@Kiwiwomble I think the things he didn't do were the problem. It allowed the Brumbies to target their defence out wider, and you played too much at times.

@mikedogz I chuckled when I saw him running. Such a low centre of gravity aye.
Bench firepower unashamedly won that for the Saders. Some really good cameos and nice touches from the likes of Moananu, McLeod and Goodhue. And the subbing of Drummond who was a real handbrake.

Kind of 2 things jump to mind anyway,
1 Shouldn't assume what was said etc, (to be honest I never thought anything of it until read these posts)
2 Hell even a bit of verbals is ok anyway, I mean Gregan's '4 more years" to Kelleher was even enjoyed by other ABs (admittedly because many thought Kelleher was piston wristed gibbon), but hell as my son used to say playing cricket and, if you let verbals worry you it was time to take up knitting..

@nostrildamus The game against the Blues will be interesting for sure. He is still playing his way back into form, would be really happy to see Macca Springer emerge to be of a similar caliber. When looking at a highlights reel of Will Jordan some of his tries are quite freakish.

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@Stargazer said in Highlanders v Chiefs:

@Frank I can write my opinion when I want to. Deal with it! It being a minority opinion doesn't make it more fluffing than when you read most other threads where posters say something positive about a player. I'm passionate about my team and players. I also rather look at the positives than the negatives (if present). You should try it sometimes. Much better than the constant moaning on the Fern by a bunch of GOM.

Nah, being a GOM is way more fun.

@KiwiMurph said in Rebels v Brumbies:

More day games please.

Rebels could have won that if they were a bit smarter close to the Brumbies line.

That was such brainless play at the end. Did they not understand the law change a few seasons back about goal line drop outs for held up? One YC already, opponent on another warning, a quick tap and run straight at a defender behind his line? Moronic.

@NTA said in Reds v Waratahs:

Shine has come off Harry Wilson. Needs to pick his moments better.

He still has next to no footwork - he just trucks the ball up straight into contact.

Agh that was a tough watch. So many handling errors. So many stoppages. Highlight of the first 23 mins was the all to rare these days scything run from BB, cutting the defence to shreds. Thought he played well actually, made some good decisions, when to run, when to kick, when to take points. Choat ran/tackled himself to a standstill. Have been impressed with him over the last couple of games, would be interested to see his tackle stats. Suafoa also put in a good shift. And Plummer was pleasantly surprising, is beginning to put his stamp on that 12 Jersey with vision and distribution. That 51m kick was sweet. Roger who? Looked tough going in the heat, and one the Blues will be pleased to get out of the way without serious injury I think. Those vuvuzelas were bloody annoying.

@ploughboy said in Chiefs v Crusaders:

@Crucial said in Chiefs v Crusaders:

Watched Stevenson try a few times to try and work out how DMAc had such a huge hole to run into.
Havili totally misread the play and bit in on a forward runner well after the pass out the back from Gatland was made.
I still have no idea what Christie and Ennor were doing charging up out wide as if DMac was going to pass before running.
Really poor defence and good taking advantage of it.

crusaders took the space outside dmac away in the first half, filled there lines with defenders. which will be why christie and ennor rushed up. dummy runnerin close fotced them to take him and make a different destion . good coaching who ever made the change at half time

Good point on them taking up the space out wide but in this case they failed to stay connected. The reason I rewatched is that they created such a huge hole.
Havili wasn't forced to come in, he misread the play IMO although I think RM had two runners coming at him so given his defensive weaknesses maybe Havili thought he had no option. Not a good sign for the ABs and will have been written down by other coaches with glee.
Would have to watch the phases beforehand to work out why the backline D was so out of order. It appeared to be RM, DH, TC, BE. Neither Saders or Chiefs had any wingers in that direction and Burke was MIA for the Saders.

Watched bits of this. Very puzzled by refereeing at the tackle. Reds had immunity to take out anyone and come in from any angle. I know many refs are now tolerant and rarely pull up attackers but I thought this was extreme. Commentary was a bit ott so I fast forwarded a lot. Interesting to see how Reds go v NZ teams with this tactic.

@cgrant I had also noticed this. He seems almost tame now, compared with the wild beast he was before so to speak.

@Stargazer You can add Hunt's missed touchfinders to that.

@Bones said in Force v Highlanders:

@SBW1 said in Force v Highlanders:

Surely something can be done to help them out.

It's rugby. A couple of years ago it was the chiefs, for close to a decade it was the blues.

We're all getting a bit too dramatic when a team has an off season, even though it's regular as clockwork.

No helping out needed, the pendulum will swing, right?

i get what your saying but i dont think its that simple, some teams definitely have longer or higher highs, even when it was the blues you could see the potential, it was more of a "why aren't they better" kind of deal, huge population, major city more attractive to live in even had several all blacks that just weren't firing at super level.....dunedin cant claim those things when trying to attract new players

@Bovidae said in Chiefs v Drua:

@ARHS said in Chiefs v Drua:

If no Nankivell or ALB, Wrampling starts ahead of Rona in my view.

Hopefully Nankivell is back, otherwise I expect Rona to start again. Wrampling is being used as a 2nd 5, like Poihipi, so one of them would have to play out of position as a combination.

I want us to start with Finau over Sowakula also.

Who starts at 6 will be the big call. Watching the replay today, I was interested to see Finau say he is about 1.96 m/118 kg, so taller and heavier than officially listed.

Geez that Finau has the looks of a bloody good blindside, and has for a couple of years! Really excited to see how far he goes.

@Crazy-Horse said in Hurricanes v Chiefs:

@Winger said in Hurricanes v Chiefs:

I would prefer either Barrett or Godfrey at first for this reason alone.

Have you seen Godfrey at 10?

He played at 10 when he came on at Levin in preseason and I commented then how much potnetial he had, good boot and running etc.
In saying that I also commented on how badly Morgan kicked out of hand that day, and if it is a problem and rest of game is good perhaps using someone else off line is the answer?

@KiwiMurph Not for the first time, either. He has a bit of a history.