Blues v Waratahs

Tim

Sotutu and Laulala get a rest, but not Rieko Ioane. Tuipulotu and Papalii return via the bench. Robinson maintains captaincy. I assume Choat is injured, and Gibson starts. Kneepkins makes his debut from the bench.

Duluth

https://blues.rugby/return-to-garden-of-eden-for-super-rugby-and-olympic-sevens/

The Blues return to their fortress of Eden Park to host their first Australian opponents in over a year when they meet the NSW Waratahs in the Sky Super Rugby Trans- Ta$man competition on Saturday.

It is the centrepiece of an exciting afternoon of rugby with the All Blacks Sevens men and Black Ferns Sevens women taking on their respective Australian counterparts both before and after the Super Rugby clash at Eden Park. The Sevens teams are into their final preparations as they countdown to the Tokyo Olympics.

The Blues backline remains unchanged from last week’s win over the Rebels in Melbourne, but there are several changes in the forwards.

Ofa Tuungafasi returns to start at tighthead prop with fellow All Black Nepo Laulala taking a break to mend a niggling ankle injury, while Karl Tu’inukuafe makes his sixth straight start at loosehead after a powerful display last week.

Hooker Kurt Eklund makes his 20th appearance for his blazer game.

Blake Gibson returns at openside with Akira Ioane starting at No 8 in place of Hoskins Sotutu who is rested after starting in every game this season.

There is excitement on the bench with All Blacks Alex Hodgman, Patrick Tuipulotu and Dalton Papalii all returning to action.

The Blues continue to develop their future talent with exciting New Zealand Under-20s outside back, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens to make his debut from the reserves.

“We have some front-row depth that allows us to rotate our starters there, and it is good to see Kurt get his blazer. He is one of the hardest-working players in this team and is stepping up his leadership contribution,” said coach Leon MacDonald.

“I thought both of our locks were excellent last week while Blake has trained well to get another start and Akira likewise was strong and aggressive when he came on, and means Hoskins gets a well-earned break to refreshen.

“We are not buying into the media comments about the competition. Last week our two finalists could have easily been beaten, and while our final scoreline was comfortable, we had a real arm-wrestle for the first half.

“You cannot take any team lightly or you do so at your peril. We have to put in the mahi every day at training and throughout 80 minutes, do the hard yards and play smart. Do that and hopefully some rewards will come and our talented ball-players can show their skills.”

The Black Ferns Sevens and Australia women will kick things off at 3pm on Saturday followed by the All-Blacks Sevens before fans enjoy the first-round clash in Sky Super Rugby Trans- Ta$man between the Blues and Waratahs at 4.35pm. The Sevens return to the field for a further round of games with the women at 6.40pm and men at 7.03pm.

The Blues are again opening their gates at Eden Park for families with children free if accompanied by a General Admission ticketholder, with GA tickets for as little as $20.

15 Zarn Sullivan, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 TJ Faiane, 11 AJ Lam, 10 Otere Black, 9 Finlay Christie; 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Blake Gibson, 6 Tom Robinson (C), 5 Josh Goodhue, 4 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 3 Ofa Tuungafasi, 2 Kurt Eklund, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe.
Reserves: 16 Soane Vikena, 17 Alex Hodgman, 18 Marcel Renata, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Dalton Papalii, 21 Sam Nock, 22 Harry Plummer, 23 Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens

Players not considered with injury: Nepo Laulala (ankle)

Season-ending: Jone Macilai, Dillon Hunt, James Lay, Emoni Narawa.

Duluth

@tim said in Blues v Waratahs:

Sotutu and Laulala get a rest, but not Rieko Ioane. Tuipulotu and Papalii return via the bench. Robinson maintains captaincy. I assume Choat is injured, and Gibson starts. Kneepkins makes his debut from the bench.

Choat not listed as injured. I would prefer him to get another chance ahead of Gibson

Otherwise I'm happy with the selections. Finally some rotation in the loosies.

