Blues vs Waratahs
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Good discipline from the Blues at the end - that change is very Rangi from where I sit, and is doing the men from Auckland a world of good this year to go with their outrageous talent.
Tahs didn't turn up for the first 20 which gave the Blues a bit more freedom to let their rookies settle in the halves. Tahs centre pairing - Hunt particularly - didn't fire.
Blues big forwards bashed up the middle well but once possession evened out, both sides showed decent resolve with the pill, and poor discipline without it.
The intercept was a prime example of Folau being a fairly ordinary handler and Beale transferring pressure.
Both sides have a bit to work on, but I'd say the Blues are building nicely and should do well in the next two weeks against Kiwi teams. Onward and upward.
As for the Tahs? The inconsistency - both within the game a game by game - continues. The midfield selections the last few weeks have been deliberate to rest players, and it cost us a home game.
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Jesus that was too close for comfort hahaha. Great to close the game out like that and Sam Nock was very good in those last few minutes with his organisation and looked quite good out there apart from that silly penalty he gave away. Fantastic display from Ma'a Nonu who was easily MOTM turning back the clock and Papali'i I thought had a great game and was the pick of the forwards. Goodhue seems to make a difference to our lineout too. It seemed to fall apart a bit when he went off.
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@kev said in Blues vs Waratahs:
@Kirwan I think you have take into account the opposition. Waratahs have big guys that are good in the air. Move them around, make them pick it up off the ground.
We definitely looked better running at them.
Lineout is a serious problem
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Think that game showed the importance of Gibson's leadership. We really seemed to go off the boil when he went off the field.
Happy to take the win, but was a frustrating watch. We just looked a bit flat and off our game for the last 60 minutes.
Didn't look like one of Akira's more consistant games, but I was cooking while trying to watch it on the laptop.
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Think that game showed the importance of Gibson's leadership. We really seemed to go off the boil when he went off the field.
Happy to take the win, but was a frustrating watch. We just looked a bit flat and off our game for the last 60 minutes.
Didn't look like one of Akira's more consistant games, but I was cooking while trying to watch it on the laptop.
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Think that game showed the importance of Gibson's leadership. We really seemed to go off the boil when he went off the field.
Happy to take the win, but was a frustrating watch. We just looked a bit flat and off our game for the last 60 minutes.
Didn't look like one of Akira's more consistant games, but I was cooking while trying to watch it on the laptop.
@Tim said in Blues vs Waratahs:
Think that game showed the importance of Gibson's leadership. We really seemed to go off the boil when he went off the field.
Replaced your 10 about the same time for an HIA, yes? Bit of disruption there, plus you didn't have the ball for a lot of minutes 20-40.
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@Tim said in Blues vs Waratahs:
Think that game showed the importance of Gibson's leadership. We really seemed to go off the boil when he went off the field.
Replaced your 10 about the same time for an HIA, yes? Bit of disruption there, plus you didn't have the ball for a lot of minutes 20-40.
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@Tim said in Blues vs Waratahs:
Think that game showed the importance of Gibson's leadership. We really seemed to go off the boil when he went off the field.
Replaced your 10 about the same time for an HIA, yes? Bit of disruption there, plus you didn't have the ball for a lot of minutes 20-40.
@NTA said in Blues vs Waratahs:
@Tim said in Blues vs Waratahs:
Think that game showed the importance of Gibson's leadership. We really seemed to go off the boil when he went off the field.
Replaced your 10 about the same time for an HIA, yes? Bit of disruption there, plus you didn't have the ball for a lot of minutes 20-40.
No there was a gap. Gibson off around 10mins, the HIA was ~30mins
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I'll take that.
Conditions suited Tahs.
Injuries are a concern.
Closing it out was great. Nock was surprisingly great.
@KiwiMurph Nock was decisive with his decision making and passing. Be interesting if he could manage a game starting now? And be prepared to run more. Thought he was picked to early and that over time he will get a lot better. Good covering tackle at one stage - he is quite quick.
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Think that game showed the importance of Gibson's leadership. We really seemed to go off the boil when he went off the field.
Happy to take the win, but was a frustrating watch. We just looked a bit flat and off our game for the last 60 minutes.
Didn't look like one of Akira's more consistant games, but I was cooking while trying to watch it on the laptop.
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Blues are a great watch at the moment. , gees Nonu is still absolute class, you'd have to put him in the ab squad in this form.
