Wellington vs Waikato (SF)
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Anyway, I am happy enough with the season given the number of injuries and youth of the team. Six of the starters are 21 or younger, with a few others of similar age on the bench. The key will be keeping them all and developing them.
The lineout was a big issue, not helped by having the three main locks absent. McWhannell is the lineout leader. I see there were also a couple of other U20/U19 players there, presumably as injury cover. One of those was the NZ U20 prop Will Martin who would have been playing for Thames Valley today otherwise.
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Boo the result.
Wanted Waikato to win. Seemed to be more likely to score but just couldn't.
Random thoughts:
- is Mathis our possible version of Kwagga?
- is Xroe unlucky not to be in the mentions for higher honours?
- is Savea starting to remember how to be Savea?
- liking Preston's potential
- how good is our halfback depth if you look at who isn't in the mix (as above, TTT, Fakatava, err Drummond, Funaki)
- Vikena: I saw him doing stuff. Where's that been?
Oh well, Go BOP.
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@Duluth said in Wellington vs Waikato (SF):
You mentioned you’ve seen a lot of Mathis. Where do you think he should play long term? Is he big enough to be a loosie at SR level?
He's got enough frame to put on enough weight to be, well, fuck, whatever. I'm 100% sure he will wear an AB shirt.
His athleticism reminds of Liam Messam, and that is the risk, but 7 seems the right place for him.
And, there is also the chance of a 6-2 bench where he covers the outsides. He seems to be that talented based on what he showed in the last few weeks.
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@booboo said in Wellington vs Waikato (SF):
Boo the result.
Wanted Waikato to win. Seemed to be more likely to score but just couldn't.
Random thoughts:
- is Mathis our possible version of Kwagga?
- is Xroe unlucky not to be in the mentions for higher honours?
- is Savea starting to remember how to be Savea?
- liking Preston's potential
- how good is our halfback depth if you look at who isn't in the mix (as above, TTT, Fakatava, err Drummond, Funaki)
- Vikena: I saw him doing stuff. Where's that been?
Oh well, Go BOP.
Which Vikena?
On Roe, I think he does some things very well (especially his kicking) but his passing and at times decision making is simply nowhere near up to standard.
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@Mr-Fish said in Wellington vs Waikato (SF):
Which Vikena?
I think I've got completely the wrong dude and conflated him with a diff err rntBlues hooker ...
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Pleased that was such a close contest.
I think Mathis truly has dibs on the nickname Kwagga! Future AB for sure.
Kirifi, Preston and Savea all great for Wellington. Waikato awful lineout decided the game though. It was so poor without Mcwhannell and with average throwing and calling.
Unlike other posters, I thought Roe and Cruden were brilliant in controlling the match given the lineout woes and forwards inexperience. Don't get all the criticism of Roe. He has better field vision than any other 9 in NZ and possibly the best boot. He will throw the odd dodgy pass because he is in two minds while evaluating. But his 50 22s this year have been regular and his wide cutout pass is great. He jackals well too, but often only scrag tackles. If he improves technique there I feel he is the closest challenger to Roigard and Ratima, and is a good leader to boot.
I hope Ollie Norris can improve his scrummaging because everything else is top notch and compares well to Numia and Co.
I presume that Wellington fans have seen far better displays from Harkin, Solomon and Clarke. BOP will take heart there.
I wonder whether Wellington can contain Ah Kuoi, Narawa and Carter next week? -
@ARHS said in Wellington vs Waikato (SF):
Pleased that was such a close contest.
I think Mathis truly has dibs on the nickname Kwagga! Future AB for sure.
Kirifi, Preston and Savea all great for Wellington. Waikato awful lineout decided the game though. It was so poor without Mcwhannell and with average throwing and calling.
Unlike other posters, I thought Roe and Cruden were brilliant in controlling the match given the lineout woes and forwards inexperience. Don't get all the criticism of Roe. He has better field vision than any other 9 in NZ and possibly the best boot. He will throw the odd dodgy pass because he is in two minds while evaluating. But his 50 22s this year have been regular and his wide cutout pass is great. He jackals well too, but often only scrag tackles. If he improves technique there I feel he is the closest challenger to Roigard and Ratima, and is a good leader to boot.
I hope Ollie Norris can improve his scrummaging because everything else is top notch and compares well to Numia and Co.
I presume that Wellington fans have seen far better displays from Harkin, Solomon and Clarke. BOP will take heart there.
I wonder whether Wellington can contain Ah Kuoi, Narawa and Carter next week?Yeah Harkin, Clarke and even Higgins were all pretty poor in that Semi Final, I can't see them being that poor again. Hopefully they can bring their best for the final next weekend.
