Blues v Highlanders
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Papalii, who slots into a rearranged loose forward trio at number eight, alongside Tom Robinson and Anton Segner, was granted an early return from suspension having completed a World Rugby Coaching Intervention Programme. Fellow loose forward, Akira Ioane, will come off the bench for the match as part of a personalised All Blacks rest plan while Northland’s Rob Rush is a potential Blues debutant off the bench as well. -
I'm sure Caleb Clarke is looking forward to his match up with scott gregory
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@SouthernMann it very generous of us to help build up his confidence, play him into form ahead of the RWC, get his line break stats up
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@SouthernMann Whilst Gregory is undoubtedly crap with ball in hand, at least his edge defence is decent. Garden-Bachop gets toasted defensively on the wing. As for Lowe, not sure his form warrants selection, he has been dreadful.
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Still have Lowe for two more years! he certainly landed himself a great deal
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@friedrugby exactly what i mean, everyone just sees things differently, i see Gregory getting smoked on the wing all the time, just doesnt have the pace to get wide or to catch anyone that gets around him
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@Kiwiwomble I might be missing something, but I thought it was genuinely accepted Gregory can tackle... CGB has been toasted on the outside channel so many times this season. Not to say that Gregory will go any better, but I do like that they are trying something.
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@friedrugby i dont actually remember his ability to tackle being particularly impressive but if we concede he is good, my observation is he can tackle when someone runs at him, say midfield or i guess on the blindside wing, but right wing needs to be able to cover a lot of ground on defence... dominant left to right pass so teams more likely to flush wide to his wing fast and so he needs to be able to get across as the ball spreads....and i dont feel he does, i dont have a photographic memory so cant recite time and games...but have memories of him just being ran around....lots, probably doesnt even get counted as a missed tackle or anything if he's not even putting a hand on
personally, i feel at least CGB brings a lot on attack...where as gregory offers little on attack or defence
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He is just a bit shit.
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@SouthernMann Ultimately, all three are shit in their own individual ways, so let's hope the ball just goes down Nareki's side!
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@Crucial said in Blues v Highlanders:
What's with Plummer over Perofeta?
SP has gone from bag carrying AB to bag carrying Blue.
Maybe the Highlanders coaches can make him an offer while they are there? He'd be a guaranteed strter at the Clan and form a pairing with Fakatava.
obviously not happening but i'd snap that up if was a real option
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@Kiwiwomble said in Blues v Highlanders:
@Duluth ok, not as bad as thought as Gilbert is there
lowe not on injury list but Gregory pick ahead of him, sometimes selections just make you think you see the game completely differently to other people, gregory on the wing ahead of CGB or Lowe just seems weird to me
It's just so fucking bizarre eh. Really erodes any trust in the coaches. If I was to be charitable, the only thing I can think of is they've noticed Gregory is shit from the bench this season and CGB's high energy style will bring some impact?
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@Duluth said in Blues v Highlanders:
In a game earlier this year (v Rebels) Papali'i started at 7 and Segner at 8. They have swapped positions for this one.
I'm pretty sure Papali'i has never started an NPC or SR game at 8?
I wonder if the AB selectors made the suggestion
I thought DP played a few games at 8 about 2-3 years ago?
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@friedrugby said in Blues v Highlanders:
@Kiwiwomble I might be missing something, but I thought it was genuinely accepted Gregory can tackle... CGB has been toasted on the outside channel so many times this season. Not to say that Gregory will go any better, but I do like that they are trying something.
Gregory can't tackle. He might nail someone if there's no movement, but I'd be tempted to put money on him having the same tackle percentage or worse than CGB and definitely Lowe.
