Blues v BI Lions
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That was cool. Obviously I'm cheering for all the NZ teams this tour but I keep remembering the regret I felt for cheering for England when they whitewashed the Aussies, because they later went on to share the test win record. So now I'm sitting here like the Beautiful Mind guy trying to work through permutations that would lead to me regretting hoping the Lions get crushed.
Just a couple of thoughts:
That screaming during opposition lineouts is pretty obnoxious aye? I know all teams like to make a racket but this was something else.
Have they not cracked down on cracked down on contesting in the air up North? I agree those calls on Williams were harsh, if I'd seen them last year... but even that first one would have been a yellow in Super Rugby 2017.
That early maul call on the Blues try line annoyed me.
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Just watched that last line out again for a laugh and I think the hooker is being hard done by copping the blame for that. The Lions come into line late and Itoje makes a call to himself while Marler is no where near ready. Whether Itoje should have checked or Marler should have been ready is kind of a moot point. They were the ones that fucked it up.
The call was clearly to Itoje and if the lifters had got him up quick enough the throw was fine the front two line out players had peeled around to start the maul.
Looks like it was Marlers fault to me. he wasn't paying attention -
@booboo said in Blues v BI Lions:
Am still buzzed about that last try.
Farking! That was awesome
I've watched it now about fifty times. The front-on angle especially. The running lines & timng were executed so brilliantly it brings tears to me eyes. Beautiful to watch.
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@Milk said in Blues v BI Lions:
That was cool. Obviously I'm cheering for all the NZ teams this tour but I keep remembering the regret I felt for cheering for England when they whitewashed the Aussies, because they later went on to share the test win record. So now I'm sitting here like the Beautiful Mind guy trying to work through permutations that would lead to me regretting hoping the Lions get crushed.
Yeah , im a bit the same , supporting the NZ sides ,
But for the good of rugby want this tour to be a success , pull ya fingers out Lions
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@MiketheSnow said in Blues v BI Lions:
Thoroughly deserved from the Blues. Stuck to the task and clinically and brutally exploited the Lions lack of pace and spatial awareness.
With a bit more precision and YCs being shown it could easily have been 5 tries to 1.
5 mins either side of halftime killed the Lions.
Luatua, Williams and Ioane played themselves into contention.
As mentioned earlier Owens, Tipuric, Webb, Halfpenny in the box seats for test match 23.
Big competition for prop.
Itoje will be in test 23, Lawes won't.
Stander had a good match but not good enough to oust Faletau.
Biggar shithouse. Sexton not much better. Gatland's decision to select Farrell as an outside half borne out.
Centres never got a chance and you still have to fancy Te'o, Joseph and Davies to be vying for the test spots
Daley is class
Nowell played himself out of contention
Liam Williams will have to do something remarkable to even get a look inI thought Webb was pretty terrible myself. Kicked so much aimless ball away. If you think Collins, Ioane and Duffie can run the ball back, there are better back 3s available to NZ.
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@Billy-Tell
I agree on Webb his box kicking was very poor -too far and just gave the ball to the blues. Then when he did get it right the chase was poor. Hopefully Murray is fit and ready. -
@Billy-Tell said in Blues v BI Lions:
@MiketheSnow said in Blues v BI Lions:
Thoroughly deserved from the Blues. Stuck to the task and clinically and brutally exploited the Lions lack of pace and spatial awareness.
With a bit more precision and YCs being shown it could easily have been 5 tries to 1.
5 mins either side of halftime killed the Lions.
Luatua, Williams and Ioane played themselves into contention.
As mentioned earlier Owens, Tipuric, Webb, Halfpenny in the box seats for test match 23.
Big competition for prop.
Itoje will be in test 23, Lawes won't.
Stander had a good match but not good enough to oust Faletau.
Biggar shithouse. Sexton not much better. Gatland's decision to select Farrell as an outside half borne out.
Centres never got a chance and you still have to fancy Te'o, Joseph and Davies to be vying for the test spots
Daley is class
Nowell played himself out of contention
Liam Williams will have to do something remarkable to even get a look inI thought Webb was pretty terrible myself. Kicked so much aimless ball away. If you think Collins, Ioane and Duffie can run the ball back, there are better back 3s available to NZ.
