Auckland v Counties Manukau

[KiwiMurph]

Much better play from Auckland. Probing runs from a lot of players.

[Dice]

Backs look slick so far. Good balance in the backline.

[KiwiMurph]

@dice Agreed. Refreshing.

[KiwiMurph]

Manu is a gun. Looks at home in midfield.

[Dice]

@kiwimurph Even our kicking game has been good. Tai Lavea might be a masterstroke signing.

[KiwiMurph]

Solid defence. Auckland actually playing like they care this year.

[Tim]

Fukofuka looking good.

Think this season will come down to tight five performance, and the team's composure under pressure.

Looking forward to seeing more of Manu in the midfield.

[Tim]

Pretty light weight second row, which might weaken the scrum.

[Kirwan]

Lots of promising signs there. We look like we are close to scoring every time we go wide.

They have the scrum, but Akira is cleaning up the mess at the back well to negate some of that. Counties lineout is abysmal, glad to see us kicking up the field to attack it.

[African Monkey]

I'mpressed with Trainor so far after a dismal 2017. Tight 5 still a concern for me.

[Kirwan]

@african-monkey said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:

I'mpressed with Trainor so far after a dismal 2017. Tight 5 still a concern for me.

Yeah, looks elusive and super quick. Shouldn’t have passed deep in the 22 though!

[mikedogz]

I just noticed that Counties have their player numbers on the front like they did in the old days,

[mimic]

@tim said in Auckland v Counties Manukau:

Pretty light weight second row, which might weaken the scrum.

But their lineout work has been great

[KiwiMurph]

Poor captaincy from Gibson. Take the 3.

[Stargazer]

Counties have improved since the break.

[KiwiMurph]

@stargazer helps when the opposition turn down points...

[Dice]

What does good maul defense look like? They're foreign to me.

[Stargazer]

@kiwimurph Has nothing to do with that. Counties line-outs and scrums are better than Auckland's. Auckland better score soon, because this score is stuffing up my tipping.

[KiwiMurph]

@stargazer has everything to do with it. Would have been 23-14 Auckland...

[Stargazer]

@kiwimurph I was talking about Counties playing better, not Auckland playing worse.