Blues v Hurricanes
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Blues MOTM voting
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4529 -
Slightly better 2nd half after a shocking 1st half. Bench went well I thought with Ruru and Faiane making a difference. Laulala also helps a lot at scrum time.
Shows how important Tuipulotu is to our side. We looked a bit lightweight out there without him. Darry needs to add some bulk to his frame which he will over time, but the potential is certainly there. Also not convinced by Tolai at this stage. Eklund is definitely our first choice hooker.
On our halfbacks, I'm not overly fussed with the chopping and changing there tbh, as none of them stand out from each other. Whoever plays there, plays there. Nock goes better when starting, Ruru is probably better at finishing and Christie is somewhere inbetween.
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I thought Papalii was excellent for the Blues. Hoskins Sotutu was much improved. Caleb Clarke was quiet again though.
Can't fault the effort of the Canes. Problem remains a lack of quality at 9/10 and that there isn't much in that side to trouble an organised defence. Frustrating.
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I was really disappointed with Nock's kicking, which has been becoming a strength of his recently. It's sad because he'll probably go to third in line now.
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@steven-harris said in Blues v Hurricanes:
@nzzp it was the correct decision,both YCs were on the money ,in fact Pickerall only penalised each team 9 times ..the scrum penalty against the Blues on their own feed was correct,,even though you have the dominant scrum ,you can’t screw it or collapse it
I was surprised not to see red for the Kirifi clean out. Hit a player directly in the head with force, who was nowhere near the ball.
Would not be surprised to see him cited for that.
By the way, I love playing against him. He just generates so many easy penalties. Magnificently dumb player.
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@canes4life said in Blues v Hurricanes:
@dan54 yeah NZ Rugby could be in huge trouble. The flow of the game and the way it’s been officiated is putting a lot of people off.
I’ve got plenty of friends that used to watch footy religiously but now most of them don’t even bother.
Compare rugby now to back in the 2000s and it’s actually pretty sad viewing.
There are more handling errors in SRA now than in European Cup or 6 Nations Rugby. The skill levels in NZ Rugby have dropped off significantly in recent times. Worrying.
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@gt12 Yeah his box kicking was poor, especially after the break, but when in form, he's a better starter than finisher.
Also, Rieko Ioane is going to be a star at centre. He's not there yet with his distribution (although he did set up Telea in the corner), but the potential is endless there. I hope to see him get a decent crack there for the ABs.
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@stargazer said in Blues v Hurricanes:
@sparky I don't think it has to do with a drop in skill level in NZ. NH rugby is played at snail's pace compared to SRA. If you play at greater speed, you often make more mistakes.
And the defence is brutal. There is a reason the players complain about the derbies.
Also think the mindset is to try things, so again, that can lead to more errors.
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@african-monkey yea I don't think Nock or Christie are bench 9s, both starters and then finish with Ruru.
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@sparky said in Blues v Hurricanes:
@canes4life said in Blues v Hurricanes:
@dan54 yeah NZ Rugby could be in huge trouble. The flow of the game and the way it’s been officiated is putting a lot of people off.
I’ve got plenty of friends that used to watch footy religiously but now most of them don’t even bother.
Compare rugby now to back in the 2000s and it’s actually pretty sad viewing.
There are more handling errors in SRA now than in European Cup or 6 Nations Rugby. The skill levels in NZ Rugby have dropped off significantly in recent times. Worrying.
Wouldn't we always have more handling errors? If you try to spread the ball, you will have more handling errors. People love it when a bit of skill comes off but those things are never going to come off 100% of the time. You can't say that you want tries from crazy skill but no errors. We can make more errors by being more conservative.
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Prop Karl Tu’inukuafe took a bang to his knee, but MacDonald was optimistic he and crocked skipper Patrick Tuipulotu (sore shoulder) would be right after bye week.
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@tim said in Blues v Hurricanes:
@african-monkey Blues have been dumb as shit the last three weeks.
My Eden Park stalwart mate thinks they should raise the IQ entrance bar to 80.
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@pakman said in Blues v Hurricanes:
@bones said in Blues v Hurricanes:
Blues on a winning streak
As are Clan.
Tomkinson will be back next week though.
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@kirwan said in Blues v Hurricanes:
We looked a lot better when Ruru came in. Nock was slow to the ruck and kicked poorly.
Much more urgency when he came on. Started running from the base too.
Coincided with kicking the pill long when in our own 22. Panadol must have written that on the back of the oranges.
