Game of three halves - Blues/Crusaders/Chiefs - 20/02, 12pm
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@ploughboy lol. My former home ground...
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@arhs said in Game of three halves - Blues/Crusaders/Chiefs - 20/02, 12pm:
@ploughboy lol. My former home ground...
the only thing i remember about that ground is getting binned for punching on with a dude that was rucking my halfbacks head
it was shit because he hit me harder than i hit him.
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The third ground where I lost so much skin has not been watered!Remember playing a Waikato Junior trial game on it in the distant past. No hands in the ruck,kick out on the full anywhere on the field,three points for a try,no lineout lifting,the fine art of dribbling a tactic,and we called that rugby.!!Tight heads were so difficult to achieve,because the ball had to go in straight that if you could drop the scrum as a hooker you became famous.Cant recall a game of three halves either.
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Goodhue at 13 and Havili at 12! Great!
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@bovidae said in Game of three halves - Blues/Crusaders/Chiefs - 20/02, 12pm:
The Chiefs are still missing the same players from the previous game of 3 halves, plus L Boshier. DMac at 1st 5!
I know it is unpopular, but we are going to be a bit shit anyway, so we may as well see whether DMac has developed any fucking brains at all. If he can play (somewhat) within himself at 10 and use the guys around him, that's probably better than having him run across field 50 times a game.
It may also allow them to bring in Trask, Reihana and some others more easily.
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@gt12 My take is that Trask must have an injury which will prevent him from playing in the opening game. Playing DMac at 1st 5 in this game means he will likely be the backup 1st 5 to Gatland in the Highlanders game. I can't see Reihana making the 23 when there are a number of other options at fullback (Tiatia, Stevenson, Nanai-Seturo).
It would be good if the Chiefs provided updates on the status of Moli, Ta'avao, Brown, Sowakula and Trask. They have a first-up bye so availability may change.
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https://blues.rugby/teams-named-for-final-preseason-hitout/
Teams named for final preseason hitout - The Blues
19 Feb 2021
The Blues will ensure their entire squad gets game time in the Game of 3 Halves clash against the Crusaders and the Chiefs in Cambridge on Saturday.
They have named two different units for each 40-minute clash including eight All Blacks getting their first taste of game-time, along with several newcomers including Taine Plumtree, AJ Lam, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, Sam Darry, Neria Fomai and Zarn Sullivan.
Coach Leon MacDonald said his coaching team and players were looking forward to getting back on the field after their disjointed build-up following a Covid-restricted lockdown.
“We have some time to make-up, so mostly we want to focus on some basics in our patterns both with the ball and without it. We can build from there towards our first game in the Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa competition which has come around very quickly,” said MacDonald.
“We will be looking for our processes and our basics and not so much on the scoreline.
“It will be a chance too for our All Blacks to get a taste of rugby, and for a fair number of our new and young players to experience the physicality and speed of Super rugby.”
The Chiefs and Crusaders square off for the first 40-minute spell at 12.05pm kickoff, followed by the Blues against the Crusaders and finally the Blues vs the Chiefs. There is 10 minutes between each stanza.
The match, to be played at the Hautapu Rugby Club, will be televised live on Sky Sport.
Blues team, vs Crusaders:
15 Stephen Perofeta, 14 Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Harry Plummer, 10 Otere Black, 9 Jonathan Ruru; 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Blake Gibson, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu ©, 4 Josh Goodhue, 3 Marcel Renata, 2 Luteru Tolai, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe.
Blues team, vs Chiefs:
15 Zarn Sullivan, 14 Mark Telea, 13 Neria Fomai, 12 Tanielu Tele’a, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Stephen Perofeta, 9 Sam Nock; 8 Adrian Choat, 7 Dalton Papalii, 6 Tom Robinson ©, 5 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 4 Sam Darry, 3 Nepo Lualala, 2 Kurt Eklund, 1 Alex Hodgman.
Reserves: James Lay, Leni Apisai, Jacob Pierce.
Players not considered with injury: Soane Vikena, Rau Niuia, TJ Faiane, Dillon Hunt, Emoni Narawa, Jone Macalai, Josiah Maraku.
