product. He has shown signs of promise but it will be a big test for him this week.

booboo

@Hooroo said in Hurricanes v Blues:

Looking at both those line-ups, this should be a cracking match

Yeah. Just gone through them player by player, and each match up is fairly close and whilst I might give one side a slight advantage in one postion that tends to get nullified by advantage the other way pretty in the next position or two.

I'll nail my colours to the mast here and say I hope the Blues win.

My allegiances are always with the result that is best for NZ rugby, and that is the best result in my opinion.

Re the Blues XV: I'd have preferred Papalili to start at 7, and 13 & 14 to swap.

booboo

@nzzp said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@cgrant said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Bovidae said in Hurricanes v Blues:

Akira needs to make this opportunity count.

Not really. He needs to play well for the team, but in terms of minutes, he's going to get more opportunities. We can't play Sotutu and Robinson in every game.

I'd like to see a back row of Dalton at 7, Akira at 8 and Sotutu at 6, with Robinson playing lock again. Akira's particularly good at cleaning up messy scrums (not that we have had many this year).

Robinson is a better 6 than 5, IMO.

That's the Fern's view I think. And it's right.

Usually is.

pakman

@Canes4life said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@pakman strong young kid but defs not the finished product. He has shown signs of promise but it will be a big test for him this week.

Ta @canes4life! Ofa isn't usually destructive, but that said the Blues scrum has mainly gone well this year. Patty T seems to have learned to keep his right shoulder glued to the TH's arse until the ball is out, which helps a lot!

Battle of the locks will be interesting.

The Silver Fern

Hurricanes v Blues