Blues 2023
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@gt12 said in Blues 2023:
Last I heard he was in the D2 right, so it would be hard to come back to Super rugby from there.
He’s just finished with Bristol but is meant to be starting that 2 year French deal now.
He was still playing well for Bristol but I think some injuries were limiting his game time
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@Duluth said in Blues 2023:
@gt12 said in Blues 2023:
Last I heard he was in the D2 right, so it would be hard to come back to Super rugby from there.
He’s just finished with Bristol but is meant to be starting that 2 year French deal now.
He was still playing well for Bristol but I think some injuries were limiting his game time
Ah OK, a quick google shows you're right, so maybe he's decided to axe Europe early?
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@Chris said in Blues 2023:
@Yeetyaah said in Blues 2023:
Hearing from a very reliable source that Ioane Afoa might be involved with Auckland and the Blues next year as he's finishing up in France. He's been to Blues HQ and chatted with the management.
A coaching role ? he is 39 this year.
Ah yeah coaching haha, should have specified.
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@Nepia said in Blues 2022:
@Tim His wiki makes for interesting ready, his mates taking the piss.
Love it
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@Nepia said in Blues 2022:
@Tim His wiki makes for interesting ready, his mates taking the piss.
Wrong thread
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/212/awesome-stuff-you-see-on-the-internet?_=1661034941187 -
@Tim said in Blues 2022:
Sam Darry is listed at 2.03m and 110 kg in the NPC media guide. I guess he needs to be about 118 kg to be effective? I wonder if the can get there for next season?
Yeah he doesn’t look like he’s out any weight on since last year. 110KG is just too lightweight even for Super Rugby. Great mobility and work rate though.
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@Tim said in Blues 2022:
Sam Darry is listed at 2.03m and 110 kg in the NPC media guide. I guess he needs to be about 118 kg to be effective? I wonder if the can get there for next season?
I wouldn't take those weights as gospel.
If you believe them then Cullen Grace is 11cms taller than Billy Harmon, but 2kgs lighter.
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@nzzp said in Blues 2022:
@Tim wow, I did not see that one coming.
Awesome player, great human being, terrible head coach for the Blues
You forget 'excellent defence coach'. I see Rangi has a different role in mind this time around but he did a great job turning out some of the best D stats in the comp.
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Umaga had two stints as defence coach. The defence was terrible in his first stint as defence coach under a head coach called Tana.
His second stint was a lost better under a different head coach
The difference wasn't so much the head coach but the forwards coach - Coventry. There was nothing special about the defence structure but the scrambling defence improved massively after Coventry arrived. He put an emphasis on getting back to the feet and making second efforts
That's why the transition to McGrath has been seamless
As for Umaga returning in a mentor role, that sounds good if he has a good connection with the players. Just keep him away from the technical coaching
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@Duluth respectfully. Bollocks.
I agree that he struggled as Head Coach. Those struggles quite obviously flowed through to his other duties.
As an assistant specialising in defence the tackle completion rates were among the best and the clean breaks against among the lowest. How are either of those dependent on the forwards coach getting better forward scramble. If they need to scramble then either a tackle has been missed or a clean break made.
There's a couple of posters here that are so bitter about the performances of successive coaches under crap management (so bad that NZR had to step in) that they fail to give any credit where it is due.
Pat Lam's bank manager is still laughing.