Hurricanes v Blues
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@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.
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@African-Monkey speaking of Simon Hickey....
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@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.
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@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.
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@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.
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@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.
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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
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@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.
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@Canes4life Proctor has played at FB for Wellington.
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@cgrant said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Robinson is a better 6 than 5, IMO.
Sure he is a better 6 but he is still very good at lock.
I think it helps him make the AB squad playing well in two spots. A real lock/blindside on the bench helps the balance of the reserves so much
From a Blues perspective it's great for rotating players and keeping them fresh.
There's now 3 guys playing well who can partner Tuipulotu in the second row (and GCT might get added to that list this weekend)
There plenty of options at 6 (Robinson, Papali'i and I do think Sotutu would play well there)
Two quality no 8's
Papali'i is clearly the best openside in the squad (I still prefer him at six though). However Lamborn has surprised me with how well he has gone.
Gibson has been slightly disappointing but hopefully his form returns soon.That's a much better situation than previous years where there was a clear top xv and a drop off to the reserves. It reminds me of the situation the Highlanders had in recent seasons with a lot of good loosies (and a lock/loosie) constantly rotating.
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@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:
I would imagine Robinson will get some rest next week v Lions and they'll probably start Papalii at 6.
I wouldn't mind seeing Reidlinger-Kapa get an opportunity at some point as another option at 6.
I think Patrick will definitely be rested next week. I don't think Dalton needed to be rested this week because guys in the AB frame are allowed to play 6 games in a row, but I don't think they wanted both guys to be out at the same time.
If Robinson rests next week too, then we have to hope Akira plays well enough to get another start next week so we can roll out Sotutu, Papali'i and Akira in the backrow.
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@Chris said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Interesting game this one.Hurricanes need to win this at home,Chiefs and Crusaders to come pressure on if they lose.
TAB has the Blues at $3 for this one and that's probably about right. Hurricanes pretty settled and at home against the Blues travelling back from SA.
Has Akira been playing any club or other rugby? Tough ask to go under the "He's Shit (or not)"microscope if he's not had some warm-up games. There's not many who can come in cold and not show plenty of rust.
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Hoping for Akira to have a massive game. And hopefully his non-inclusion until now is more about him being tip top at the end of the season, rather than flaming out half way through, granted Hoskin Sotutu has been going well.
Still want Hurricanes to get the W though.
of course he has.