@Rembrandt said in Blues vs Waratahs:
Blues are a great watch at the moment. , gees Nonu is still absolute class, you'd have to put him in the ab squad in this form.
Not a chance. He's awesome, but would be brutally exposed trying to go back up a level. Pace is just gone; he's not got the acceleration or top end. Look at his try - he dived early and I reckon he was gassed. Smart, but the physical attributes have faded.
That said, if it's a choice of Ma'a or Sonny, I'll ahve to stop and think. But I don't think either should be in the squad
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Well, hell yeah. We won, and we ground it out. Really stoked with this; this was winning ugly. Bunch of top of head thoughts below
Blake Gibson very influential; when we went off, it all fell apart. At 17-0 after 17, we were on track for a cricket score.
I really don't see the negativity for Otere on here either - he's a decent kicker, has god length on his punts, and has kept the team structure. Not setting the world on fire, but not disasterous at all either.
Ma'a I spoke about above. Great at this level, but he's showing age. Wonderful to have him though
Both Ioane's seemed subdued tonight. Maybe the minutes catching up?
Ruru can't box kick to save his life. it was terrible. Our exits were abysmal all night, and we have to work on it.
Set piece marginally OK. Better than last week.
Forwards generally - take a bow fellas I reckon you stepped up and won that for us, particularly at the end. That three minutes seemed way to long to try and run the clock, but by god you got there. Well bloody done. I wouldn't have been that brave - would have put it down in the corner and taken our chances.
Ref was a mixed bag of good adn 'interesting'. Some of the people picking up balls where counter rucks have happened ... or 'in from the side ignored'. Well, most weeks that shit happens.
We're building nicely. Patches of good play starting to extend, and linking a few wins together. Last week was special against a very good pack, this week was bloody gritty resilient stubbornness. Haven't seen that out on Eden Park for the Blues for as long as I can remember.
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@Rembrandt said in Blues vs Waratahs:
Blues are a great watch at the moment. , gees Nonu is still absolute class, you'd have to put him in the ab squad in this form.
Not a chance. He's awesome, but would be brutally exposed trying to go back up a level. Pace is just gone; he's not got the acceleration or top end. Look at his try - he dived early and I reckon he was gassed. Smart, but the physical attributes have faded.
That said, if it's a choice of Ma'a or Sonny, I'll ahve to stop and think. But I don't think either should be in the squad
@nzzp said in Blues vs Waratahs:
Pace is just gone; he's not got the acceleration or top end. Look at his try - he dived early and I reckon he was gassed. Smart, but the physical attributes have faded.
Yeah he looked really slow for that one.
It will be interesting to see how he goes against more NZ sides. The Crusaders (defending at 13) and Highlanders managed to expose his lack of pace. Against the Stormers and Tahs he was able to keep to his narrow channel
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@Machpants said in Blues vs Waratahs:
His pass is still the best though, just so useful/dangerous
In the warmups he was throwing bullets 20 m left and right. Just amazing skills, loved it
Edit: I'm a massive fan, but wouldn't have him in the AB squad. Reckon he'd get torn apart at the top level.
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Four wins in a row for the Blues
The first time since early 2013. That streak was shared between Lam and Kirwan. Late in 2012 the injury crisis faded and some young players were thrown in and went well (Puitau ruining the Brumbies season), then Kirwan had a brief bounce..
Four wins in a row in the same season? Go back to Lam’s 2011 side that got 7 in a row
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His name is spelt "Ma'a Nonu" but it can be pronounced as "Living Legend".
This is a guy who made his NPC debut in 2002 and his Super Rugby debut in 2003. In his distinguished international career he donned the famous Black Jersey for 104 Tests, contributing to two World Cup wins with tries in the 2011 Semi Final and the 2015 Final.
Tonight he set up Tom Robinson for the first try with a superb pass, he set up Caleb Clarke for the second with another superb pass and had the instincts honed by nearly two decades playing and training at an elite level to be in the right place to take the offloaded from Reiko Ioane to run in and score a try himself.
A great signing for the Blues. Their young players must be learning so much from playing with perhaps the greatest ever 12 to play the game.
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Ma'a Nonu is some player. What a legend.
Faiane another very tidy game at 13 too - gee has his game grown in the last 12 months.
Hopefully Gibson's injury isn't as bad as it seems. Poor guy's body just won't comply.
Goodhue did well coming back from injury - nice and solid.
4 wins in a row. Enjoyable times.
