Crusaders v Chiefs
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@bones Don't think Roe gets enough credit for his kicking game. Great hang time and length. Protection from forwards was sketchy under Crusaders pressure so was a good option well taken. Sowakula has moved up a notch but his ball control and pace into oncoming defence could still be better. Watch out when they improve.
Great to see the inexperienced Chiefs look at home at this level. Ratima Narawa Florence and Dyer all looked good. Just need Finau or Jacobson back at 6 and hopefully an improved Trask on bench. -
Yeah I think Roe is best as a starter and Ratima adds so much from the bench. I hope McMillan gives both opportunities behind Weber for the rest of the season. They have different strengths, and Ratima is definitely more combative. I also think Roe is still troubled by the elbow injury he sustained against HB last year.
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@crucial said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
Ratima looked comfortable at this level and was better than the over hyped Roe. Much better.
Gatlands best game for the Chiefs except for those hideous clearing bombs.
The midfield settled into being solid and accurate. ALB had to get used to the “new” interpretation of jackling pretty quickly though.
I thought that Narawa did enough good stuff to deserve a few games on the trot at 15
Nankivell shaded the other (over hyped) Ta$man winger on display even though he doesn’t play wing.
Chiefs created enough chances to win the game five times over but credit has to go to the Saders defence. It was only a matter of time though.Obviously a team tactic, an odd one (which admittedly didn't backfire), but you can't blame Garland for that.
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@booboo said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
@crucial said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
Ratima looked comfortable at this level and was better than the over hyped Roe. Much better.
Gatlands best game for the Chiefs except for those hideous clearing bombs.
The midfield settled into being solid and accurate. ALB had to get used to the “new” interpretation of jackling pretty quickly though.
I thought that Narawa did enough good stuff to deserve a few games on the trot at 15
Nankivell shaded the other (over hyped) Ta$man winger on display even though he doesn’t play wing.
Chiefs created enough chances to win the game five times over but credit has to go to the Saders defence. It was only a matter of time though.Obviously a team tactic, an odd one (which admittedly didn't backfire), but you can't blame Garland for that.
I don’t think they were meant to be quite that short. He said in a post match interview that they put themselves under pressure with poor clearances.
Or maybe he was having a dig at the instructions? -
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@bovidae said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
The bombs had to be high enough to contest so couldn't be too long, and as I mentioned they negated any threat from Jordan to run back from open play. A risky tactic nevertheless.
Yep the Chiefs did that very well,they took Jordan and Leicester F out of 90% of the game.
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Gatland managed the game really well. His game management was in stark contrast to Mounga's.......
And why didn't the Crusaders compete at the breakdown? Was the ref not allowing a contest? The Chiefs managed to disrupt the Crusader's pill so ..... -
@old-samurai-jack said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
Gatland managed the game really well. His game management was in stark contrast to Mounga's.......
And why didn't the Crusaders compete at the breakdown? Was the ref not allowing a contest? The Chiefs managed to disrupt the Crusader's pill so .....Because their amazing incredible 7 is too occupied wracking up tackle stats to be useful at competing for the ball. Their 8 is auditioning for his next acting gig and their 6s are too “busy”
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@crucial I have to agree regarding Christie. He makes a lot of tackles but is very ineffective at breakdown. I've said it before on here, he's like Luke Braid from years back at the Blues, his stats look good but his ability to fetch isn't there especially when there already are plenty of workhorses in that Crusaders pack.
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@old-samurai-jack said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
Gatland managed the game really well. His game management was in stark contrast to Mounga's.......
And why didn't the Crusaders compete at the breakdown? Was the ref not allowing a contest? The Chiefs managed to disrupt the Crusader's pill so .....It was strange, for some reason we deliberately stood off from attacking the breakdown for long periods.
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@african-monkey said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
@crucial I have to agree regarding Christie. He makes a lot of tackles but is very ineffective at breakdown. I've said it before on here, he's like Luke Braid from years back at the Blues, his stats look good but his ability to fetch isn't there especially when there already are plenty of workhorses in that Crusaders pack.
Boo!
Braid was a better ball carrier than Christie and became one of the top offloaders in the comp. Christie is more like Luke Braid when he first got to the Blues when all he did was tackle, but Luke added something new to his game each season.
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@arhs said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
well taken. Sowakula has moved up a notch but his ball control and pace into oncoming defence
Geez man, you sure you're not hung up on 2years ago Sowakula?
Only one instance of poor ball control I remember from this game and it was from an excellent, desperate attempt to stop a try. His speed and positioning of ball placement when tackled is excellent, so much quick ball from him. And then you've got his offloads and pops into space.
Also can't really think of a player at the moment that hits as hard and actually dents opposition.
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@dice Yeah, he steadily improved for when he started but we'll agree to disagree, Braid was a solid without being spectacular 7 for me, difference was, was that he played in poor Blues teams where we needed more from him, Christie can get away with it at the Crusaders (most of the time) due to them winning the majority of the time.
I always maintained that Bill Harmon was the better 7 than Christie both at breakdown and with ball in hand, sadly Harmon could never stay on the paddock for any length of time due to being injured a lot and ended up being let go.
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@bones said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
@frank said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
Is Sowakula eligible for the ABs?
He's 27 and been in NZ rather a long time so guess so, don't recall him playing for any Fiji teams. I was actually surprised he's not a kiwi.
I wish Akira Ioane ran like he does at the opposition defence, many of our forwards for that matter.
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@bones said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
@frank said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
Is Sowakula eligible for the ABs?
He's 27 and been in NZ rather a long time so guess so, don't recall him playing for any Fiji teams.
Only their basketball team. Arrived in 2016 so would be eligible.
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@frank said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
@bones said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
@frank said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
Is Sowakula eligible for the ABs?
He's 27 and been in NZ rather a long time so guess so, don't recall him playing for any Fiji teams. I was actually surprised he's not a kiwi.
I wish Akira Ioane ran like he does at the opposition defence, many of our forwards for that matter.
It's a shame Aoane is injured, I was looking forward to seeing how he goes after a season in black. I think we're all forgetting how good he was at similarly denting the opposition (although far too often gets the ball standing still, but that could be a team tactics thing)
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@african-monkey I would think Braid was well down the list of guys who we needed more from. There were a couple of years where he was our best forward.
