Crusaders v Chiefs
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One of the most interesting results of the last few years was the rapid elevation of Cullen Grace to the ABs.
There was all this talk about how he had the hardest shoulders, he was so fucking tough, maybe he was the 10th time that him or someone like him had been talked as the new Richie McCaw.
The Crusaders PR engine was firing on all cylinders.
Now he can't compete with on holiday has-been Pablo Matera.
Perhaps the Crusaders pipeline has hit a fault that even TJ can't obscure.
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Looking at those teams, I have to scale back my Chiefs claims of being the team to beat. That Crusaders team looks rather strong.
On Grace, I thought he was playing quite well. He still needs to get more abrasive in contact but has been very busy and accurate. -
@old-samurai-jack said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
On Grace, I thought he was playing quite well. He still needs to get more abrasive in contact but has been very busy and accurate.
Agree. Looking better than last year so far. I wonder if he has struggled playing 8 rather than 6? He seems a more natural 6 to me.
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@yeetyaah said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
Speaking as a diehard Chiefs fan who always backing the lads no matter what, I think we're gonna get rolled idk.
There is either Covid in the squad or they've given up on this game. That's a squad to run out against MP.
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Happy the Chiefs are rotating to give all squad members a good shot now compared to the Crusaders strategy of playing best players more. May balance out the odds in their coming tough matches. Keen to see Dyer Reihana and Ratima play. Wish they would try Thompson on bench too.
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@arhs said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
Happy the Chiefs are rotating to give all squad members a good shot now compared to the Crusaders strategy of playing best players more. May balance out the odds in their coming tough matches. Keen to see Dyer Reihana and Ratima play. Wish they would try Thompson on bench too.
I donât think that has been the Crusaders strategy so far this season.
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@arhs said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
Happy the Chiefs are rotating to give all squad members a good shot now compared to the Crusaders strategy of playing best players more. May balance out the odds in their coming tough matches. Keen to see Dyer Reihana and Ratima play. Wish they would try Thompson on bench too.
Thompson will be the only fit player who hasn't been involved yet. I don't think McMillan has to make so many changes each week as the Chiefs will have 5 games before a bye. Maybe there is more to the exclusion of certain players for this game, but otherwise you can have a mix of experience and youth in the 23 (e.g., Weber plus one of Roe/Ratima, the same at hooker). Those wanting to see a return in the ABs for Moli will be waiting for a while as he doesn't look ready yet to be a regular in the Chiefs 23.
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Mafileo could be a big loss here. He wouldn't get bullied around at scrum time like Ta'avao could be.
Was also looking forward to seeing how Josh Lord went against strong opposition as the kid is some talent imo along with Va'ai.
The Chiefs have a lot of good things going for them going forward.
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I'm not too fussed about the Chiefs selection. I'm guessing it is a team picked for a gameplan. Weber and JIoane are our running halves combo. Roe and Gatland play for territory better.
The backline has a nice balance to it. Stevenson may go hot and cold but all ofthe back three could do damage after a poor kick. I'd like to see Stevenson used for long touchfinders as well. If we can keep the Saders away from our corners that is half the game.
On paper though, it looks a little like a concede and try a few things for (hopefully) later in the comp. -
I think they had a very tough early draw made worse by losing the MP game amidst AB return to play protocols. So I assume the strategy is to develop strength in depth now in expectation of covid and travel fatigue hitting teams hard in latter stages of comp. If so then it is wise given they seem to have better overall depth than their competitors.
Would be less happy if straight A team fielded each week except for a complete B team against MP. Canes seem to be mixing it up like Chiefs and Highlanders too. Will be interesting to see how it all pans out. -
They could change some of the upcoming fixtures to make use of the bye weeks. At the moment the teams that will have a bye together do not match-up with postponed games.
Rd 7 - Chiefs, Hurricanes
Rd 8 - Moana Pasifika, Highlanders
Rd 9 - Blues, Crusaders -
@african-monkey said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
Mafileo could be a big loss here. He wouldn't get bullied around at scrum time like Ta'avao could be.
Was also looking forward to seeing how Josh Lord went against strong opposition as the kid is some talent imo along with Va'ai.
The Chiefs have a lot of good things going for them going forward.
Was Mafileo injured? Looked quite good at scrum time in bits I saw of Blue game.
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But, asked about his lineup on Thursday, coach Clayton McMillan revealed they have one positive Covid case in the squad, with another half dozen players having also not been considered for the round-four contest, in order to try and limit the disruption somewhat."We had seven guys identified after the weekend, one has come back as a positive case but asymptomatic, the other six have all been cleared through PCR and RAT testing." âBut because we took the very safe measure of having them isolate away from the group, it meant that they missed Mondayâs and Tuesdayâs training, so in order to prepare the team as best as possible to go down and play the Crusaders, we felt it was better that we just selected the team in advance of them being cleared.â
