Super Rugby News
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<p>if he cant thrive with Pulu and SBW next to him....</p>
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<p>I believe in you, Ihaia.</p>
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<p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/apnVqRf.png" alt="apnVqRf.png"></p> -
<p>i thought west did some good stuff in his last outing. still lots to work on obviously, but he has potential and a fair bit seems to be down to confidence to me. it's pretty unusual for young 10s to just arrive fully formed; mehrtens probably the closest i can think of.</p>
<p>as a ginger midget whose halfback gives dodgy service and forward pack isn't big on protection, i reckon the prospect of having sbw next to you would be quite the boon. </p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="reprobate" data-cid="594657" data-time="1467861932">
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<p>i thought west did some good stuff in his last outing. still lots to work on obviously, but he has potential and a fair bit seems to be down to confidence to me. <strong>it's pretty unusual for young 10s to just arrive fully formed</strong>; mehrtens probably the closest i can think of.</p>
<p>as a ginger midget whose halfback gives dodgy service and forward pack isn't big on protection, i reckon the prospect of having sbw next to you would be quite the boon. </p>
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<p>he is in his 3rd season though...but agree, he has had some interesting service from 9 and plenty of changing at 12 too....</p> -
<p>Don't mind him re-signing tbh and even better that it's only a 1 year deal as well.</p>
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Meh.. not a fan of ihaia.. <br>
Super rugby ain't npc (or whatever the comp is called these days) <br>
Usually ppl blame the forward pack if the 10 is poor.. first time I've seen ppl blame the backline <br>
If anything, ihaia lacks the ability to organise his backline.. -
<p>be better for him if he had someone pushing him for the 10 jersey too</p>
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<p>Not convinced Ihaia is the long term answer but i'm happy to have him sign for another year given the options available to the Blues, at worst he's a good bench 10. </p>
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<p>Agreed with comments about his struggles with organising a backline - to me that's why he has looked better this season after Francis moved to 12. With SBW coming in I don't think that is his game at 12 - perhaps Pulu at 9 will take over more as the playmaking role. All shall be revealed. </p>
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<p>My main hope now is we sign a young 10 to groom in behind to challenge/push Ihaia. </p> -
<p>I think we'll sign a young 10, but I'm not sure who that'll be. Nick White is part of the Blues coaching staff, so you'd hope he'd help us out by playing one of the young 10s in the Mitre 10 Cup to see if they're worth a contract. Tana seems to be looking at Will Talataina-Mu, seeing as he joined the Blues over the break.</p>
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<p>Bryn Gatland is at Harbour this year, so he's one to keep an eye on. I've only seen him play in a couple of school games, so I have no clue how good he is at the moment.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Dice" data-cid="594742" data-time="1467883628">
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<p>I think we'll sign a young 10, but I'm not sure who that'll be. Nick White is part of the Blues coaching staff, so you'd hope he'd help us out by playing one of the young 10s in the Mitre 10 Cup to see if they're worth a contract. Tana seems to be looking at Will Talataina-Mu, seeing as he joined the Blues over the break.</p>
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<p>Bryn Gatland is at Harbour this year, so he's one to keep an eye on. I've only seen him play in a couple of school games, so I have no clue how good he is at the moment.</p>
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<p>Not that I've seen a lot of Gatland, I do feel that he is a Simon Hickey clone.</p>
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<p>Could we see Talataina-Mu at 12 in the Mitre 10 cup given how light we are in the midfield? He has played quite a bit in the midfield prior to this season.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="African Monkey" data-cid="594744" data-time="1467885800">
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<p>Not that I've seen a lot of Gatland, I do feel that he is a Simon Hickey clone.</p>
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<p>Could we see Talataina-Mu at 12 in the Mitre 10 cup given how light we are in the midfield? He has played quite a bit in the midfield prior to this season.</p>
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<p>It seems a bit that way, seeing as we tend to hear more about his goal kicking than anything else. Bovidae seems to have seen a lot more of him, so maybe he could give us more insight on his play.</p>
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<p>Talataina-Mu playing some 12 is a real possibility if Moala is in the ABs.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="mimic" data-cid="594776" data-time="1467901598">
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<p>Would like to see D'Angelo at 10 tbh..</p>
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<p>Think he's gone to Southland.</p> -
BREEN is floating about too, and the little I have seen of him I like, whether he can step it up to the next level or not always the key.<br><br>
First time I seen This clip of Jane highlight reel.<br><br>
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Dice" data-cid="594756" data-time="1467888716">
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<p>It seems a bit that way, seeing as we tend to hear more about his goal kicking than anything else. Bovidae seems to have seen a lot more of him, so maybe he could give us more insight on his play.</p>
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<p>I haven't seen Gatland play much since he left school as he was stuck behind DMac for Waikato. He scored heaps of points in club rugby for Ham Old Boys before heading north.</p>
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<p>As you say, he is a very good goal kicker. Based on what I did see in Waikato games, Gatland has potential but seemed more comfortable playing a little deeper in the pocket than a lot of NZ 1st 5s. I'll be interested to see how he goes for NH, presumably in combination with Hall.</p> -
<p>I think the Blues need someone with a steady hand, someone that is cool calm and collected and not overly flamboyant. With a back line next year consisting of SBW, Pulu, Ranger, Moala and Ioane all you need is someone who can direct that back line around comfortably, with the confidence to be able to take on the line once in a while and obviously kick their goals.</p>
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<p>I'm not sure if Barrett would have been the answer. All that firepower in one back line may not have worked anyway, however most of you Ferners on here would most likely disagree with that statement. . </p>
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<p>Is West the answer? Maybe. He has been renowned for being quite erratic, however I liked what I saw from him at the Cake Tin on Saturday. He seemed to have a more mature look about him on attack and chose his moments nicely. I believe the Blues should persist with West and if they can get someone in the similar mold to the likes of Cruden or<strong> </strong>Otere Black who can share that play-maker role then the Blues will be looking like a real playoff contender this time next year. </p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="African Monkey" data-cid="594780" data-time="1467914275">
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<p>Think he's gone to Southland.</p>
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<p>I hope he's just on loan down there. Hopefully he's not been given the flick for playing for Samoa.</p>
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<p>I was hoping he'd play for the Auckland U19s this year, because we'd have quite a good backline with him in it.</p>
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<p>9 - Henry Saker</p>
<p>10 - Wiseguy Faiane</p>
<p>11 - Freedom Vaha'akolo</p>
<p>12 - TJ Vaega</p>
<p>13 - Loketi Manu</p>
<p>14 - Wesley Tameifuna</p>
<p>15 - D'angelo Leuila</p>
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<p>That'd be my backline anyway. Even without Leuila in there, it's still a pretty good backline, but the balance will take a bit of a hit without him.</p> -
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<p>It may be a premature assessment but if I were in Blues management I would not persue Otere Black. First Ihaia West is developing well if he could learn how to kick goals. Black does not have the intangible of speed that West has. Barret would be worth persuing. Besides if the Blues pack gets better, which it is even without Akira, there wont be as much pressure on West. Plus he will have SBW off his shoulder, Pulu inside him, Moala, Ioane and Nanai and some other wing which is quite a nice backline.</p>
