Brumbies v Blues
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@Dice agree completely on Aso, the Brumbies break out try the other week was the direct result of Aso charging out of the line and tackling nobody.
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@booboo said in Brumbies v Blues:
@taniwharugby said in Brumbies v Blues:
dont see alot of those kinds of tries in Union, maybe thats what confused the TMO. this aint Loigue bro! ...didnt see the game, but yeah, how was that not awarded?
Ayoub
The most baffling thing for me was that the ref clearly said his on-field decision was 'try', which I assume means Ayoub has to find definitive evidence that the try cannot be awarded. He then takes one quick glance at a replay that is close to normal speed and goes back with 'no try'. For such an experienced TMO he's unbelievably amateur.
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@Dice To be fair to Aso recently he's been asked to serve as a centre, where his defence definitely looks uncertain, especially with Laumape still a comparative novice too. He's obviously more at home on the wing, even defensively. I agree his aerial work certainly isn't Cory Jane standard. His support line running is outstanding whichever position he's in.
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@No-Quarter said in Brumbies v Blues:
@booboo said in Brumbies v Blues:
@taniwharugby said in Brumbies v Blues:
dont see alot of those kinds of tries in Union, maybe thats what confused the TMO. this aint Loigue bro! ...didnt see the game, but yeah, how was that not awarded?
Ayoub
The most baffling thing for me was that the ref clearly said his on-field decision was 'try', which I assume means Ayoub has to find definitive evidence that the try cannot be awarded. He then takes one quick glance at a replay that is close to normal speed and goes back with 'no try'. For such an experienced TMO he's unbelievably amateur.
I assumed it came back so quickly because it was clearly a try, I couldn't believe the decision. Then I remembered who the TMO was and just had to laugh. Shit ref, shit TMO.
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@JC which is kind of odd as he is a centre normally. I think the swapping between wing/centre has highlighted his flaws on D, and that the Canes have managed that weakness better with him on the wing compared to centre. Didn't know that was a carry over from U20 performance - hopefully something we see improve as that would really let him kick on as a very good super rugby player.
Part of me would love CJ to have a swan song in the Lions series. I know that's a pipe dream but he wouldn't let us down - ha ha BB would be kick passing to him all day long.
ps - on topic that vid ref call was bullshit. But not surprising given the Ayoub factor. Have enjoyed watching the Blues playing non-NZ teams. You can see things are improving but the other NZ teams are all firing pretty well, or very well in the case of the Saders and Canes.
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@Paekakboyz said in Brumbies v Blues:
@JC which is kind of odd as he is a centre normally. I think the swapping between wing/centre has highlighted his flaws on D, and that the Canes have managed that weakness better with him on the wing compared to centre. Didn't know that was a carry over from U20 performance - hopefully something we see improve as that would really let him kick on as a very good super rugby player.
Part of me would love CJ to have a swan song in the Lions series. I know that's a pipe dream but he wouldn't let us down - ha ha BB would be kick passing to him all day long.
ps - on topic that vid ref call was bullshit. But not surprising given the Ayoub factor. Have enjoyed watching the Blues playing non-NZ teams. You can see things are improving but the other NZ teams are all firing pretty well, or very well in the case of the Saders and Canes.
Yep, once a couple of the selections were forced on Tana, he ended up with the right team. It's only really 2 or 3 players away from a very good team.
You basically swap tens with the Hurricanes or Chiefs and we swap places on the table.
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@JC said in Brumbies v Blues:
@Dice To be fair to Aso recently he's been asked to serve as a centre, where his defence definitely looks uncertain, especially with Laumape still a comparative novice too. He's obviously more at home on the wing, even defensively. I agree his aerial work certainly isn't Cory Jane standard. His support line running is outstanding whichever position he's in.
He definitely plays better on the wing, but defensively, I don't think he's all that good on the wing either, because he actually missed a higher percentage of his tackles on the wing than in his couple of games at centre. He's only made 50% of his tackles at wing, and is only tackling at 58% for the season. The misses at wing probably don't cost the team much or seem as obvious because he has the sideline helping out and defenders sliding across to help stop a lot of the trouble, but I've just found that he's technically a bad tackler. Last year he missed 28 tackles in Super Rugby, and he didn't even start or play all the games.
He's still young and there's time to improve his defense, but after 4 years as a pro, you'd want to see some sort of progress in this area. He's at least improved his attack this year, which shows he can grow in some capacity.
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@Kirwan said in Brumbies v Blues:
You basically swap tens with the Hurricanes or Chiefs and we swap places on the table.
It's not just 10 that is an issue for the Blues, halfback has been a problem as well.
Squad cover at lock and inconsistent play from front row have also been issued this year.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Brumbies v Blues:
@Kirwan said in Brumbies v Blues:
You basically swap tens with the Hurricanes or Chiefs and we swap places on the table.
It's not just 10 that is an issue for the Blues, halfback has been a problem as well.
The two go hand in hand though. A poor HB can make a 10 struggle and vice-versa. You can easily lose your game at 9 if you aren't confident in your 10.
The best 9s are passing instinctively to their 10s (eg TJP and BB). The best 10s are getting the ball where and when they expect it.
Think back to some of the years the Canes were struggling to find a class 10 to match Weepu at 9. Piri would get so frustrated he would move out to 10 himself.I think that is partly why Tana has favoured Francis at 10. Pulu and Francis didn't play a huge amount together at CM but they would have at least had a decent understanding of each others play. When Francis isn't there Pulu doesn't play as well.
If the Blues could get a consistent 8,9,10 axis running with confidence it would make a huge difference.
Pulu is at least a big step up in quality from the last few seasons. Now the other pieces of the puzzle need to fall into place.
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@ACT-Crusader Injuries seem to have been a blessing in disguise at lock with Cowley Tuioti ans Scrafton forming a good combo there. I doubt we'd see Scrafton had Umaga's son Jimmy Tupou not been injured. Missed a few games through the middle there but our front row have gone very well in recent weeks.
Pulu's always been very hot and cold throughout his career which has carried on with us but funnily enough he's still far better than anything we've had in the last few seasons which says a lot.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Brumbies v Blues:
@Kirwan said in Brumbies v Blues:
You basically swap tens with the Hurricanes or Chiefs and we swap places on the table.
It's not just 10 that is an issue for the Blues, halfback has been a problem as well.
Squad cover at lock and inconsistent play from front row have also been issued this year.
Not many squads can cover four injuries at lock, and we've had a long term injury to Nock so the drop off after Pulu is steep (and now we've played his form into the ground).
The hookers haven't been great at lineout time, but at least Parsons is back to normal in that area. Our scrum has been good when the right locks are there.
Basically problems that all the teams have somewhere with depth.
My point is you get BB getting one or two freakish trys and some of those close loses become wins and we flip the table.
It's a shame we aren't using someone like Nanai to get those (like Toeava used to for us).
Speaking of Ice, imagine him playing ten for us. He wanted to come back, but the NZRU wouldn't let him. Yet the Chiefs get to have a Japanese number eight....
