Blues v Highlanders
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@broughie..if your criticism is regarding his coms , I agree with you , in terms of his right to the All Black 7 jersey , we are poles apart ..he is the best in my opinion ..
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@steven-harris Correct. Sam Cane is a beast at test level. By far and away our best 7. I remain hopeful seeing Cane, Sotutu and Akira as our starting loose trio at test level but they'll no doubt squeeze Ardie into the starting lineup when he would be a far far better option off the bench.
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@african-monkey said in Blues v Highlanders:
@steven-harris Correct. Sam Cane is a beast at test level. By far and away our best 7. I remain hopeful seeing Cane, Sotutu and Akira as our starting loose trio at test level but they'll no doubt squeeze Ardie into the starting lineup when he would be a far far better option off the bench.
I’m a big fan of Sotutu and in terms of raw talent I think he has more than any loose forward in NZ, but there’s no evidence right now that he is a better test no8 than Ardie. So unless Fozzie is going to select on potential then I’d keep selecting Ardie and have Sotutu off the bench.
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@act-crusader Fair enough, I just feel going forward that Sotutu's extra size and physicality is more suited to test level than Ardie's style. Ardie is perfect foil for a bench role imo. If it doesn't happen, so be it.
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@act-crusader just in case some forgot 2020
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@steven-harris First name on the AB team sheet IMHO.
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@sparky said in Blues v Highlanders:
@steven-harris First name on the AB team sheet IMHO.
I would hope so - he's captain!
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@act-crusader Sotutu needs to grow as a player but once you start playing Ardie you start planning small ball. His work rate is great but we need more size at number 8.
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@broughie said in Blues v Highlanders:
@act-crusader Sotutu needs to grow as a player but once you start playing Ardie you start planning small ball. His work rate is great but we need more size at number 8.
I agree.
I think he is tidy and athletic but his lack of size at 8 doesn't make him that different from Ardie, despite being slightly more direct. -
righto, match report after I've got home, cooled down and had something to eat and drink.
Blues were dominant all over the park.
Scoreline didn't reflect it.
Refereeing was spectacularly incompetent at times ... the 'forward pass' was up there with Wayne Barnes at Eden Park. What was particularly funny was the pass got caught by Rieko behind Akira ... so he was always behind his man -- but forward? Shocking call, TMO needs a lesson in physics.Lots got missed by the refs all day. Plenty of defensive lineout drives going in early, before the jupmer had feet on the ground. Side entry in rucks was generally just ignored.
Bright spots - a very dominant Blues performance. Hard to see where the points would come from for the Highlanders - needed cards and penalties to threaten. A Smith is magic, still a world class 9.
Plummer played well, which I was stoked to see.
Forwards were very physical and very good. Highlanders forwards lacked conditioning - were walking after about 25 minutes. Akira looked good, Hoskins looked very good, and the tight 5 were strong.I'm looking forward to a re-watch, but penalising Sotutu for setting up to jump and catch a ball was ... interesting refereeing.
Rieko has some serious gas out there. He came from deep to catch the ball from Akira, had 35 to go and defenders around him, and just made them look silly. Serious physical attributes, and still learning the centre role. Looking very good, and getting better.
Perofeta is a masterstroke at the back. He's Cashmore like - solid, you don't notice him, because he just does it all easily and without looking rushed or like it's going to turn to custard. The anti-Jordie if you like
Good game from him though.Good day out, refereeing was average, but a bloody good win with a scoreline that seriously flattered the Highlanders. Needed a BP win and got it, we'll take that every day of the week.
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@kiwiwomble said in Blues v Highlanders:
@bones jeez you can be harsh
Both the clearance and the run were ok, our forwards and insides hardly provided much or good ball for the outsides
Geez you can be a sensitive apologist! 😜
That clearance was crap, but you'd be ok with everyone clearing like that? Righto...
The run, not many options but it was just a surrender. Didn't try to stay in or fight, meh.
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@broughie said in Blues v Highlanders:
@act-crusader Sotutu needs to grow as a player but once you start playing Ardie you start planning small ball. His work rate is great but we need more size at number 8.
Ideally we should be getting a bit more from the other bulk in the pack before calling to replace Ardie’s work rate.
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@taniwharugby said in Blues v Highlanders:
@tim he was still well ahead of his bro when he caught it!
If ever there's a clear giveaway there's that. The ref and TMO should be sacked. Absolutely disgraceful decision. It defies belief that these are the best professionals in NZ. Is every other referee in the country a blind person confined to a fucking wheelchair?
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Speaking of the officials, I am wondering if there is now some secret agreement between Sky and NZR not to show any replays of scrum penalties. Maybe it is at the whim of the OBU director, but the cynic in me thinks they don't want a replay to prove the ref was wrong.
I am referring to the 3 penalties given against Hohneck or Laulala towards the end of the game for collapsing the scrum. The official count was Laulala 1 - Hohneck 2. I could be wrong myself but I thought that Laulala should have been penalised the first time. Hohneck thought so too.
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@daffy-jaffy said in Blues v Highlanders:
Happy boy -
Loved his smile when he ran on at the start of the game
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Allow me to whinge about refereeing decisions given against the winning team.
Apparently that never happens.
And I know it's been said, but the Akira forward pass and the Sotutu vicious back charge really were crap. I get how @mariner4life Is losing his shit with rugby after crap like that.
Akira: went back out of his hands, and he was always in front of the ball indicating the ball travelled backwards relative to the player. How come us ignorant slobs on an internet forum know these rulings and the highly paid officials fucking don't?
I can see how they came up with the Sotutu ruling, I just disagree with it (ie., they got it wrong) and assert it was 100% unnecessary to even look at it.
Why have a TMO if they can't get simple decisions right?
There's whinging about whinging on the Saders v Chiefs thread about time taken to review. These were two examples where inordinate amounts of time were taken to review and get the wrong decision.
