Blues v Chiefs
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Blues v Chiefs: a game of two halves
When the first game of the season is played on the last day of January, you can't blame anyone for expecting a slow start, with average rugby, lots of errors and little entertainment. So what a surprisingly entertaining game this was!
Because the turning point in the game can so easily be placed at half time, I've written down some thoughts about each half separately.
First half
The first half was clearly the Blues' half. They had a very dominant scrum and made some good steals from the Chiefs' line-out. The Chiefs struggled at setpiece.The Chiefs' defence was good in the first half hour, however, and it took the Blues a while to cross the try-line. The Chiefs' attack didn't get them anywhere - partially because of a poor kicking game, partially because of bad ball handling - so the Blues' defence was hardly tested, at first.
Standing out in that first half was Hoskins Sotutu, with also Tony Lamborn having a good game (proving some doubters wrong).
Samisoni Taukei’aho, while a bit anonymous in the first 30 minutes, improved during the half and started to make an impression, culminating in the Chiefs' first try from a line-out drive.
Both halfbacks struggled, and it made me wonder how Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi ever made the All Blacks. He hardly showed to be able to play at Super Rugby level. The starting tens didn't fare much better, both making sloppy passes and kicking badly. Kaleb Trask making his debut, deserves a bit of patience though; he's just a puppy and has plenty of potential for improvement. Not so sure about Stephen Perofeta though.
Best backs on the field during that first half, for me, were Rieko Ioane and Mark Telea. None of the Chiefs' backs really stood out; if I had to pick one, it would probably be Solomon Alaimalo.
Second half
What an impact all those replacements in the Chiefs' squad made! ALB and Cruden coming on straight after the break, immediately influenced the game. The Chiefs' attack - virtually non-existent in the first 30 minutes and sporadic in the last 10 minutes of the first half - suddenly had some spark and passes started to stick.The Blues' pack also lost most of its dominance and the Chiefs' line-out got much better. Taukei’aho was turning into one of the Chiefs' biggest threats. Weber coming on sped up the Chiefs' game even more and the Chiefs started to break the Blues' defence.
Sotuto was probably still the Blues' best in that second half and definitely deserved that Blues' 8 starting spot, but also Ofa Tu'ungafasi and Karl Tu’inukuafe had some good impact, with the latter scoring a good try.
But the best forward in that second half, was definitely Taukei’aho, closely followed by Lachlan Boshier. Best back for me was Solomon Alaimalo, although also Aaron Cruden with his clever drop goal and game management and ALB deserve a mention.
Overall, I think the Chiefs deserved their win, although I think the Blues were unlucky not to get a losing bonus point out of the game.
My MVP was Samisoni Taukei’aho.
Best forward: Samisoni Taukei’aho, with Hoskins Sotutu a good second
Best back: Solomon Alaimalo
Didn't live up to the hype (yet): Joe Marchant
Injury worries: Nepo Laulala, Angus Ta’avao, Ray Niuia
Annoying: Pita Gus Sowakula diving on players on the ground at least twice (not spotted)I thought the officiating was good. Maybe the officials should have checked Aiden Ross' try for double movement?
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@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback startedLast two years have been light years ahead of where Tana dragged us down to. Nice try though.
You Blues fans have blamed every coach since Ted and you know it.
I refer you to the stats thread from Duluth. Tana finished on what 6% against Kiwi teams?
He was in a category by himself of incompetence. Took ages to cycle out those shit Counties players he selected too.
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@nzzp said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started
Ya say that, but they got the score to go up 26-19 after being 19-all. They ddint' go into their shells, played some decent footy.
Forwards crashing it up and a decent scrum is something yo ucan build a team around. Backs went OK too, we just threw up a shit lineout and slack maul defence again. That and some brain farts and it's all over rover
Typical Blues. Always find a way to lose a game
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@Stargazer said in Blues v Chiefs:
By the way, I didn't read the thread before writing my comments on the game.
Probably the biggest factor for both teams were injuries. Chiefs suffered in the first half, the Blues in the second.
According to Duluth who was the game we had some walking wounded out there for the last 15. And that backline was not ideal to end the game with!
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@canefan said in Blues v Chiefs:
@nzzp said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started
Ya say that, but they got the score to go up 26-19 after being 19-all. They ddint' go into their shells, played some decent footy.
Forwards crashing it up and a decent scrum is something yo ucan build a team around. Backs went OK too, we just threw up a shit lineout and slack maul defence again. That and some brain farts and it's all over rover
Typical Blues. Always find a way to lose a game
Yep. And failure breeds failure - opposition always think they can get up over us. As a fan, it's incredibly frustrating.
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@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Stargazer said in Blues v Chiefs:
By the way, I didn't read the thread before writing my comments on the game.
