Force v Crusaders

Stargazer

Crusaders:
 
1. Wyatt Crockett 2. Codie Taylor 3. Owen Franks 4. Luke Romano 5. Sam Whitelock 6. Jordan Taufua 7. Matt Todd 8. Kieran Read (c)
9. Mitch Drummond 10. Richie Moâ€™unga 11. Nemani Nadolo 12. Ryan Crotty 13. Sean Wainui 14. Johnny McNicholl 15. Ben Volavola
 
Reserves:
16. Ged Robinson 17. Joe Moody 18. Mike Alaalatoa 19. Scott Barrett 20. Jimmy Tupou 21. Andy Ellis 22. Kieron Fonotia 23. Jone Macilai

Stargazer

Force:
 
1. Pekahou Cowan 2. Heath Tessmann 3. Tetera Faulkner 4. Sitiveni (Steve) Mafi 5. Adam Coleman 6. Angus Cottrell 7. Matt Hodgson Â© 8. Ben McCalman 
9. Alby Mathewson 10. Peter Grant 11. Semisi Masirewa 12. Solomoni (Junior) Rasolea 13. Ben Tapuai 14. Luke Morahan 15. Dane Haylett-Petty
 
Reserves
16. Nathan Charles 17. Francois van Wyk 18. Jermaine Ainsley 19. Rory Walton 20. Richard Hardwick 21. Ryan Louwrens 22. Ian Prior 23. Albert Nikoro

SammyC

Glad we didn't get carried away with rotating players.
 
This is the sort of game we have done exactly that in previous years and paid for it.
 
 
I think this year Toddy has changed a couple of things.
 
Firstly, his rotation policy as I outlined above
 
Secondly, I think he's learnt from Jamie Joseph and the highlanders.. instead of constantly fanning out across the field we are committing more numbers to breakdowns this year in search of turnovers and quick ruck ball.
 
 
Both changes are very positive in my ipinion.

leytonandamanda

Can anyone tell me what's the news on Mitchell hunt? Is he injured or just not getting any game time? 
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SammyC

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="leytonandamanda" data-cid="570510" data-time="1460079978">
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Can anyone tell me what's the news on Mitchell hunt? Is he injured or just not getting any game time? 
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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</blockquote>
 
Not getting game time at this stage.
 
Has been on tour with the squad, so is in the mix I suppose. 
 
 
Wouldn't mind seeing him have a run at fullback instead of Volavola (although to be fair Volavola is playing much better than he did for Fiji last year). I think it's wise to keep Richie at 10 for now.

SammyC

<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/78648475/aussie-tv-commentator-criticises-crusaders-basic-game-plan'>http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/78648475/aussie-tv-commentator-criticises-crusaders-basic-game-plan</a>
 
Marto and Big Stormin Normin providing a bit of extra motivation for tonight :)

booboo

Who cares if the game plan is basic. Especially if it is winning games. And it still should be too good for the Farce.

Unco

I don't think he's wrong about the basic gameplan, the Saders attack is super predictable compared to the other 4 NZ teams, but the opposition still have to be good enough to contain them and I don't think the Force have any chance of doing that (out of the Aussie teams at the moment, only the Brumbies probably do). Their only real chance is if the Saders are tired from the travel and have underestimated them like they have the Force/Rebels a few times over the years.

taniwharugby

the Crusaders have long used the side to side stuff, but they have a bit of variation with some penetrative runners out there and is making a big difference

SammyC

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="taniwharugby" data-cid="570581" data-time="1460088414">
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the Crusaders have long used the side to side stuff, but they have a bit of variation with some penetrative runners out there and is making a big difference
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Yeah we've definately changed things up a bit this year.
 
it's only taken 4 years for Blackadder to learn And if you ask me, he's pretty much copied the highlanders blueprint from last year

Cantab79

I think people are being a bit harsh on Blackadder's attack structures. The Crusaders have consistently been one of the best attacking teams in Super Rugby under his tutelage. Pretty sure they topped the NZ conference attack stats last year, despite the Hurricanes topping the table.

SammyC

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Cantab79" data-cid="570583" data-time="1460088846">
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I think people are being a bit harsh on Blackadder's attack structures. The Crusaders have consistently been one of the best attacking teams in Super Rugby under his tutelage. Pretty sure they topped the NZ conference attack stats last year, despite the Hurricanes topping the table.
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From memory we had a few big wins last year (sharks and reds game spring to mind) but really struggled to score against the other NZ teams.
 
Think we only scored 1 try in 2 games against the Chiefs. despite having enough posession to be competitive.

No Quarter

They topped the "smash shit out of the crap teams" board while looking largely ineffective against the top sides.

SammyC

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="No Quarter" data-cid="570585" data-time="1460089250">
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They topped the "smash shit out of the crap teams" board while looking largely ineffective against the top sides.
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Agree :)
 
"you can come up with stats to prove anything Kent. Fofty percent of all people know that"

Cantab79

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="No Quarter" data-cid="570585" data-time="1460089250">
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They topped the "smash shit out of the crap teams" board while looking largely ineffective against the top sides.
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Just saying, Blackadder always cops plenty of grief for how poorly his team attacks, but even when they top the attack stats for the entire competition people still cricticise them for being one dimensional and easy to read in attack.

taniwharugby

Dilbert has a view on this too
 
[attachment=2009:dt080508.gif]

mariner4life

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="taniwharugby" data-cid="570593" data-time="1460089847">
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Dilbert has a view on this too
 
<img src="http://www.daimenhutchison.com/rugby/public/style_images/master/attachicon.gif" alt="attachicon.gif"><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/rugby/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=2009'>dt080508.gif</a>
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because of my role, i always liked this one
 
<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kLtoI-U1SpA/TjA-TT3wD1I/AAAAAAAAC0w/VGCmC8fsWgg/s1600/1429.strip.gif" alt="1429.strip.gif">

Cantab79

I'm not making any numbers up TR.
 
I don't have last season's table in front of me, but I know if the Crusaders weren't the highest scoring team during the round-robin fixtures in 2015 than they were very close to the highest. Now people can choose to ignore this fact and point to the fact that they didn't score many tries against the Chiefs, but when it comes to point scoring Blackadder can't do much more than have his team score more points than any other team.

taniwharugby

my post was in response to SammyC's one above yours....not saying you made them up, just that was mildly related and funny!

Cantab79

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="taniwharugby" data-cid="570600" data-time="1460090904">
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my post was in response to SammyC's one above yours....not saying you made them up, just that was mildly related and funny!
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</blockquote>
 
No worries, I wasn't sure if you were responding to my post.

The Silver Fern

Force v Crusaders