Highlanders v Force
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@ACT-Crusader said in Highlanders v Force:
@nzzp said in Highlanders v Force:
bloody hell you can see how good Smith's pass is, getting width on runners near the line. Magnificent.
There was a passage in the first half where the Landers were dominating possession and making metres at will and Smith’s speed to the rucks and swift passing phase after phase was something else.
Not easy too because there were quite a few line breaks and the play was going wide.
Smith still head and shoulders above any other option.
Great to watch them play a game off nine which appears perfect for them. Really interesting to load up with bigger bodies as most of the time players were just lining up wherever. I like the innovation as its great for a team to play in a style that suits their strengths.
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The boys are back! Everyone nervous about their own teams so arguing over simple ref decisions. Brilliant!
How good was Gilbert! -
@ACT-Crusader said in Highlanders v Force:
@nzzp said in Highlanders v Force:
bloody hell you can see how good Smith's pass is, getting width on runners near the line. Magnificent.
There was a passage in the first half where the Landers were dominating possession and making metres at will and Smith’s speed to the rucks and swift passing phase after phase was something else.
Not easy too because there were quite a few line breaks and the play was going wide.
Smith still head and shoulders above any other option.
I wish he would sometimes run tho, he presents no threat around the ruck. He used to, and really well too
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@Machpants said in Highlanders v Force:
@ACT-Crusader said in Highlanders v Force:
@nzzp said in Highlanders v Force:
bloody hell you can see how good Smith's pass is, getting width on runners near the line. Magnificent.
There was a passage in the first half where the Landers were dominating possession and making metres at will and Smith’s speed to the rucks and swift passing phase after phase was something else.
Not easy too because there were quite a few line breaks and the play was going wide.
Smith still head and shoulders above any other option.
I wish he would sometimes run tho, he presents no threat around the ruck. He used to, and really well too
That's why Fakatava is such a prospect, if he can keep working on speed and accuracy of pass he will be the perfect nine. I noticed tonight Fakatava appeared to be much quicker than earlier in season. One can only assume Smith has spent a lot of time with him.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Highlanders v Force:
@nzzp said in Highlanders v Force:
bloody hell you can see how good Smith's pass is, getting width on runners near the line. Magnificent.
There was a passage in the first half where the Landers were dominating possession and making metres at will and Smith’s speed to the rucks and swift passing phase after phase was something else.
Not easy too because there were quite a few line breaks and the play was going wide.
Smith still head and shoulders above any other option.
By geez his pass and options to who he passes to is so bloody good, add that to speed to breakdown makes for a good package. And like everyone else see the 1-2 punch with him and Fakatava as something real special.
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@ACT-Crusader reminiscent of that passage v Ireland where we won at the death.
His ability to hit his man in traffic is something else.
When you are ripping through phases like that, your 9 just needs to be a distributor.
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@Bones said in Highlanders v Force:
@hydro11 said in Highlanders v Force:
@Bones said in Highlanders v Force:
@hydro11 said in Highlanders v Force:
1870s to 2018
No it's not, but hey you go ahead. While we're at it, why are women voting?
Name one example of a player red carded for a head clash before 2018.
Name one example of a woman voting before women began voting.
Quentin Crisp?
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@chimoaus said in Highlanders v Force:
@Machpants said in Highlanders v Force:
@ACT-Crusader said in Highlanders v Force:
@nzzp said in Highlanders v Force:
bloody hell you can see how good Smith's pass is, getting width on runners near the line. Magnificent.
There was a passage in the first half where the Landers were dominating possession and making metres at will and Smith’s speed to the rucks and swift passing phase after phase was something else.
Not easy too because there were quite a few line breaks and the play was going wide.
Smith still head and shoulders above any other option.
I wish he would sometimes run tho, he presents no threat around the ruck. He used to, and really well too
That's why Fakatava is such a prospect, if he can keep working on speed and accuracy of pass he will be the perfect nine. I noticed tonight Fakatava appeared to be much quicker than earlier in season. One can only assume Smith has spent a lot of time with him.
More likely, it's because earlier in the season he was still a bit hesitant in his play, like many players are when they've just returned from a very serious injury that has kept them from playing for a very long time.
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@Stargazer said in Highlanders v Force:
I still struggle with rules that mandate that this is a red card.
I guess it comes down to player safety, the end result of this tackle was Hunt was knocked out cold and unable to participate any further in the contest.
