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@Canerbry said in Final: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Also needs to be noted, the pathetic performance of the crowd at the presentations has removed any moral high ground over crowd behaviour from a huge number of posters here for decades.
Was the worst performance I've ever seen by a home crowd, having watched Rugby my entire life. It was legit feral.
@KiwiMurph said in Final: Chiefs v Crusaders:
@Canerbry said in Final: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Whitelock > Retallick
Surely the far bigger discrepancy was
Scott Barrett > Vaai
Scooter was everywhere whereas Vaai was nowhere.
Whitelock's work at lineout time was unsurpassed.
@Canerbry said in Final: Chiefs v Crusaders:
The Crusaders' wall in the last 7 minutes won the game.
That was epic. We made 30-40 metres without the ball and reduced the Chiefs to playing one-off the rucks and seemingly playing for time. The Crusaders found a second wind and it some them the game.
@Billy-Tell said in All Blacks 2023:
I assume foster said he was “excited” while sounding utterly bored.
Totally. Next year I am looking forward to having a coach who speaks with energy and enthusiasm, and gets excited about Rugby. Foster's low/no energy style of operating has been pathetic to watch.
@antipodean said in Crusaders v Force:
I think the only thing we'll learn from this fixture is Cron made an error taking the Force coaching role.
I think a Super Rugby head coaching role was the logical and obvious decision for Simon Cron. He took over the Force when they were at a low level and any improvement will enhance his future prospects.
The Crusaders injury issues are extremely frustrating. There has to be a reason why half our squad is unavailable? Has our strength & conditioning team changed? Whilst there has been a range of different injuries, there has to be a science based reason for this happening? Otherwise, it's just bad luck?
That was the worst performance I've seen from Barrett in a long time. Maybe ever? It wasn't just his fluffed try or his poor goal kicking, his general game management was poor as well. All players have a use-by date, and I wonder if we are seeing BB reach his in a rather public and inglorious way? I thought the Blues still had enough ball and territory to win this game, but poor decision making and finishing cost them. Well done to the Chiefs though, they thoroughly deserved their win. They look like a team that knows their structure and enjoys playing together. This Chiefs team reminds me of the vintage Rennie-era great Chiefs teams, perhaps without the physicality and roughness that defined those teams. It looks well coached and is playing above the sum of its parts,
@act-crusader said in All Blacks vs Pumas II:
On Blackadder, at least two of the missed tackles were him shooting out of the line and got a hand on the player, so as far as I am aware that counts as a missed tackle. There was one missed tackle off a kick restart where the Argies got the ball and he actually ran around a team mate and Blackadder got a hand to him but couldn’t tackle. That is counted as a missed tackle.
It reminds me when the odd game Snakey would have a higher than usual missed tackle count because he also was used as a shooter because he read the game so well.
I remember that Richie McCaw often recorded a few missed tackles because he busted his arse to attempt tackles that other players wouldn't have ever gotten to. He would get a finger on an attacker that another player wouldn't have touched. Blackadder makes the same effort and so I expect he'll record similar numbers of missed tackles.
@act-crusader said in Reds v Crusaders:
@victor-meldrew said in Reds v Crusaders:
Crusaders look to be the complete S15 (10) team out there. Excellent at everything and some outstanding individuals.
It’s a good effort given we are missing All Blacks, Moody, S. Barrett, Goodhue, Bridge and Cameron
😀
Oh no you didn't!
@derpus said in SRA: Final. Crusaders vs Chiefs:
What's the deal with the reffing? There is no interpretation that allows the ref to award Reece a yellow. Direct contact to the head without a mitigating factor is red. O'Keefe seemed to say that it didn't result in serious harm and so it was just a yellow.
Both Nanai-Seturo's high tackles were also direct contact to the head.
Yep that captain's challenge was a complete farce. It made the officiating team look like idiots and it showed that such a rule doesn't have a place in our game. I agree that I thought the Chiefs were already playing under advantage before the offside penalty was given, but don't blame the referee for not remembering. He shouldn't have to remember that. Hopefully that debacle will be the end of captain's challenge for NZR.
An enjoyable game to watch as a neutral. Some great tries and skills on display. This match also highlighted for me the impact of the NH player drain on NZ rugby, with so many former AB's and 2nd tier players now playing for NH clubs. Both the Highlanders and Hurricanes are fielding the weakest squads they've had in their history.
@booboo said in SRA Round 9: Crusaders v Blues:
@cantab79 said in SRA Round 9: Crusaders v Blues:
To be honest, if Sione Havili Talitui was suspended for the final it would probably be doing the Crusdaers a favour. He's a waste of space in the team, notwithstanding that fact that his performance against the Blues was his best in a Crusaders jersey. Tom Sanders to play at 7 please!
He's what, third choice at 7? Harsh call
2nd choice after Christie.
Very happy with the result. Whilst I don't think that the Crusaders played particularly well, the Blues were worse. Their attack in particular looked laboured, I wonder if losing their no.12 so early in the match played a role in this? The Crusaders defense was the difference in the end, and I am hopeful of a good result in the final in a fortnight against the Chiefs. I wonder if the Chiefs will be tempted to rest players?