The Silver Fern

@Winger said in Highlanders v Blues:

what's happened to Kurt Eklund

Likely has paid for a creaky lineout last week

@Duluth said in Highlanders v Blues:

BLUES WELCOME BACK HEAVY HITTERS FOR HIGHLANDERS — Blues Rugby

Ofa Tu’ungafasi and Akira Ioane return to the Blues side this weekend as the team travel to Melbourne for DHL Super Rugby Pacific’s ‘Super Round’ to take on the Highlanders on Friday night at 8pm (NZT).  Blues Head Coach Vern Cotter has made several changes to his side with an eye to build

Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Ricky Riccitelli, Marcel Renata, Laghlan McWhannell, Sam Darry, Akira Ioane, Dalton Papali'i (c), Hoskins Sotutu, Taufa Funaki, Stephen Perofeta, Caleb Clarke, Bryce Heem, AJ Lam, Mark Tele'a, Zarn Sullivan

Reserves: Soane Vikena, Joshua Fusitu'a, Angus Ta'avao, Josh Beehre, Adrian Choat, Sam Nock, Harry Plummer, Cole Forbes

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Players not considered: Patrick Tuipulotu (jaw), Rieko Ioane (load management), Finlay Christie (load management)

Load management in Game 2? Goodness. But I guess get it over with early to keep them on the paddock for the back end of season.

Boks by 9+. No surprises, they will outmuscle and destroy the Irish. Relentless pressure, big emphasis on scrums and mauls . They’ll kick to the Irish and dare them to run it back.

We needed that performance after two poor outings against the Boks and French. AB’s were accurate and methodical. They were controlled even when racking up a big score. No helter skelter rugby, kept largely to structure.

Some good performances too - Roigard although his passing needs improvement, DMac and Leicester were my pick. No real standout in the pack, they all seemed to stick to their roles.

I think Roigard may have pushed ahead of Christie in that performance. Did anyone else notice DMac, Beaudy had to dip low to scoop up some of Roigard’s passes? They seemed to hit them either low or chest height.

DeGroot is a worry. No malicious intent but more sloppy. Just brushed the head of Namibian player who clearly hurt his shoulder in the collision.

@Windows97 said in RWC: France v All Blacks:

@nostrildamus said in RWC: France v All Blacks:

This is such an uplifting thread.
Poster A: The current ABs are crap.
Poster B: You forget, they have been crap before.

Well the positives are...

1. The game-plan worked for 40 minutes
2. We have a lot of injured players to come back into the team - who will make a difference.
3. We beat a lot a defenders and created opportunities (didn't capitalize on them unfortunately).

There are positives we can work on but man, two games in a row where our forward pack sort of disappeared. I am certain we can recover and beat Boks/Ireland in the qtrs but I'm not so confident we can win 3 big games in a row.

I'm picking a good AB win - 7-10PTS. I'd feel much better about it if Jordie was fit but we have the players to win it considering who is missing from the French team, in particular Ntamack & Danty.

Frizell's injury has really stuffed things up. I like Jacobson but I think too small against a big Bok pack. I think this is why they've gone with a 6-2 split on the bench. Have we ever gone this route before?

I would've preferred to see Vaa'i partner Whitelock and push Barrett out to 6 with a traditional split on the bench ie, Lord and Papali'i. This way you could've put DMac on the bench against a tiring Bok team.

@Chris said in Super Rugby 2024:

Brydon Ennor who ever he has signed for in 2024, Crusaders or according to @george33 Highlanders neither will see him for the SR season ruptured ACL not expected to play until at least June 2024.
Who ever he has signed for will need an injury replacement.

Never nice to see especially from someone who has already come back from one.

I wouldn’t be writing off Auckland. Patty and Akira add some much needed punch in the pack. Really interested to see how RTS goes at fullback. I doubt there will be much kicking from him.

@Tim said in AB RWC Squad:

Beauden Barrett has been excellent at fullback for the ABs this year. A whole of bitching about SR form (meaningless), and myopia when it comes to his international form.

Yep and better than Jordan at 15. His playmaking, decision making and kicking game make him indispensable.

@sparky said in AB RWC Squad:

What are our options from that squad for Number 8 if Ardie Savea and Luke Jacobson both have injury niggles?

Frizell and Papali’i.

@Dan54 said in AB RWC Squad:

Finau and Weber going over for Bok game,as well as Bell at hooker!

Bell at hooker? What happened to Aumua?

@Duluth said in AB RWC Squad:

Surprised they went for LF over another loosie

Not sure why people were mentioning Clarke. He was clearly in their plans having played 13 of the last 14 Test matches

Also thought Narawa might have been the unlucky one given the niggly injury

I’m just surprised they took 5 wingers instead of an extra loosie or lock. Brodie’s injury must not have been as bad.

No surprises to those who missed the cut. Blackadder if fit would’ve been the extra loosie. Fozzie gave a hint with his comments on SS and Finau yesterday they’d missed out. Weber was always going to struggle not being in the squad.

Interesting is the squad makeup and who missed out.

I thought we were down and out early in 2nd half. Very happy with that comeback with Akira, Patty and a few others still to return. Nice to see Ta’avao back as well.

Must’ve been the heat but that was a scrappy game with plenty of basic errors etc. Great to see so many former Super/AB’s in action.

@Mattasaurus said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:

@Bones said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:

@Bones I’d be having a quiet word with Perofeta too if I was Fozzie…

I'm not going to judge a ten outside that abysmal halfback performance.

I would've said Jordan is a really good wing and an average fullback, Faingaanuku doesn't offer anything more than Clarke so can go bye - but again tough to judge when the halfback takes so long to distribute, if he even makes it to the breakdown.

Couldn't disagree more regarding Faingaanuku .... unless you want him to make a break and full over a bit more?

Fainga’anuku and Clarke should both make the squad if we’re taking a 4 wingers with Jordan and Telea the other two. Unless they drop one of the power wingers to accomodate someone like Stevenson?

Fozzie’s gamble almost bit him in the ass. But kudos to the team for pulling through. A lot of the comeback can be put at Smith/Richie’s feet.

Some good performances - Finau, Fainga’anuku to name a couple. All in all it will build more strength and experience in the squad.

If true, what a turnaround on Stevenson. I can’t see Fozzie’s logic given the logjam in the outside backs. Is Narawa or Clarke going to miss out?

@canefan said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:

@Bones said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:

@pakman said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:

Stevenson

Am I missing something again? I've seen a couple of people suggest Stevenson. I thought he was long gone?

He's returned to the squad due to Narawa's back injury. He was in Melb last week.

I can't see him making it, unless they drop Leicester. He will have to wait for his chance under Razor now

Yep which is unfortunate but a testament to the depth we have in the outside backs. Dropping Leicester (unless he's unavailable due to injury) would be really tough given he hasn't had a chance to play.