Waratahs v Blues
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@Kirwan said in Waratahs v Blues:
What has happened is Funaki has claimed the number two spot (Nock has been terrible) and is pushing Christie hard, which is great.
Nock has been his normal good pass mixed with brain farts
A completely unprovable criticism - imagine how bad Nock would've been if he had to play 65mins as a winger
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@Duluth said in Waratahs v Blues:
@Kirwan said in Waratahs v Blues:
What has happened is Funaki has claimed the number two spot (Nock has been terrible) and is pushing Christie hard, which is great.
Nock has been his normal good pass mixed with brain farts
A completely unprovable criticism - imagine how bad Nock would've been if he had to play 65mins as a winger
Certainly wouldn't have defended as well as Funaki did, nor would he have bumped people off cleaning up in the 22. Funaki was bloody excellent.
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The ticket pricing structure for this match is not conducive to bigger crowds. $25 general admission at the ends, then $65 for anywhere decent, and $50 for a few random spots that are ok but not great seats.
I've had two mates pull out as they'd rather watch on TV than the ends, and $65 is not worth it to them for franchise rugby.
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ticket prices for everything have fucking skyrocketed. i was appalled by what i have to pay for an AFL and NRL game now.
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@mariner4life said in Waratahs v Blues:
ticket prices for everything have fucking skyrocketed. i was appalled by what i have to pay for an AFL and NRL game now.
I don't notice it as much with the Warriors games, maybe as I'm never the one actually ordering the tickets as my uber Warriors fan mate always grabs them early and I just transfer whatever number he specifies.
I guess I don't understand the economics of it as I would have thought lower prices and bigger crowds would be better than higher prices and smaller crowds.
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@KiwiMurph said in Waratahs v Blues:
@Nepia Tahs offered a 2 for 1 ticket deal for last week's match and all nsw school rugby players and junior referees get free entry.
Well that doesn't help me and my middle aged mates this weekend.
Sadly, I haven't seen any deals this week.
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BLUES WARY OF WARATAHS THREAT — Blues Rugby
The Blues have their sights set on returning to the DHL Super Rugby Pacific winner’s circle this weekend as they travel to Sydney to take on the Waratahs at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night at 9:35pm (NZT). A focused and determined Blues side travel across the ditch with Captain Dalton Papali’i we
1 Ofa Tu’ungafasi
2 Kurt Eklund
3 Marcel Renata
4 Josh Beehre
5 Laghlan McWhannell
6 Akira Ioane
7 Dalton Papali’i (c)
8 Hoskins Sotutu
9 Finlay Christie
10 Stephen Perofeta
11 Caleb Clarke
12 Bryce Heem
13 Rieko Ioane
14 Mark Tele’a
15 Zarn Sullivan16 Soane Vikena
17 Joshua Fusitu’a
18 Angus Ta’avao
19 Cameron Suafoa
20 Anton Segner
21 Sam Nock
22 Harry Plummer
23 Cole ForbesPlayers not considered: Patrick Tuipulotu (jaw), Sam Darry (knee), AJ Lam (concussion)
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https://nsw.rugby/news/team-list-nsw-waratahs-v-blues-2024312
Hayden Thompson-Stringer, Julian Heaven, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Jed Holloway, Fergus Lee-Warner, Ned Hanigan, Charlie Gamble, Langi Gleeson, Jake Gordon (c), Tane Edmed, Dylan Pietsch, Joey Walton, Izaia Perese, Triston Reilly, Mark Nawaqanitawase
Reserves: Jay Fonokalafi, Angus Bell, Tom Ross, Miles Amatosero, Hugh Sinclair, Lachlan Swinton, Jack Grant, Harry Wilson
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@NTA said in Waratahs v Blues:
@Nepia buy the cheap tickets then move into the vacant real estate in the good areas. Just avoid the security at the top of each bay.
Despite the fact I grew up in the hood, I'm an honest guy.
I actually don't mind being on the ends, I quite like that view, and saw a number of test matches from that spot in the 90s when I was a student with limited funds. It meant I had the pleasure of seeing one of Cullen's great stepping, swerving etc tries from end on against Scotland.
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@Duluth said in Waratahs v Blues:
https://nsw.rugby/news/team-list-nsw-waratahs-v-blues-2024312
Hayden Thompson-Stringer, Julian Heaven, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Jed Holloway, Fergus Lee-Warner, Ned Hanigan, Charlie Gamble, Langi Gleeson, Jake Gordon (c), Tane Edmed, Dylan Pietsch, Joey Walton, Izaia Perese, Triston Reilly, Mark Nawaqanitawase
Reserves: Jay Fonokalafi, Angus Bell, Tom Ross, Miles Amatosero, Hugh Sinclair, Lachlan Swinton, Jack Grant, Harry Wilson
That's a lot of changes. Bell needs a rest but with Ofa back the scrum could get messy.
FLW as a lock is an interesting choice
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Surprised Sullivan is playing this week.
Wondering if Plummer is being rotated out or has been dropped to the bench after his performance on Saturday. I thought he was poor against the Canes.
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@Duluth said in Waratahs v Blues:
Why is Bell only on the bench?
They probably want some experience to go with a very young inexperienced bench front row (bench hooker is 5th choice). I wouldn't be surprised to see Bell on the field after 30 minutes.
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Some of the Opta facts for this game:
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The Blues have won their last nine matches on the bounce against the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby competitions; it's the Blues' longest winning run against a single team in their history.
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The NSW Waratahs have won only one of their last six Super Rugby Pacific matches (L5) - a 37-24 victory against the Crusaders (2 March 2024).
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The Blues will be looking to avoid back-to-back defeats in Super Rugby for the first time since April 2021, following their 21-29 loss against the Hurricanes last time out in Super Rugby Pacific.
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The Blues have retained possession from 98% of their rucks in Super Rugby Pacific this year, the best rate of any team, also recording the quickest average attacking ruck speed in the competition (2.69 seconds per ruck).
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Mark Tele'a (Blues) has made 48 carries in the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season - five more than any other player in the campaign; in addition, his 17 defenders beaten is the third most of any player (Cam Roigard - 19 for Hurricanes and Selestino Ravutaumada - 18 for Fijian Drua).
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@Duluth said in Waratahs v Blues:
The Blues have won their last nine matches on the bounce against the NSW Waratahs
The NSW Waratahs have won only one of their last six Super Rugby Pacific matches
The Blues will be looking to avoid back-to-back defeats in Super Rugby for the first time since April 2021,
Well, I don't think they've got much to worry about...
