Blues v Brumbies
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Suprised Akira got away with that cleanout tbh. It wasn't terrible, but refs are usually strict on that sort of stuff and it looked bad even if it wasn't really.
It's fair to say that so far, that the Aussie sides we've come up against so far have struggled with us physically, especially as games go on. They match us early on in games, but then struggle once the benches come on. The NZ sides dealt with our blunt style a lot better.
Virtual semi final next week. Win and we should seal a spot in the final.
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@canes4life said in Blues v Brumbies:
@yeetyaah now up to the Chiefys to make it 14-zip
A kiwi team had to lose, so glad it was the taranaki team
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@african-monkey said in Blues v Brumbies:
Suprised Akira got away with that cleanout tbh. It wasn't terrible, but refs are usually strict on that sort of stuff and it looked bad even if it wasn't really.
yeah my thoughts too, especially with his feet going past horizontal, it did 'look' bad.
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@taniwharugby said in Blues v Brumbies:
@african-monkey said in Blues v Brumbies:
Suprised Akira got away with that cleanout tbh. It wasn't terrible, but refs are usually strict on that sort of stuff and it looked bad even if it wasn't really.
yeah my thoughts too, especially with his feet going past horizontal, it did 'look' bad.
dumb, in that it offers the ref a pathway to a yellow card.
He looked good again. I suspect he'll be in the 23 for the ABs. People critiquing quickly forget he was arguably the best AB on the field in the games he played last year. I'd astonished if they dropped him
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also, quick match report last night.
Horrible crowd. Possibly because it wasn't in season ticket allocations -so you had to buy a ticket to go, and it wasn't in the calendar at the start of the season. Also, it's teh Brumbies ... not a side you associate with a lot of imagination
Huge BP win for the Blues given the season so far. One more BP and we'll be in the fight for the final with points differntial; two more BP and we should be hosting a final. It's lunacy that some sides will wind up unbeaten with 3-4 BP, and yet miss out on the final. This comp sucks, because one team every week isn't really that competitive.
Anyway, I feel like it's copy paste time. Scrum was good, our ruck breakdown work continues to improve, and the ref was random at times. Can't wait for BB to arrive - Black continues to miss key moments; with Mo'unga we'd have won by 50. Loosies are exceptional right now, and Dalton is quietly fashioning a magnificent season Woulnd't be surprised to see him in the ABs and challenging for a starting spot. Defensively massive, gets turnovers consistently, carries well, and is just a presence out there. Great to watch.
Also, our rugby media has turned to custard. The quality of the reporting is basically 'we won, so everyone played well'. It's stupid. Black is called up as having a decent game -- but the same flaws from earlier in the season were there. Butchered a couple of attacking opportunities.
Wider, there are more consistent periods where we show rugby intelligence... followed by the odd brain fart. We'll look a different side with BB at 10 (and JB at 12???)
Zarn solid at the back, and the ability to kick 50 m is very useful.
So really, on with the comp that on one is really that excited about outside rugby tragics.
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@african-monkey people see what they want to see, once the blinkers go up on someone or they see the talent they are tough to sway, no matter what,plenty of evidence of that on here.
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@taniwharugby And both of us are probably just as guilty of it as well haha.
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I bemoan the tunnel vision refereeing interpretation when a blues player got held up in a tackle causing a maul ( well done Brumbies defence). Better was the blues then "accepting" that and charging 15-20 metres downfield in a mini maul, if you like. Brumbies knowing they had hands on the ball then blatantly and deliberately pulled the maul down and the cookie cutter ref called turnover scrum to the visitors.
Completely ignored the pulling down of his announced maul.
Basically just ignored the fundamental maul law because it wasn't near a try line and didn't come from a lineout.
It was a shame because it was a great opportunity to showcase another, quite intellectual, game tactic. Too often a stalemate exists when a tackle becomes a maul and we wait for a pile down and no one moves on the ground.
Here was a great countermove example but the ref bottled it.Annoyed me at the time. Stifled an innovative strategy that could add another facet to rugby - what you could do when a ref calls maul "against" you
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@siam said in Blues v Brumbies:
I bemoan the tunnel vision refereeing interpretation when a blues player got held up in a tackle causing a maul ( well done Brumbies defence). Better was the blues then "accepting" that and charging 15-20 metres downfield in a mini maul, if you like. Brumbies knowing they had hands on the ball then blatantly and deliberately pulled the maul down and the cookie cutter ref called turnover scrum to the visitors.
interesting idea, but refs aren't going to be on board I don't think. At the time I credited the Brumbies with rugby nous - conceding metres, as they knew they'd get the ball back if htey didn't let go. But you make a fair point.
The entry into rucks does my absolute head in. People clean out jacklers at 90 degrees, and the refs just watch it and shrug ... until they blow a random penalty.
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@african-monkey yep, players people dont rate they see every error they make and magnify them, and then every good thing as just doing what they should, and the opposite too.
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@nzzp said in Blues v Brumbies:
@siam said in Blues v Brumbies:
I bemoan the tunnel vision refereeing interpretation when a blues player got held up in a tackle causing a maul ( well done Brumbies defence). Better was the blues then "accepting" that and charging 15-20 metres downfield in a mini maul, if you like. Brumbies knowing they had hands on the ball then blatantly and deliberately pulled the maul down and the cookie cutter ref called turnover scrum to the visitors.
interesting idea, but refs aren't going to be on board I don't think. At the time I credited the Brumbies with rugby nous - conceding metres, as they knew they'd get the ball back if htey didn't let go. But you make a fair point.
The entry into rucks does my absolute head in. People clean out jacklers at 90 degrees, and the refs just watch it and shrug ... until they blow a random penalty.
I'd hope the refs don't have to do anything except notice the maul (that they announced) was now travelling forward and that normal maul rules apply until it's either stationary or collapsed by it's own volition, which would be most cases.
In my mind, the blues just got on with mauling and the ponies transgressed thinking that the "held up" call superseded an act of foul (?) play?
Basically, the Brumbies sought a maul, were given a maul then gave away a penalty when the said maul didn't go the way they expected.
Too cerebral?🙂
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@gt12 said in Blues v Brumbies:
@kiwimurph said in Blues v Brumbies:
Time to hook Renata.
Mafileo was our unsung hero last week - keeping Sio straight and up is a trick
Sio seems good at bluffing on hit and causing TH to overextend and knee on ground. Renata though was trying to pull arm down at times.
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A bit fanciful, but I'd love to see a decade long rivalry between Zarn Sullivan and Will Jordan reminiscent of the Hewson/Deans or Mexted/Atkins type battles and conjecture.
Zarn still with a bit to show, obviously, but they compare nicely physically with a good contrast of the skills and match turning attributes they provide.
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By christ that red headed Robinson gets through some clean out work!
Didn't notice how slow Christie was at distributing untill this thread - now I can't but not notice it!
Is it a tactic like Weepu used to do or just an area of improvement? Seems to stifle the backline and second receiver can only head back into the area the ball came from
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@siam said in Blues v Brumbies:
By christ that red headed Robinson gets through some clean out work!
Didn't notice how slow Christie was at distributing untill this thread - now I can't but not notice it!
Is it a tactic like Weepu used to do or just an area of improvement? Seems to stifle the backline and second receiver can only head back into the area the ball came from
The few times he got to the rcuk and just cleared it rather than meerkatting, it was an amazing difference