Crusaders vs Blues

[pakman]

Will be interesting who Chch selects at LH. Possibly a chink in Blues's armour at TH. Likewise, will Blues start Marcel or Angus?
Blues a lot stronger in back 12.

[African Monkey]

@pakman Ta'avao to start, just so he can hold up the scrum. He's been a great pickup this year. Renata has improved too, but we need our best scrum out there to start as it's the one area the Crusaders could really hurt us, as the Brumbies found out last week.

[Duluth]

IOANE & PEROFETA RETURN FOR CRUSADERS — Blues Rugby

A couple of Blues heavyweights, Rieko Ioane and Stephen Perofeta return to the starting lineup this weekend as the team travel to Christchurch to take on the Crusaders in DHL Super Rugby Pacific.  Ioane reclaims his spot at centre having returned from concussion, while Perofeta slots into

1 Ofa Tu’ungafasi
2 Kurt Eklund
3 Angus Ta’avao
4 Patrick Tuipulotu (c)
5 Sam Darry
6 Akira Ioane
7 Adrian Choat
8 Hoskins Sotutu
9 Taufa Funaki
10 Harry Plummer
11 AJ Lam
12 Corey Evans
13 Rieko Ioane
14 Mark Tele’a
15 Stephen Perofeta

16 Ricky Riccitelli
17 Joshua Fusitu’a
18 PJ Sheck
19 Josh Beehre
20 Cameron Suafoa
21 Sam Nock
22 Cole Forbes
23 Caleb Tangitau

Players not considered: Lucas Cashmore (hamstring), Finlay Christie (groin), Caleb Clarke (managing workload), Meihana Grindlay (finger), Bryce Heem (calf), Jordan Lay (ankle, season), Marcel Renata (calf), Zarn Sullivan (knee), Dalton Papali’i (managing workload), Laghlan McWhannell (concussion protocol)

[Duluth]

Joe Moody, Codie Taylor (c), Fletcher Newell, Antonio Shalfoon, Quinten Strange, Cullen Grace, Ethan Blackadder, Christian Lio-Willie, Noah Hotham, Fergus Burke, Sevu Reece, David Havili, Levi Aumua, Chay Fihaki, Johnny McNicholl

RESERVES: George Bell, George Bower, Tamaiti Williams, Jamie Hannah, Tom Christie, Mitch Drummond, Taha Kemara, Dallas McLeod

[Tim]

Christie was training this week (instagram pics), so should be back soon? Hopefully Reneta, Heem etc are available next week.

[Landers92]

Blackadder straight back into the starting line up after having multiple weeks off… when will they learn.

On a serious note, good to see him back.

Blues resting Caleb Clarke and Dalton Papalii is massive and I’m sure it comes across a certain way to the Crusaders and their fans haha.

Gonna be a good game to watch!

[African Monkey]

Can someone tell me how the Crusaders have only won 2 games with that lineup?

[Tim]

@African-Monkey Very weak backline, poor locks, mediocre loose forwards, and a has-been loosehead prop. Don't forget the coach ...

[African Monkey]

@Chris said in Crusaders vs Blues:

I think Barrett,Blackadder,Amua or McLeod will feature this game unless there is a major change in their injury status by tomorrow.

Fixed haha.

[African Monkey]

@Tim Haha but gee, they should be THAT bad, certainly not 2 from 12.

[Chris]

@African-Monkey said in Crusaders vs Blues:

@Chris said in Crusaders vs Blues:

I think Barrett,Blackadder,Amua or McLeod will feature this game unless there is a major change in their injury status by tomorrow.

Fixed haha.

Surprised they are named to start I would not be surprised if there were changes come kick off time.
2 of those players haven’t trained as yet.

[African Monkey]

@Chris Fair call, and it has happened a fair bit for you guys this year, the late scratchings.

[chimoaus]

Has Segner fallen out of favour?

[Tim]

@chimoaus Good young player. Not as good as Papalii or Choat, and Ioane, Sotutu, and Suafoa offer a different style and size.

[African Monkey]

@Tim Yeah, the others are better, not that Segner goes badly himself.

[Duluth]

@Tim

Yeah he’s mostly competing with Choat. He was winning that battle earlier in the year but Choat has been in great form recently

[Chris]

@Tim said in Crusaders vs Blues:

@chimoaus Good young player. Not as good as Papalii or Choat, and Ioane, Sotutu, and Suafoa offer a different style and size.

I though Choat had a belter of a game last week very impressive.

[Ruginmel]

When will the Crusaders backline be set to a regular side, chop and changing them has been ridiculous

[Tim]

Weather forecast is fine with a high of 14C and a low of 1C. Judging on recent weather, the temperature might be about 7C at kick-off.

Crusaders will target the scrum. Should be a good contest. Expect them to spoil and disrupt at the ruck. Probably be a pretty tight game.

Lots of contestable kicks?

[Tim]

TAB odds:

Crusaders $2.80
Blues $1.40

Spread: 7.5 points