Crusaders v Blues

Mattasaurus

wow.. what a gullible Muppet I am .. reading all the reports about the Blues win last weekend I thought something had changed from last year.. that was plain bloody awful stuff. Tana has plenty of work to do.
 
Saders played conditions well and actually appeared to have a plan.
 
For my 1st game of super rugby this year..... well if I was at a restaurant and served that ... I would've dam near slapped the prick who put it on the table

Unco

All over, 28-13 to the Saders.
 
Last week I was stoked to get some incredible games out of the first round but this was the kind of game I expect from the first couple of rounds. Dire, mistake ridden rugby. The Saders didn't even look good (apart from those early scrums) but they still made the Blues look like a joke.
 
Sure hope we get some better games tomorrow.

hydro11

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Mattasaurus" data-cid="562418" data-time="1457079786">
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wow.. what a gullible Muppet I am .. reading all the reports about the Blues win last weekend I thought something had changed from last year.. that was plain bloody awful stuff. Tana has plenty of work to do.
 
Saders played conditions well and actually appeared to have a plan.
 
For my 1st game of super rugby this year..... well if I was at a restaurant and served that ... I would've dam near slapped the prick who put it on the table
</div>
</blockquote>
 
Tana made a lot of changes in the team for this week and they didn't work. Blues were a lot better last week.

KiwiMurph

Fucking hell that was shite. A joke of a performance by the Blues. Faumuina looked good, Ioane looked good, Gibson got through a shitload of work. Ranger looked better. That is about it. It was a mistake not to pull Nanai - it was clear he was having a mare. Duffie looks nothing special. 
Crusaders forwards effort and breakdown work was exceptional but a better team would have at least got the bonus point.

antipodean

Well that will teach me to pick the Blues. WTF was I thinking?

Dan54

Tana's changes weren't the problem tonight, the tight 5 got smashed, Crusaders were very good there. I was pretty impressed with young Blake again tonight, geez he did a mountain of work in a pack that was getting snotted!

kiwiinmelb

Weird game , Crusaders were far better and deserved to win by a margin , but there was always a possibility until late , the Blues might pinch it , if somehow they could sort of , work out what to do when they had possession , 
 
 
 overall I found it a bloody tough watch

tubbyj

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Dan54" data-cid="562423" data-time="1457080482">
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Tana's changes weren't the problem tonight, the tight 5 got smashed, Crusaders were very good there. I was pretty impressed with young Blake again tonight, geez he did a mountain of work in a pack that was getting snotted!
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 That was a bad miss by him on Nadolo allowing him to get up a huge head of steam like that resulted in the try which decided the game

Stargazer

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Unco" data-cid="562419" data-time="1457079808">
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All over, 28-13 to the Saders.
 
Last week I was stoked to get some incredible games out of the first round but this was the kind of game I expect from the first couple of rounds. Dire, mistake ridden rugby. The Saders didn't even look good (apart from those early scrums) but they still made the Blues look like a joke.
 
Sure hope we get some better games tomorrow.
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I'm counting on the Brumbies v Waratahs game to be a good one ... So hopefully tonight.

SammyC

Jeez what about those blues props aye :) 
Massive workrate

Dice

That was tough viewing.
 
Nadolo just bumped Duffie back into the Development team. No Smith, Cronk or Slater to make you shine over here, mate.
 
I'm tempted for us to shift Ranger to the outside backs and move Sa'u back into centre. There's probably not enough experience in the back 3.
 
Scrum was horrible, but got a little better as the game wore on. Faumuina has to start next week.

pukunui

Crusaders pretty much dominated the whole game but geez they lack penetration in the backline. Nadolo is good with a run up but macilai hardly saw the ball and the rest were very meh. 
Said it after the last game but with Crotty, Dagg and Fruen (is he coming back?) added to their backs they will look a lot better. 
Thought a lot of the guys tana swapped in this week looked crap. Having said that i hope R Ioane get a shot on one of the wings soon.

African Monkey

Lol we got away with not getting hammered by 50 tonight. If Tana didn't know what his best team was he sure should know by now. Some shocking performances from certain players. Waste of 30 bucks watching that shit but no time to panic just yet. We should see our strongest side from next week onwards.

SammyC

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="African Monkey" data-cid="562434" data-time="1457082302">
Waste of 30 bucks watching that shit but no time to panic just yet.</blockquote>
 
You should get a season ticket bro, much better value

African Monkey

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="SammyC" data-cid="562435" data-time="1457082740">
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You should get a season ticket bro, much better value :)
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If I was a Crusaders fan I definitely would. It's bloody expensive otherwise haha.

Dan54

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="tubbyj" data-cid="562427" data-time="1457081283">
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 That was a bad miss by him on Nadolo allowing him to get up a huge head of steam like that resulted in the try which decided the game
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Think you being pretty harsh on Blake there, if you watch that again I would not think too many players could of got to Nadolo from that position, he was almost past him before he got ball, great run by Nadolo and well timed pass I thought, though I thought Duffie's attempt at an almost tackle was pretty weak. Actually thought Duffie was worst of a not very flash Blues team, and wonder what the hell he brings to the team.

ACT Crusader

We've still got big issues from 10 out, although Richie looked a little more composed than last week and Nadolo and Havili got into the game a bit. 
Neither teams midfields did anything of note. 
Pack looked good and we got a bit of impact off the bench from our reserve fatties. 
Good to get a win, but I'm not expecting too much different until we get one of our midfield players back.

Canerbry

Smell ya later Auckland.
 
My prediction that the Blues with a new coach and a bit of luck could finish as high as 11th, now seems way off the mark.
 
We were SHITHOUSE and that was a reasonably close thing. We really coulda shoulda woulda have put a thousand on them. Megacoach Tits-For-Hands' inspired changes will only add to Kirwans' self-loathing.
 
Crotty, Dagg, McNicholl and Freuan (if he has the ticker) change the state of this backline immensely, nice to get an early season winza win when we normally drop these games.

Canerbry

<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='https://gfycat.com/KindlyGleamingHorsemouse'>https://gfycat.com/KindlyGleamingHorsemouse</a>
 
Trying to link to a gif.

cgrant

Are the Chiefs and Blues scrums (and by extension the Highlanders' scrum which could not dominate the Blues in this phase) that crap or is the Crusaders scrum incredibly strong ?

The Silver Fern

Crusaders v Blues