Hurricanes v Blues

Kirwan

Akira needs to make this opportunity count.

Not really. He needs to play well for the team, but in terms of minutes, he's going to get more opportunities. We can't play Sotutu and Robinson in every game.

I'd like to see a back row of Dalton at 7, Akira at 8 and Sotutu at 6, with Robinson playing lock again. Akira's particularly good at cleaning up messy scrums (not that we have had many this year).

Frank

I wonder why Akira doesn't look in shape this year.

It should have been bloody obvious to him that with Read retiring that the number 8 sport was wide open. It should have really motivated him.

KiwiMurph

@Frank From Leon

Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.

Kirwan

@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Frank From Leon

Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.

People see what they want to see. Just looking at the Blues instragram you can see he looks fit.

African Monkey

It's great that Akira finally isn't being forced to play every minute of every game. I expect him to be very effective because of it.

Frank

@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Frank From Leon

Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.

@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Frank From Leon
Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.
People see what they want to see. Just looking at the Blues instragram you can see he looks fit.

@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes v Blues:

It's great that Akira finally isn't being forced to play every minute of every game. I expect him to be very effective because of it.

Well. Three posts on the Fern is good enough for me.
Akira for MOTM then.

Kirwan

@Frank said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Frank From Leon
Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.
@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Frank From Leon
Equally Akira has been training hard. He is in terrific shape and raring to go now that he has his chance.
People see what they want to see. Just looking at the Blues instragram you can see he looks fit.
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes v Blues:

It's great that Akira finally isn't being forced to play every minute of every game. I expect him to be very effective because of it.

Well. Three posts on the Fern is good enough for me.
Akira for MOTM then.

You could try listening to the coaches opinion or looking at recent photos.

Or just keep repeating an inaccurate opinion.

African Monkey

@Frank huh? All I said was that I expect Akira to be more effective this year with more rest periods for him as opposed to last year where he faded at the back end and the coaches were reluctant to give Sotutu gametime.

cgrant

@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Bovidae said in Hurricanes v Blues:

Akira needs to make this opportunity count.

Not really. He needs to play well for the team, but in terms of minutes, he's going to get more opportunities. We can't play Sotutu and Robinson in every game.

I'd like to see a back row of Dalton at 7, Akira at 8 and Sotutu at 6, with Robinson playing lock again. Akira's particularly good at cleaning up messy scrums (not that we have had many this year).

Robinson is a better 6 than 5, IMO.

nzzp

@cgrant said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Bovidae said in Hurricanes v Blues:

Akira needs to make this opportunity count.

Not really. He needs to play well for the team, but in terms of minutes, he's going to get more opportunities. We can't play Sotutu and Robinson in every game.

I'd like to see a back row of Dalton at 7, Akira at 8 and Sotutu at 6, with Robinson playing lock again. Akira's particularly good at cleaning up messy scrums (not that we have had many this year).

Robinson is a better 6 than 5, IMO.

That's the Fern's view I think. And it's right.

pakman

What's the Fern take on Canes LH, Numia?
Loosies look balanced, but last week set the bar very high.
Like the look of our bench more.

Nogusta

@African-Monkey speaking of Simon Hickey....

Tim

@Nogusta Coming back to NZ?

Canes4life

@pakman strong young kid but defs not the finished product. He has shown signs of promise but it will be a big test for him this week.

booboo

@Hooroo said in Hurricanes v Blues:

Looking at both those line-ups, this should be a cracking match

Yeah. Just gone through them player by player, and each match up is fairly close and whilst I might give one side a slight advantage in one postion that tends to get nullified by advantage the other way pretty in the next position or two.

I'll nail my colours to the mast here and say I hope the Blues win.

My allegiances are always with the result that is best for NZ rugby, and that is the best result in my opinion.

Re the Blues XV: I'd have preferred Papalili to start at 7, and 13 & 14 to swap.

booboo

@nzzp said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@cgrant said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@Bovidae said in Hurricanes v Blues:

Akira needs to make this opportunity count.

Not really. He needs to play well for the team, but in terms of minutes, he's going to get more opportunities. We can't play Sotutu and Robinson in every game.

I'd like to see a back row of Dalton at 7, Akira at 8 and Sotutu at 6, with Robinson playing lock again. Akira's particularly good at cleaning up messy scrums (not that we have had many this year).

Robinson is a better 6 than 5, IMO.

That's the Fern's view I think. And it's right.

Usually is.

pakman

@Canes4life said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@pakman strong young kid but defs not the finished product. He has shown signs of promise but it will be a big test for him this week.

Ta @canes4life! Ofa isn't usually destructive, but that said the Blues scrum has mainly gone well this year. Patty T seems to have learned to keep his right shoulder glued to the TH's arse until the ball is out, which helps a lot!

Battle of the locks will be interesting.

African Monkey

@Nogusta Don't you start lol. Are you gonna tell us he's coming back or something?!

Winger

@Canes4life

And hes still only 21. But for a 21 year looks very promising. it will be interesting to see how he goes though this week after being part of a dominant pack last week (the scrum went to pieces after the starting front row was replaced)

Overall I like the look of this Canes team. The best starting team so far this year. Reservations. Fletcher Smith. If he's crap coaches need to get him off quickly. Or swap him with Jordie. As he had a good game at FB but when the pressure is on he seems to struggle at first. Luckily last week there wasn't too much so I hope he can build on this performance.

Kobus Van Wyk. Superb game last week but unsure what his defense is like. Goosen is VG in this respect. Lam is not great as a defender so this could be a weak area for the Canes.

But thankfully Blackwell is not starting. Likewise Princep. Both are good enough backups in case of injuries but thats it

Canes4life

@Winger good summary, my other worry is that who plays fullback if Barrett gets injured? I know Lam has played there before but he isn't exactly someone that fills you with confidence when you touch on his high ball/kicking game. Probably would have been smarter having Tiatia on the bench.

The Silver Fern

Hurricanes v Blues