The Silver Fern

Great coaching.

Blues playing with a lot more width and freedom. The defensive system is really coming along and that is building the confidence in attack.

Duffy looks a different player and when he comes into the line as a playmaking option he’s making better decisions.

@African-Monkey

Yeah I don’t think they have a chance of catching the Brumbies.
I think they might finish second as long as Toomua stays fit

@NTA said in Waratahs v Lions:

@SidBarret said in Waratahs v Lions:

@Stargazer
You mean complete and utter bullshit the wrong way.

Holding guys down like that should earn you a slap and sit down.

Yeah. Wonder what set Simmons off?

Bet Owen Franks had a laugh at that.

@Crucial Yup!!

@Damo said in Lions vs Canes:

@booboo said in Lions vs Canes:

@nzzp said in Lions vs Canes:

@MajorRage I hadn't seen the tackle, so dragged it out. Link bel

@Jaguares4real it's a clear yellow all day, and getting towards a red. Lions player swung around ... I'm not a fan of players going down like a sniper hit them, but I think it's pretty ugly.

alt text

Sheesh.

Wasn't a yellow card ...

It's an orange card. On a good day it's a yellow and on a bad day it's a red. Are you telling me it wasn't a card at all?

No.

Not a yellow card though. (IMO)

Sloppy by Faddes, or just plain slow?, to let Kwagga chase him down and not bring that try under/near the posts. Had a huge head start.

Cost them a bonus point in the end.

@Nepia Well there's a challenge maybe he might become a superstar 😀 or stay shit☹

Our forwards were absolute meh for most of that match. TBH I thought we would lose by more when I saw the starting side.
But we really need to learn how to defend at close quarters I lost count how many attacks came from straighttheough the middle of the ruck. Where were our guard dogs FFS?

Brumbies playing bloody well. Lions shouldn't win a game on this tour playing like this.

Hayden Parker has kicked 63 out of his last 64 attempts!

@sammyc any reason to hate on Wellington.

Tahs found their way through the Lions early but couldn't compete as the game got more physical. They were monstered in the set piece and couldn't complete at altitude.

@damo said in Highlanders vs Lions:

@nepia said in Highlanders vs Lions:

@damo said in Highlanders vs Lions:

@nepia said in Highlanders vs Lions:

@majorrage said in Highlanders vs Lions:

The clan are getting away with forward passes all over the show .... then that lineout wasn't straight ....

Yep, although, you could possibly give the TMO a pass for that not stepping on the line that Sumo keeps going on about - he was obscured by Sopoaga a bit and probably looked like a foot would have to be out from that.

I thought the right foot was grounded over the touchline. Looked like the right call to me.

Didn't look like it on any of the 3 or 4 replays to me (or Sumo).

Willie Lose thought he was in touch (which makes me think I'm probably wrong).

Wasn't Lose talking about a different scenario there? That was the one where the 'Landers took the quick throw and Thompson screwed up in midfield passing to Sopoaga?

@mariner4life said in Hurricanes v Lions:

you need a lesson in damning stills, and bold red arrow placement from that delusional Aussie bloke. Video with boring monologue over the top is also appreciated.

I can't see anything but a pile of arms and legs, and can't tell who is who. Almost makes me miss the days when players from different positions had different body shapes. Ah the 90s aye @MN5 ?

But, based on experience, if we are charging A Savea with doing something physical, and actually being involved in tough stuff, then weight of evidence says not guilty.

Absolutely. Royce Willis and Norm Maxwell locking the scrum, Isi Maka off the back. Mayerhofler at centre. Marvellous.

@pukunui Mataele's been impressive this year. He's not the finished article, but once a few more rough edges are knocked off he's going to be very handy.

I think Razor is pretty keen on the "two fullbacks and a power winger" configuration, so I think Mataele will have to bide his time and take his Uncle Seta's wing next year. Dagg will come back shortly and probably take over from Bridge - but, George has been going pretty well this year and his speed has been very useful.

Also, while I think of it - a shout out to Michael Alaalatoa. He's been playing big minutes at tighthead in pretty much every game - at least 70 at the weekend at altitude. Vital really, because we don't have a credible alternative. You hold your breath with some of his tackling, but he's been a big cog in the wheel while Franks has been away and it's going to be bloody handy to have him and (a well rested) Owen paired for the second half of the season.

@tim said in Lions v Blues:

Nick Mallett on the game:

http://www.sarugbymag.co.za/blog/details/lions-loss-is-worrying

Full credit to the Blues. They made 938m against 547 for the Lions. The Lions had to make 177 tackles and 86 for the Blues. The Lions missed 32 tackles against 12 for the Blues. The Blues made 208 passes to 110 for the Lions, so nearly twice as many, and they enjoyed 63% territory as opposed to 37%. Those are really dominant statistics in terms of metres made, forcing the opposition to tackle more and, in the end, it was the better team that won.

We were meant to end this game with no legs, but it was the Lions who ended up gassing because of how many tackles they had to make.

Although our bench did well, I'm wary of expecting them to repeat that feat, as they were given a pretty favourable situation to come into.

@SidBarret said in Lions v Crusaders - Super Rugby Final:

Re the Red Card -

It is bizarre how there is basically no complaint from SA supporters about the card and that all the debate I have seen has come from other supporters which question the rules in this instance.

My opinion, the red card sucked, but it was the correct call and the rule is pretty much correct.

The only change I would make is to remove the reference to how the player falls and rather focus on the potential injury. I think this case actually shows that up pretty well; this is a clear red in my opinion, but (putting on my lawyery hat) I don't think you can say definitively that Smith's action caused Havilli to fall on his shouler/upper back. Looking at the video it is impossible to tell whether Havilli would have fallen the way he did if it wasn't for the second contact with Taufua.

I would rather that the red card be determined by the potential harm to the jumper (as caused by the challenge) rather than the result. Not sure how that would be worded, and I am comfortable that this instance should have been a red, just not comfortable that the rule as it is written is 100% right.

Agree. Outcome based sanctions are taking the easy (yet inaccurate) route for WR.

haha I said I only watched the highlights people, the angle they showed, it wasn't clear, so was asking the question, I wasn't making a big deal out of it 😆

Coles v Marx is going to be epic. Two best hookers in the world right now.