Certainly kicking wise he didn't have a good game but the poor chase made a poor kick worse. Webb is a better player than he showed today and I'd back him to be a nuisance on tour.
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Shit just got very real for the Lions, and doesn't get any easier on Saturday, they need to pick themselves up off the floor quickly.
Hopefully Gatlands call that they don't care about any matches other than the Tests is still true, cos surely the players wont be keen to lose games, even with the end goal.
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@taniwharugby said in Blues v BI Lions:
Shit just got very real for the Lions, and doesn't get any easier on Saturday, they need to pick themselves up off the floor quickly.
Hopefully Gatlands call that they don't care about any matches other than the Tests is still true, cos surely the players wont be keen to lose games, even with the end goal.
I think he had that call up his sleeve knowing he would lose matches along the way.
Still won't help and inwardly players must have doubts.
He does have the chance to form a selection that wins a game leading into the first test and thinks they have found their feet though. Just needs to keep them going to try and reach that point. -
Oh Christ I read Reasons idiocy by mistake got as far as this, how does this fluffybunny have a job?
OPINION: The Lions looked like they might escape, but the Blues picked them up, held them in the air and speared the body into the ground. This was Tana Umaga's night of redemption. This was the moment when he can finally move on from that moment of brutality 12 years ago.
Just as it was back in 2005, some of the officiating was bizarre, to say the least, and the Lions players did extremely well to keep their mouths shut. But it has always been thus at Eden Park and the Lions had better get used to it in a hurry, because there are two test matches yet to be played at the ground.
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Unlike Rattue, Reason is actually capable of writing some good analysis.
You just have to search through piles of rubbish to find it.
This is one of his better ones in recent memory
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@SammyC that's the problem with the cnuty twins, 95% of what they write is utter BS click bait, that when they do something worth reading, many wont bother or simply scroll past it expecting the same rubbish as usual
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@Crucial it looked to me like they made the call before they got to the line out. The advantage to this is everyone knows what is happening in advance. The problem is, without the call to go off as usual, everyone's timing gets thrown out. Players get used to the rhythm of how the set piece works, and you need to stick to it.
I called line outs for a long time, and learned early on, even when you get the chance to call early, still call it at the line like usual. Otherwise you would be astounded how often even a simple play gets fucked up. For a composit team that need for the prompts would be even greater
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@mariner4life said in Blues v BI Lions:
@Crucial it looked to me like they made the call before they got to the line out. The advantage to this is everyone knows what is happening in advance. The problem is, without the call to go off as usual, everyone's timing gets thrown out. Players get used to the rhythm of how the set piece works, and you need to stick to it.
I called line outs for a long time, and learned early on, even when you get the chance to call early, still call it at the line like usual. Otherwise you would be astounded how often even a simple play gets fucked up. For a composit team that need for the prompts would be even greater
You can see Itoje calling to the hooker just before the throw so he is probably doing just what you say.
The set up timing may have been out for Marler as there was a delay while an extra ball was removed from the field. Nonetheless he wasn't ready to lift when Itoje called.
Just think blaming the hooker for that is harsh. His throw looks to go spot on to where Itoje was meant to be. -
@pukunui said in Blues v BI Lions:
Didn't think Perofeta was too bad. Great pass for the first try. As West showed it isn't that easy to throw that sort of ball. He went pretty well for a young guy making his starting debut against the Lions with shitty service from Pulu who was fucking slow to clear the ball as usual..
I must have missed the good stuff Collins did. He looked his usual slow, unable to beat a tackle or take a gap self.
Nanai would have had a field day with that shitty lions defence. What did Collins actually do other than not fuck up?A error free game from Collins - that's surely the very first thing you want from your fullback?
Caught everything that was kicked to him, including an excellent mark under intense pressure during the downpour (which he converted into a free kick) and the contested take that led to West's try.
Kick returns were all well judged - including that very nicely judged one that found touch 40 metres upfield that you've dismissed as "lucky".
Nice save when your man Perofeta dropped the ball on his own line.
At least one nice running break returning the ball.
Was he spectacular? Not particularly - just very solid in everything he did. So my assessment - given how much criticism he's copped on here - was that he was "pretty good". I think that's accurate. Your remarks about him for this game seem pretty unfair.