The backs are in a different situation. They need to build combinations after spluttering through SRA. Looking forward to seeing JRK off the bench

Perofeta seems out of favour now. I believe he's off contract after this season? I wonder if he's already committed to another side?

Machpants

The tahs are in for a spanking if that team performs as it should

taniwharugby

3 games in a row same starter at 9, is that a Blues record under Leon?

Quality side, and then you get to the bench as well!!!

Duluth

@taniwharugby said in Blues v Waratahs:

3 games in a row same starter at 9, is that a Blues record under Leon?

I mentioned it earlier in the season but this is my theory:
Christie was always Leon's favourite. Nock & Ruru were competing for the bench spot while he was injured. Christie came back and was a bit off the pace

Now that Christie is match fit/a bit sharper the changes at halfback have stopped

taniwharugby

@duluth sounds legit...consistency (be it Christie, Nock or Ruru) in selection is always better than what was happening, and thats the drum I have been beating!

Bones

Hopefully Christie repays that faith and shows something better than what he has so far. He's a handbrake.

Duluth

1 Angus Bell, 2 David Porecki, 3 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 4 Hugh Sinclair, 5 Max Douglas, 6 Lachlan Swinton, 7 Charlie Gamble, 8 Will Harris, 9 Jake Gordon (C), 10 Ben Donaldson, 11 James Turner, 12 Lalakai Foketi, 13 Izaia Perese, 14 Alex Newsome, 15 Jack Maddocks

Reserves: 16 Joe Cotton, 17 Te Tera Faulkner, 18 Darcy Breen, 19 Jack Whetton, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 Carlo Tizzano, 22 Jack Grant, 23 Will Harrison

In: Jack Dempsey, James Turner, Jack Whetton

Out: Tepai Moeroa, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Jeremy Williams

Kirwan

We are starting to see some good depth in the Blues. Been wanting them to rotate a little more in the loose forwards. I expect it will be Robinson's turn when Patrick is back in the starting lineup.

Great to see Dalton back too.

Duluth

A 6/2 split for the Tahs

Surprised Tizzano is still on the bench

NTA

@duluth said in Blues v Waratahs:

A 6/2 split for the Tahs

Surprised Tizzano is still on the bench

Gamble played Ok against the Canes - IMHO better than expected from what I'd seen previously.

Maybe they're bottling Tizzano up to give him 30 flat out at the end? Will be too late by then of course.

antipodean

@machpants said in Blues v Waratahs:

The tahs are in for a spanking if that team performs as it should

If the Blues can defend competently it should be a guaranteed five points.

Snowy

@antipodean said in Blues v Waratahs:

it should be a guaranteed five points.

This isn't death and taxes, this is the Blues.

Derpus

A guaranteed 5 points for the Blues. Probably the nadir for my career as a tah fan.

NTA

@derpus said in Blues v Waratahs:

A guaranteed 5 points for the Blues. Probably the nadir for my career as a tah fan.

We'll always have 96-19. Ah, 2002... before I was married or had kids or any of that shit, and just stressed about rugby.

Snowy

@nta said in Blues v Waratahs:

We'll always have 96-19. Ah, 2002... before I was married or had kids or any of that shit, and just stressed about rugby.

The good old days ay?

Just kidding, it must be shit as a 'tahs fan at the moment. As a Blues supporter I have some sympathy but we did get the odd win.

Derpus

@nta that was at least a bit of an outlier, rather than the norm.

Plus losses to the Crusaders don't count.

Snowy

@derpus said in Blues v Waratahs:

Plus losses to the Crusaders don't count.

It does seem a bit unfair when most of their team have at least six fingers on each hand (if only Brad Shields was born in Chch) but we all have to deal with it.

KiwiMurph

I'd rather be a Tahs fan right now than a Rebels fan.

Tahs have a lot of young talent.

Rebels have ?

The Silver Fern

Blues v Waratahs