Crusaders vs Hurricanes
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@chchfanatic said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:
Tamati Ellison should be the head coach.
Risky. As he certainly wasn't up to much with selections coaching Wellington
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@Tim said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:
Mafileo injured, rotated, dropped?
Good question. But based on this maybe. Or maybe not. Thought he played well enought to retain his place in the team though
The Hurricanes have named an unchanged backline from the side that were super impressive against the Blues at Sky Stadium last Saturday but due to injury have had to make some tweaks to their forward pack.
Loosehead prop Xavier Numia has been promoted to the starting lineup and joins Asafo Aumua and Tyrel Lomax in the front row, while loose forwards Devan Flanders and Du’Plessis Kirifi return to the side after injury layoffs. Lock Justin Sangster and prop Pouri Rakete-Stones have also been called onto the bench for this match, with TK Howden out with a foot injury and Caleb Delany unavailable due to concussion.
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@Tim rotated out, he'll be in the 23 again next week. Numia will likely come out, Rakete-Stones might get a start.
It's nice to have the luxury of having a raft of solid props for a change. No one's dropped the ball yet so we won't lose much rotating at this point in the season, a few selection decisions will need to be made later in the year though.
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I suspect experience at 9 to contain Roigard.
No SB a major loss for leadership and someone who plays the 'just follow me boys' in crucial moments.
For a season where at 10 we are already at who is Kemara ...... who the heck is Hohepa? I hope he has at least some combo with Heinz or Havilli. No Lio-Willie ?!!??!
Got a feeling this is going to get very ugly -
@Lancaster-Park only going off last week really, but when there's a lack of experience around him, Barrett looks to revert to his dumb play from a few years ago, which is a worry. He made some poor decisions last week.
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@Duluth said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:
Back at Home for the First Time in 2024: Crusaders Team Naming v Hurricanes
The Crusaders have named their team to take on the Hurricanes on Friday 15 March in their first home game of the 2024 season. Round 4 of Super Rugby Pacific is an all-NZ derby at Apollo Projects Stadium, kick off 7.05pm
Scooter injured?
Edit. Ah. Missed that.
@nzzp said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:
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@Crazy-Horse said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:
@mariner4life said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:
but that's the worst Crusaders team i have seen in a long time
Exactly. And they are up against the best Hurricanes team of all time. Saders are no chance in this game.
I read this before I registered who was posting ...
... you got me ...
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@chchfanatic said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:
How do you pick Heinz ahead of Drummond and Hotham. CLW has been one of our best forwards all season.
Usually I would reply to such posts with a “it’s only the Canes”. Bring back those days…
If we are within 15 come the final whistle I will be pleasantly surprised.
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That does look like a pretty weak team, but come the playoffs they might be able to put out a pretty solid 23:
1 Williams
2 Taylor
3 Newell
4 Barrett
5 Gallagher
6 Blackadder
7 Christie
8 Lio-Willie9 Drummond
10 Burke
11 McLeod
12 Havili
13 Crotty
14 Reece
15 Fihaki16 McAlister
17 Bower
18 Franks
19 Strange
20 Grace
21 Hotham
22 Aumua
23 SpringerHalves are decidedly weak, and the team lacks ball carriers and hitters, but that forward pack could upset some teams.
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@Lancaster-Park said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:
who the heck is Hohepa?
Counties 10 who has previously been with the Hurricanes
Does anyone have an opinion on him? I recall him setting up a couple of good tries last NPC but don't really have an opinion on his overall game
I did a search on the forum for him.. all I got was a bunch of posts whining about Lincoln McClutchie
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@Duluth he's a fairly limited player at NPC so will be even more so at Super level but I feel that due to his experience he's probably an upgrade from Kemara. Aslong as he can direct the Crusaders around the park with confidence that's all they need right now with enough firepower out wider.
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@Tim said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:
That does look like a pretty weak team, but come the playoffs they might be able to put out a pretty solid 23:
1 Williams
2 Taylor
3 Newell
4 Barrett
5 Gallagher
6 Blackadder
7 Christie
8 Lio-Willie9 Drummond
10 Burke
11 McLeod
12 Havili
13 Crotty
14 Reece
15 Fihaki16 McAlister
17 Bower
18 Franks
19 Strange
20 Grace
21 Hotham
22 Aumua
23 SpringerHalves are decidedly weak, and the team lacks ball carriers and hitters, but that forward pack could upset some teams.
looool at that midfield
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Looks the forecast in Chch for tomorrow is rain so this could even the match up a bit and will play into the Crusaders hands more. Still expect the Canes to go down and dominate with that lineup.
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I'm very happy with the team. Again
I want to see Tucker in action again. As I thought he looked OK+ without really following him closely. IWL is clearly the number 1 lock but it's one area where another lock needs to step up
Good to see Flanders back. My view he's a level above Howden who had his chance and looked a bit average
I was hoping to see Godfrey in the reserves but maybe he wasn't that good in the development match. But still hope to see him get a run at 1st at least once this year
Its a game the Canes must win. To keep the momentum going
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@Canes4life said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:
Looks the forecast in Chch for tomorrow is rain so this could even the match up a bit and will play into the Crusaders hands more. Still expect the Canes to go down and dominate with that lineup.
If the teams and results were swapped, I would give the Canes zero hope. But I guess the Crusaders shouldn't ever be underestimated.
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@Winger I talked to a guy that was at the game in Taupo a fews ago and he said Godfrey was very threatening at 10 against the Chiefs and was a big reason they beat the Chiefs dev. He played fullback last week against the Crusader's dev (with Morgan at 10) but I'm not sure how they went. I expect they will both probably start against the Rebels next week or be included in the 23 in some capacity with rotation likely to hit almost our whole top 23.
On the Canes squad for this week there is no reason to make any tweaks right now, why change what's not broken? The Blues did that by benching Sotutu last week and it cost them an L.
I don't think Flanders has looked any better than Howden at 6 tbh. They both go about their work without having too much impact on the game, infact a couple of hits from Howden over the last couple of weeks suggests he's a harder tackler than Flanders. Anyway, Shields will get that jersey when he returns from injury, and I hope he can bring a little more steal to that 6 jumper.
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The most interesting about this matchup is how the teams handle two very different sets of pressure. The Canes; how they handle the pressure of being favourites (will their intensity drop or can they maintain how well they played last week).
Crusaders with a very unfamilar type of pressure, that potential 4-0 has to be affecting player's confidence. It's where we've heard that Razor's man management has an edge. Penny?
Just great going into games not having the result be a forgone conclusion, some great rugby this year.
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@Tim said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:
That does look like a pretty weak team, but come the playoffs they might be able to put out a pretty solid 23:
1 Williams
2 Taylor
3 Newell
4 Barrett
5 Gallagher
6 Blackadder
7 Christie
8 Lio-Willie9 Drummond
10 Burke
11 McLeod
12 Havili
13 Crotty
14 Reece
15 Fihaki16 McAlister
17 Bower
18 Franks
19 Strange
20 Grace
21 Hotham
22 Aumua
23 SpringerHalves are decidedly weak, and the team lacks ball carriers and hitters, but that forward pack could upset some teams.
The crusaders are the new highlanders. All good things come to an end. Crusaders need to do some serious recruiting. And by that I don’t mean recalls for ex-ABs from a bygone era.