Probably the biggest factor for both teams were injuries. Chiefs suffered in the first half, the Blues in the second.
According to Duluth who was the game we had some walking wounded out there for the last 15. And that backline was not ideal to end the game with!
Has there been any post match updates on any of the injuries? Was Sam Cane looked after and pulled at half time or playing Poke and got Yanked or was he injured??
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@Hooroo said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Stargazer said in Blues v Chiefs:
By the way, I didn't read the thread before writing my comments on the game.
Probably the biggest factor for both teams were injuries. Chiefs suffered in the first half, the Blues in the second.
According to Duluth who was the game we had some walking wounded out there for the last 15. And that backline was not ideal to end the game with!
Has there been any post match updates on any of the injuries? Was Sam Cane looked after and pulled at half time or playing Poke and got Yanked or was he injured??
AB rest directive? We lost Reiko early too I think because of that, he was on fire too
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@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback startedLast two years have been light years ahead of where Tana dragged us down to. Nice try though.
You Blues fans have blamed every coach since Ted and you know it.
I refer you to the stats thread from Duluth. Tana finished on what 6% against Kiwi teams?
He was in a category by himself of incompetence. Took ages to cycle out those shit Counties players he selected too.
I didn’t single out Tana.
You can’t deny that coaches become scapegoats at the Blues. Already a very good coach in Rangi is being tainted by some fans. -
@Stargazer said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Hooroo Cane was pulled at half time, no doubt because of the ABs gradual return-to-play protocol. Was surprised to see Rieko Ioane still on the field after the break. He only left the field in the 57th minute.
I made the comment during the match.
They are restricted to a total of 180 minutes in the first three games. It doesn’t have to be 40/60/80 but that was the requested structure.
He now has to be subbed earlier in another game to make up for it. -
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback startedLast two years have been light years ahead of where Tana dragged us down to. Nice try though.
You Blues fans have blamed every coach since Ted and you know it.
I refer you to the stats thread from Duluth. Tana finished on what 6% against Kiwi teams?
He was in a category by himself of incompetence. Took ages to cycle out those shit Counties players he selected too.
You can’t deny that coaches become scapegoats at the Blues. Already a very good coach in Rangi is being tainted by some fans.
Not this fan. Big steps forward - just not quite enough yet. Forwards went well, backs were not bad, still some maul defence and lineouts to focus on this week.
What I was impressed with was that there seemed to be some clarity in the team about what they were trying to achieve. Compared to previous seasons where headless chook behaviour was the norm, I'll cut him some real slack.
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@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback startedLast two years have been light years ahead of where Tana dragged us down to. Nice try though.
You Blues fans have blamed every coach since Ted and you know it.
I refer you to the stats thread from Duluth. Tana finished on what 6% against Kiwi teams?
He was in a category by himself of incompetence. Took ages to cycle out those shit Counties players he selected too.
I didn’t single out Tana.
You can’t deny that coaches become scapegoats at the Blues. Already a very good coach in Rangi is being tainted by some fans.My issue with Rangi is how do you watch Ruru for a season and then select him again and start him again.
Its a glaring issue.
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@nzzp said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:
@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:
Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback startedLast two years have been light years ahead of where Tana dragged us down to. Nice try though.
You Blues fans have blamed every coach since Ted and you know it.
I refer you to the stats thread from Duluth. Tana finished on what 6% against Kiwi teams?
He was in a category by himself of incompetence. Took ages to cycle out those shit Counties players he selected too.
You can’t deny that coaches become scapegoats at the Blues. Already a very good coach in Rangi is being tainted by some fans.
Not this fan. Big steps forward - just not quite enough yet. Forwards went well, backs were not bad, still some maul defence and lineouts to focus on this week.
What I was impressed with was that there seemed to be some clarity in the team about what they were trying to achieve. Compared to previous seasons where headless chook behaviour was the norm, I'll cut him some real slack.
Thought the Blues forwards really dominated in attack particularly the reserves.
But 9 and 10 play continues to plague this Blues side. Terrible.
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The Blues did not escape unscathed on the injury front either. Prop Alex Hodgman and bench hooker Ray Niuia both suffered what appeared pretty serious leg injuries, while MacDonald had some concerns over second-half try-scorer Karl Tu'inukuafe as well. "Our front row took a bit of a hit tonight."
Props falling over everywhere Chiefs have a couple as well Laulala and Ta'avau both injured not sure how badly.
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Wasn’t it great seeing Cruden’s league-esque distance touch finders back.
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Chiefs beat the blues without Mckenzie, Harris and Retallick. With Cane off at half time. With 2 tight heads that couldn’t scrum. And with Weber, cruden and ALB on the bench. (That meant TTT had to start which is my worst nightmare). Blues are sh*t, try to change my mind.
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Oh and without Luke Jacobson who’s a tank for us too ^
