SF Wellington v Auckland
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I'm not surprised but JGB again is a bummer.
It's so strange to me that after a strong season from Morgan we've switched to JGB at finals time. Looks like we're going to have to try and win a comp with a handbrake on. Hopefully the strength elsewhere can cover for him.
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@foobaNZ said in SF Wellington v Auckland:
I'm not surprised but JGB again is a bummer.
It's so strange to me that after a strong season from Morgan we've switched to JGB at finals time. Looks like we're going to have to try and win a comp with a handbrake on. Hopefully the strength elsewhere can cover for him.
Surprising when the Canes have let him go and kept Morgan yet Wellington have a different take on it.
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JGB aside, that's a strong side and we should be overwhelming favourites on Friday.
They need to inject Morgan on earlier, JGB was good in the first half but struggled to keep up when the game opened up in the second.
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Auckland's gameplan needs to be around tight 5 dominance, especially scrum dominance. No Ta'avao may mean that is less likely.
Despite playing pretty poorly all season Auckland have hung tough in most games this season.
Wellington definitely favourites but based on all the quarter finals I wouldn't be writing off Auckland.
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@Bovidae He's solid enough at scrum time imo, one of the true journeymen of Auckland rugby. Having said that, Ahio is probably the better scrummager out of him and Renata so its one area I expect us to have the upper hand on Wellington.
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@Canes4life based on the last 2 games Morgan won't come on early
I'm always cautious with Wellington about claiming the favorites tag. And good to see Cowan and Higgins back
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@KiwiMurph think the scrum has been pretty good with or without Ta'avao, but he has helped.
Auckland certainly have not been able to capitalise on thier scrum dominance as you'd expect (hope if you are an Auckland fan) but have managed to stay in the fight due to it.
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@Winger said in SF Wellington v Auckland:
@Canes4life based on the last 2 games Morgan won't come on early
I'm always cautious with Wellington about claiming the favorites tag. And good to see Cowan and Higgins back
I only say that because of the form we are in and the fact Auckland looked dodgy last week, even with the likes of Ta'avo, RTS and Ioane in their side.
Take those guys out this week and my assumption is that if the Lions play anywhere near their best they should win this one by 10-15 points.
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I thought JGB and CGB combined well together in the QF. Had a bit of a bro connection going on in attack.
JGB is a bit up and down in running the attack but he does have a half decent kicking game.
PUJ unavailable, I wonder what ratio of games he has been fit versus being injured.
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@ACT-Crusader said in SF Wellington v Auckland:
I thought JGB and CGB combined well together in the QF. Had a bit of a bro connection going on in attack.
JGB is a bit up and down in running the attack but he does have a half decent kicking game.
PUJ unavailable, I wonder what ratio of games he has been fit versus being injured.
PUJ has been available for most games I think. He's been injured recently luckily Higgins has been fit these weeks. And TUJ is worse on the injury front. But PUJ won't go further until he can stay fit game after game
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Wellington by about 10
Most of the Auckland players are in decent form but the team hasn't been functioning well. Unforced errors grouped together over a small period of time.. plus stretches of the game where we seem to be in a battle with the ref (I guess there's too much chat?)
The tight 5 has generally been good and Funaki has been consistent
The backs have gotten worse as the competition has gone on. Partially injuries to the outsides but also problems in the midfield. Evans/Lam went well early but there's been too many disruptions since then
Loosies have been unbalanced all year. Thats where Wellington should have the biggest advantage. Niko concedes a lot of penalties, Pugh is untidy off the scrum and his ruck work is inaccurate. Then there's Gibson.. some games he's been excellent, others he's been our worst defender
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@Duluth said in SF Wellington v Auckland:
Wellington by about 10
Most of the Auckland players are in decent form but the team hasn't been functioning well. Unforced errors grouped together over a small period of time.. plus stretches of the game where we seem to be in a battle with the ref (I guess there's too much chat?)
The tight 5 has generally been good and Funaki has been consistent
The backs have gotten worse as the competition has gone on. Partially injuries to the outsides but also problems in the midfield. Evans/Lam went well early but there's been too many disruptions since then
Loosies have been unbalanced all year. Thats where Wellington should have the biggest advantage. Niko concedes a lot of penalties, Pugh is untidy off the scrum and his ruck work is inaccurate. Then there's Gibson.. some games he's been excellent, others he's been our worst defender
Interesting re: Gibson. I was really impressed with his work for the Canes when he got a run earlier this year. Seemed to be into everything.
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Hickey needs to either kick the ball out or up in the air. They're murdering us on the counter so far.
