Drua v Blues
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BLUES OUT TO STOP DRUA HOME DOMINANCE — Blues Rugby
The Blues are out to halt the home dominance of the Fijian Drua this Saturday in Lautoka at 2:05pm with the home side unbeaten on home soil this Super Rugby Pacific campaign. Fijian-born Hooker, Soane Vikena, is elevated to the starting line-up this weekend, with the bustling front rower
1 Ofa Tuungafasi
2 Soane Vikena
3 Marcel Renata
4 Cameron Suafoa
5 Sam Darry
6 Adrian Choat
7 Dalton Papalii (c)
8 Hoskins Sotutu
9 Finlay Christie
10 Beauden Barrett
11 Caleb Clarke
12 Harry Plummer
13 Rieko Ioane
14 Mark Telea
15 Zarn SullivanReserves:
16 Ricky Riccitelli
17 Jordan Lay
18 James Lay
19 James Tucker
20 Akira Ioane
21 Sam Nock
22 Bryce Heem
23 AJ LamPlayers not considered: Alex Hodgman (shoulder, season), Nepo Laulala (calf), Stephen Perofeta (shoulder), Patrick Tuipulotu (knee)
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@KiwiMurph said in Drua v Blues:
Surprisingly pleased that RTS doesn't feature
Plummer has been laying better than him. Undeserved status as an All Black.
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@taniwharugby said in Drua v Blues:
@Tim I'd rather see Heem start at 12, or they need to keep going with Plummer or give Evans a run there or at least have one on the bench
Have to assume Robinsons lack of play is due to him leaving, so they need to be consistent with RTS too.
Robinson would be a first choice player in every Blues team so interesting they have decided not to play him.
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@Duluth said in Drua v Blues:
His last two performances from the bench have been poor. Meanwhile other players have taken their chances
With players returning from injury he’s been squeezed out.
Absolute rubbish. But you do you. Tom’s a big loss to the team.
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@kev Robinson is in a no win situation has been told by Ian Foster hes not in the frame but is obliged to forfill his contract with NZR
The way hes been treated by the Blues is disgraceful ,how you go from skipper to not even making the 23 is beyond me but a certain first five can stumble his way through the season and not get dropped ..No offence to Adrian Choat and hes a great bloke but how you woukd leave a 6’5 lineout specialist ,ball carrying ,tackling energiser bunny is beyond me .
The Blues would be better off releasing Robinson and letting him head off to Japan -
@kev said in Drua v Blues:
@Duluth said in Drua v Blues:
His last two performances from the bench have been poor. Meanwhile other players have taken their chances
With players returning from injury he’s been squeezed out.
Absolute rubbish. But you do you. Tom’s a big loss to the team.
If he was playing as good as previous years he would be in the side. In previous years I’ve said he should be in the ABs. On current form people like Suafoa, Choat & Segner have got in front of him
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@Steven-Harris said in Drua v Blues:
The way hes been treated by the Blues is disgraceful ,how you go from skipper to not even making the 23 is beyond me but a certain first five can stumble his way through the season and not get dropped
What? He stopped getting selected when he signed overseas. Disgraceful is harsh.
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@Machpants said in Drua v Blues:
@kev he was last year, he's been a negative when he's made it to the field this year
Rubbish. Tom’s had virtually no game time this year. So nobody can talk to his form.
The Blues need to select players for their rugby. If you want to talk about players with no form then look no further than RTS. Always a defensive liability but selected as a project. Makes it 2 for 2 for the Blues league projects. What a total waste of time.
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@kev said in Drua v Blues:
Rubbish. Tom’s had virtually no game time this year. So nobody can talk to his form.
He's played in 6 of the 8 matches. He started two matches early on before dropping to the bench. He’s played at least 219mins. Seems like enough time to comment on his form
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@Duluth said in Drua v Blues:
@kev said in Drua v Blues:
Rubbish. Tom’s had virtually no game time this year. So nobody can talk to his form.
He's played in 6 of the 8 matches. He started two matches early on before dropping to the bench. He’s played at least 219mins. Seems like enough time to comment on his form
His form when playing some minutes was fine. Work rate is always great, Blues best lineout forward…. remember the 50m sprint to the line vs Brumbies. So for whatever reason (presume because he is leaving ) he was not selected to start again and when he was on the bench he was getting just 10 mins or so. You can’t judge form (which has always been good) when he gets 10 at the end of a game.
Your comments about his form are just your opinion. Your welcome them. But in rugby terms he starts at lock or six everyday of the week against Segner, Choat ( great 7 ) Darry, Tucker.
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@kev said in Drua v Blues:
and when he was on the bench he was getting just 10 mins or so
He's got plenty of minutes from the bench: 28, 40, 12, 16
I haven't even been that critical of him. His last last two bench performances weren't up to standard, but in general he's been fine.
However the players he's competing with have been playing well. I've used terms like 'edged past him', or 'squeezed out of the 23'. Hardly worth the tanty
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@KiwiMurph said in Drua v Blues:
Robinson has been a great servant for the Blues.
He isn't so good that he should be selected over players sticking around in close call selections.
On rugby, Tom deserves to be playing. On your logic, I expect that RTS will have played his last game for the Blues then? The difference being he was never good enough to begin with….
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@Duluth said in Drua v Blues:
@kev said in Drua v Blues:
and when he was on the bench he was getting just 10 mins or so
He's got plenty of minutes from the bench: 28, 40, 12, 16
I haven't even been that critical of him. His last last two bench performances weren't up to standard, but in general he's been fine.
However the players he's competing with have been playing well. I've used terms like 'edged past him', or 'squeezed out of the 23'. Hardly worth the tanty
I never raised anything with you. You’re the one chasing me in the thread. 😘
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@kev said in Drua v Blues:
@KiwiMurph said in Drua v Blues:
Robinson has been a great servant for the Blues.
He isn't so good that he should be selected over players sticking around in close call selections.
On rugby, Tom deserves to be playing. On your logic, I expect that RTS will have played his last game for the Blues then? The difference being he was never good enough to begin with….
I'm not a Darry fan but Suafoa, Tucker and Choat are all playing well this year. I suspect as RTS is an AB he'll be given some further opportunities. If it was up to me - yes RTS would have played his last game for the Blues - I've been out on him for quite a while anyway.
However neither RTS nor Robinson are playing in this game so let's see how the locks, loosies and midfielders go.
