Blues v Reds
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Hmmm very dominant display but Rieko's injury could be massive as we looked a bit lost out wide defensively without him there. Other than that though, no complaints. A brilliant display where we battered them physically where they had no answer. Nice to see Vikena out there scoring a few tries too, he's got a huge future.
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@Machpants said in Blues v Reds:
Interesting looking at the stats, ESPN so maybe not the best but indicative.
Clarke 4 missed, 2 made, RTS 15 no misses!
Thought RTS missed one at Jock Campbell’s first try
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@African-Monkey said in Blues v Reds:
Hmmm very dominant display but Rieko's injury could be massive as we looked a bit lost out wide defensively without him there.
Looked like the Blues defensive line was a lot more narrow than they usually are?
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Watching recording now.
That Caleb Clarke try in 18th minute is why I'm loving watching the Blues.
P.S. I reserve the right to get pissed off if it goes to custard.
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@KiwiMurph said in Blues v Reds:
Clarke's defence is a real problem
It’s an interesting one because he seems to fall off regulation tackles (not just tonight either) but then can make the big hit or with pace chase someone down.
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@antipodean Nah, Mounga gets into position but gets outmuscled. Clarke is never in a position to make a tackle. Same with his positioning in attack many times. He looks good being set up by the likes of RTS in a dominant team but just lacks vision IMO. Amazing physical attributes but lacking in rugby IQ. Young though.
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quick morning after match report.
Decent crowd. Was officially 20k, but those figures often feel a few thousand overstaed. Still solid though, and noisy.
Blues are consistently making good decisions in attack and defence. Not perfect by any means, but if you put 50 on one o fthe top Aussie sides and still have plenty to work on, that's a good result.
The Reds werne't bad at all. Strong set piece, tough, and asked some big questions on attack. Classic Brad Thorne - big hard runs, time after time. Tate is a bloody good 9 who knows how to play the ref. Aussies wlil be in the contest this year I feel.
Blues D was superb, and championship level. They keep stopping runners on the advantage line, good double tackles, and it takes something special to break them down. Team working hard for each other -- such a change from a few years ago. Plenty to work on, particularly with the lineout.
I won't say much about the ref, but by god it was a hard watch. Interpretation is one thing, but the most egregious moment was the Reds collapsing a maul that was a metre out from the tryline and going forward, and Fraser missed it. Honestly, had Penalty Try written all over it ... but to get whistled off the park and still put up the offense they did is impressive.
@Tim Robinson was noticeably light at lock. I don't think the scrum gets power with him there, was a really noticeable step up when Romano came on the field.
Clarke was mixed; equal parts sensational, breaking tackles at will, and then getting bumped off twice by Vunivalu. Still offers so much out there, but some work-ons.
RTS goes from strength to strength. Considering this is his first few rugby games, he's on a noticeable upward curve. Good defence, and you can see the quality of his stepping and attacking.
Telea is a bit like Clarke - some great things (ripping, getting over the ball in rucks), but also some rocks in your head moments.
Christie is an underrated component in this team. He took some poor options/executions at times, but his work on D is massive - flying around to shut down the opposition. It's a good feeling struggling to pick a MOTM from the team, but Heem takes the cake for me, coming off the bench to play centre, Christie for his D, and Akira for his work and physicality. Whole forward pack should get it thouhg their work is enabling the backs to look good out there.
So, 2 more comp points and we're minor champs. That's bloody impressive - particularly when you realise we had no preseason and most of the players had no NPC last year. Will we win it? Who knows - but we're certainly giving ourselves a damn good shot at it. It'll take something special to come to EP and beat us; can see Crusaders or a top performance from another Kiwi side doing it. But, frankly, we've won already. From where we were, to being a dominant force - winning the thing is important, but not as important as building the strucutre, talent pipeline and team culture that's being built. Papali'i needs to take some credit for that, stepping up and leading from the front.
Players I think they will pick in the AB squad
Hodgeman
Eklund
Ofa
NepoDalton
Hoskins
Akira
maybe: Robinson for Lock/6 coverChristie
Barrett
PerofetaRTS
Rieko
CalebHuge game next week. Lock up the top spot, and get hte luxury of resting some players going into the finals.
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Bloody good wrap up nzzp, love hearing from people at game, still the only place to get proper feel for game. I really enjoyed game on TV from down here in the Naki and had said to wife how much I think I would of enjoyed being there.
But mind you I a tragic and love being at almost any rugby game!!!
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@nzzp I’ll be surprised if Eklund makes it, not because he’s not having an excellent season, but I can’t see them dropping any of Coles, Taylor or Sami to make way for him.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Blues v Reds:
@nzzp I’ll be surprised if Eklund makes it, not because he’s not having an excellent season, but I can’t see them dropping any of Coles, Taylor or Sami to make way for him.
Personally, I think it would be a mistake to keep both Coles and Taylor. CT is starting to fade, and Coles is hardly ever fit.
So Coles is a risk IMO.
I'd start ST, and have CT on the bench and a third in the squad - be that KE or whoever.
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@ACT-Crusader Yeah Eklund won't be getting a call up as good as he has been over the last few years.
