Highlanders v Crusaders

antipodean

Lentjes down. Fucking night night with that head clash.

Didn't have much of an impact before that.

Dan54

Geez enjoyed that, bloody good game. Think Barrett is playing bloody well for Crusaders, and the Clan pack lost a bit when Frizell went off, he had a ripper.

Bovidae

Brown gets too smart for his own good with the 6:2 split, especially as Renton came on so late.

Chris

Happy with a bonus point win.
Jordan,Leicester F,Reece we’re very good
Even though a lot have bagged Ennor in the thread he did a power of work on D.
McAlister,Barrett,Christie and Grace apart from a couple of early penalties,were good.

Great impact off the bench from Bower,Williams,Strange, bridge and Hickey who was very good.

Chris

@antipodean said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

@bovidae said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

One advantage of turning off TJ's commentary is that you hear all the on-field verbals and plenty of chat from the sideline.

Has Robertson got something against his reserve hookers? He pretty much ignores them.

Wish I had that opportunity. Stan take note.

Although then I'd miss gems such as Megs' "Bridge draws the last defenders, passes to Jordan who has to beat four defenders".

Taylor back next week, McAlister has done enough to get more minutes.
2 good games from him.

mariner4life

@antipodean said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

@bovidae said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

One advantage of turning off TJ's commentary is that you hear all the on-field verbals and plenty of chat from the sideline.

Has Robertson got something against his reserve hookers? He pretty much ignores them.

Wish I had that opportunity. Stan take note.

Although then I'd miss gems such as Megs' "Bridge draws the last defenders, passes to Jordan who has to beat four defenders".

Fuck I just had not missed those two dribbling spastics

Duluth

ACT Crusader

Happy to get the win especially after being down 13-0.

Plenty to work on. Looked a bit 7s at times and then too lateral. Prefer Hall starting.

What’s happened to Fergus’ kicking game? League kickers get more distance!

kiwi_expat

@gt12 said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

Robertson cant be the answer as an attack coach.

He's not a backs coach and never has been...

booboo

Watching delayed, 67 mins in ... but fuck Will Jordan

Dan54

@bovidae said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

Brown gets too smart for his own good with the 6:2 split, especially as Renton came on so late.

Thought that too, but guess injury stuffed it all up, I thought when Banks came on, I didn't know if I would want him on that long. Renton I guessing he couldn't put on earlier because in case of injury to someone?

Dan54

@kiwi_expat said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

@gt12 said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

Robertson cant be the answer as an attack coach.

He's not a backs coach and never has been...

He's not a forwards coach either, that's what Jason Ryan does, and bloody well to I think.

Crucial

The 6:2 split may have been OK if one of the 2 wasn't Banks. Was he really the best option they could find?

Well past it.

Bones

Probably wasn't really worth playing eh...

Machpants

@booboo said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

Watching delayed, 67 mins in ... but fuck Will Jordan

One bit of TJ's fan boys that I agree with. For me, is his boot on top of ball in hand skills

KiwiMurph

Can't say I see it with Paea personally but it sounds like this will be the midfield for a while.

The Highlanders, in particular, took a massive step up from last week's disappointing loss to the Chiefs, and there was ample evidence that Brown's big midfield pairing of Fetuli Paea and Thomas Umaga-Jensen could develop into something of a weapon.

“I think both ‘Tuli’ and ‘Tug’ were outstanding in the midfield,” Brown said. “They hadn't played a lot of rugby, and they hadn't played a lot together, so it's a pretty exciting midfield combination for us.

“With more game time, I’m hoping they can develop into a world-class midfield.”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/127895666/crusaders-hint-at-early-return-for-richie-mounga-as-highlanders-sweat-on-injured-trio

bobily2

He does make some decent ground and is good defensively. Just needs to work on ball security. Maybe Tony Brown thinks that's something they can quickly fix?

Bovidae

@crucial said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

The 6:2 split may have been OK if one of the 2 wasn't Banks. Was he really the best option they could find?

If Koroi was fit he would be the ideal player. He covers wing and fullback and has been used at 1st 5 previously. More importantly, Koroi has some x-factor.

As to Paea, he didn't get involved enough to influence the game.

Kiwiwomble

Jesus, for what was actually a reasonably enjoyable game, this whole thread is posts either praising Jordan or leister or just pointing out all the shit stuff, very glad I’m trying not to it read the threads whilst watching

@antipodean said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

Big difference between the two teams is the ability to find space. Crusaders much better.

Started talking about specific things but really a lot of the game boils down to this point, this and having a 6/2 split when so many of our team have had serious injuries In the last year or just new to this level, it worked in 2015 when we had a teams with several battle hardened journeymen…less so now, limiting our options against a team so good at finding holes was not a good move

Nepia

@kiwiwomble said in Highlanders v Crusaders:

for what was actually a reasonably enjoyable game

I thought it was enjoyable to watch too. Although not being a cricket, US sports, soccer etc fan I'm just happy to have the rugby back so have enjoyed most games I've watched (even if I have been pointing out shit stuff too - stupid league rules in rugby).

The Silver Fern

Highlanders v Crusaders