Was it accidental, yes, but then so are most shoulder to heads these days.
It all has to do with tackling technique and the tackler making every effort to reduce the risk of head contact.
In this case the entire responsibility was on Kahui, Hunt was a sitting duck catching a high ball and very vulnerable.
Any tackler hitting a player catching a bomb needs to ensure that they make every effort to lower their body position to avoid any type of accidental head contact. Kahui had plenty of time to adjust as he was coming in for the tackle.
The reason Hunt was knocked out cold was poor technique by Kahui, even though it was accidental it was totally avoidable.
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@chimoaus said in Highlanders v Force:
The reason Hunt was knocked out cold was poor technique by Kahui, even though it was accidental it was totally avoidable.
That was 100% on Kahui, and a stone cold red by modern frameworks. @Stargazer I disagree with you; that's the sort of contact we're trying to get out of the game. Fundamentally different to ones where the tacklee drops suddenly... Kahui started high, stayed high and put his head in a vulnerable position. It's a poster child for how not to tackle someone.
Thankfully the 20 minute red means that the effect on teh game isn't as massive.
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Yeah, I agree with all that, but I don't agree that Kahui was completely upright and didn't make an effort to adjust his height. He did, just not enough I guess. Problem of bigger player vs small player.
To me, a head clash like this is a different category to that where players go into a tackle shoulder first and then hit their opponent in the face (Laulala, Klein, for example), but the punishment is the same.
Anyway, I hope Mitch Hunt is alright. That's the most important thing after incidents like these.
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@Stargazer said in Highlanders v Force:
but I don't agree that Kahui was completely upright and didn't make an effort to adjust his height. He did, just not enough I guess.
yeah his front leg was bent 90 deg at contact, and looked to be on the ground, Hunt wasnt at full height either.
Not great, but red card worthy, not so sure, def YC...again, broken record, for me, we need to find a better way to deal with these accidental contacts; between coaches, players, administrators and refs.
For me, the red stays for grub acts (and 20 mins) that one, maybe an orange card, so player is gone, but the team is only down for 10 mins like a YC.
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@taniwharugby said in Highlanders v Force:
grub acts
It's a fine line though eh. It's a pretty grub act to knock another player out just because you were too careless/reckles and wanted to lay on a big, high hit.
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@Bones i think you know the difference, pretty clear line to me between that and a grub act.
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@taniwharugby said in Highlanders v Force:
@Bones i think you know the difference, pretty clear line to me between that and a grub act.
So that's not a grub act to you?
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damn...i know i shouldn't have read this thread
I enjoyed that, yeah there were questionable calls...but there always have been, we just didnt use to have snippets of them posted on social media
and the questionable calls didn't take take away some of the best actual rugby by the highlanders this season, i loved seeing us try and counter ruck, we want the fucking pill...something that hasn;t been coming through in games before now
the semantics of Gilbert playing 10 but not first five are a little bizarre to me, not all players play the same way and i dont see the same comments, he still decided when to pass and kick, he carried well and offloaded...and quite frankly, when you have Smith firing, why not let him decided things.....maybe thats an answer to the rush defense, dont make the a guy under pressure make the big calls
we weren't perfect but there was actually something we could build off, fast fast slow, tight tight wide, get points early. I think where we looked lost was because we were surprised it was working, that team is going to be fizzing come training and may have un done some of the damage done earlier in the season
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@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders v Force:
the semantics of Gilbert playing 10 but not first five are a little bizarre to me, not all players play the same way and i dont see the same comments, he still decided when to pass and kick, he carried well and offloaded...
Did he make the decisions on when to kick and pass? I honestly do not remember him being the traditional first receiver during the game. I was very interested in his move to 10 so was watching him closely. Happy to be proven wrong.
I am beginning to think the comments about Gilbert not playing like a regular first five have been taken as a criticism by some. They weren't meant that way at all. It was an observation on the style he was playing. It worked for the Highlanders. It will be interesting to see if it is used again against the better teams and if so, how it goes.
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@Crazy-Horse fair enough and i will admit i was never a 10, i just mean i dont think Smith was doing more than he normally does, hes always making plays from the back...and Gilbert is standing at 10 and i saw him run, kick and pass during the game...and didn;t seem to be asking smith what to do, so the difference between 10 and first five much be really nuanced
