That was really my first time seeing Fletcher Smith, thought he looked pretty good. Was a very frustrating game to watch, way too many silly mistakes.

@Higgins said in Highlanders v Hurricanes: And that is why you take the gift three points, a draw is waaaaaaay better than a possible win/probable loss in my books I thought about that, but given they were in bonus point territory, they were only sacrificing one point by trying to go for the win.

@taniwharugby said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders: @Stargazer maybe Jordie took the last piece of pavlova when they were last home? Brilliant eh, Jordie looked pissed like Scott really sticks it to him after a win.

@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Hurricanes v Stormers: @Crucial said in Hurricanes v Stormers: @Rancid-Schnitzel said in Hurricanes v Stormers: @Crucial said in Hurricanes v Stormers: @Rancid-Schnitzel said in Hurricanes v Stormers: @Crucial said in Hurricanes v Stormers: @Rancid-Schnitzel said in Hurricanes v Stormers: Any of you caarnts still don't think Jordie is a 12? Clearly he's far more comfortable there. The dilemma now is what the fug to do about Laumape... Me. Great with ball in hand and running lines. Medium length pass way too slow and loopy for distribution needs at international level. He may be more comfortable there but at the top level I agree with the assessment of the AB coaches. Those skills work better at the back (except when attempting quick throw ins ). Needs to sharpen his passing game to be considered. Well knock me down with a feather. I'm sure you applied the same standards to SBW when he burst onto the scene. Or probably not. His pass was fine today. Just needs more time at 12. Tiatia is a natural fullback. Jordie isn't. Go and watch the first half again and watch how many laboured loopy passes he threw. If he got better then fair enough, but he was stand out horrid to start. I don't think i've seen SBW throw a loopy pass ever. You were probably too busy looking somewhere else. I'm happy for you to prove me wrong. I just don't think that among all the masses of criticism SBW has copped over the years I have noticed a theme of poor passing. Perhaps, if you are going to come up with a smart comment, back it up with fact instead of another smart comment? Wouldn't have made any difference. You would have defended him regardless. And his passing in 2011 definitely wasn't world class. In fact there were multiple aspects of his game that needed to be worked on. Would have been rather unfair to straight out write him off as a 12 don't you think? The point was that JBs passing was ropey. Try playing the ball instead of taking aim at the person making the point. I haven’t written JB off as a 12 just commented that if he has international aspirations in the position he needs to sharpen his passing game.

Weber looks well off the pace to me. Hesitant at the breakdown and his passing is erratic at best.

Switching DMac back to his best position is the best news out of Hamilton so far this season, let's hope they try it.

@sparky said in Hurricanes vs Highlanders: Aaron Smith, James Letjens and Pari Pari Parkinson did well for the Landers. Dane Coles, Ardie Savea and Ngani Laumape were outstanding for the Hurricanes. Laumape is the player of the competition so far IMHO. He's coming along well, hopefully they ditch the ease him into Super rugby plan and just play him.

Laumape's best ever game. Great to see Dane Coles returning to top form. Ardie Savea excellent yet again. One of TJP's best games for while. All four will be part of the ABs' RWC squad.

@Stargazer Looking forward to seeing him sign with Toulon and 3 games in the owner saying this isnt the Dagg I saw in the 2011 RWC highlights I watched....

@KiwiMurph said in Waratahs vs Hurricanes: @Bones said in Waratahs vs Hurricanes: @ShadowTrooper said in Waratahs vs Hurricanes: @Canes4life Yep agree with all the changes suggested fro next week. Was impressed the Canes stayed in the fight though, and that (plus Jordie's boot) is what got them over the line. Compare and contrast that with tghe Chiefs who had the bloody game there for the taking ,and let it slip from right under their noses to a much hungrier Landers side. Soooo....Canes won, but Chiefs lost huh? As opposed to NSW lost, and landers won.... Perhaps it has something to do with the Highlanders being down to 14 men for the last 13 minutes of the game...... Ok

@Stargazer said in Hurricanes 2019 Discussion: Hurricanes Hunters line-up for their game against Japan Wolfpack (that's Japan 'A', not a Sunwolves Dev squad as has been written in some media): . No score updates or match report from the Canes, but I managed to find the result on the Japan Rugby website. After the home game resulted in a 52 - 31 win a few weeks ago, the Hunters suffered a big loss to Japan 'A' in Tokyo on Saturday: 21 - 66 (HT: 7 - 42). Hurricanes scorers: P Umaga-Jensen, B Procor, O Sapsford tries; P Paraone cons 3x Billy Proctor started in the 13 jersey instead of Patafilo, who was added to the bench. Proctor wasn't in the original line-up. Mateaki Kafatolu received a yellow card in the 45th minute Of the contracted Hurricanes players, Cridge, Bedwell-Curtis and Rayasi played the full 80 minutes.

Leon MacDonald was a good #10 in my opinion, except he had a fullback's kick -- too slow, and hence prone to charge downs, and lacking a bit in variety. At the time it made sense to play him though.

The French should feel mortified they lost to a team that had that as a first five-eighth. Exactly the sort of game that gives me All Black RWC nightmares.

@stargazer said in Chiefs v Hurricanes: @crucial Yep. Blackadder signed him; he hardly got game time for the Crusaders because others were considered better; and Robbertson led him go. The few times he did play for us I actually thought he went okay. Provided some impact off the bench.

@pakman said in Hurricanes v Blues: @crucial said in Hurricanes v Blues: @snowy said in Hurricanes v Blues: @bones There will have been a shit load more to that. Annoying for you but you got there alive didn't you. There is reason air travel is safe. Yep, it is as annoying as fuck but aircraft repairs are way more complicated than chucking on a replacement part and crossing your fingers. Any fault has to be logged with full tracing of the faulty part in case it is potentially from a faulty batch. Any replacement must also have that same traceability and be checked for potential compatibility issues with other parts on that plane. The level of checking and caution is very high. Admittedly, I believe that like many airlines AirNZ have pulled back on their engineering spend to find a better cost balance although compared to some other large airlines they are still very good. Talk to an airline engineer about what airlines they won't fly on and you will get some surprises. Can't remember who told me this, about 20 years ago, but some engineering fellow said to stick to airlines with 'British' trained engineers. Back then I recall that as including BA, Virgin, ANZ, Qantas, Cathay, Singapore and SAA. Avoid American if possible. Three grades of fault, 1,2 & 3. Grade 1 immediate fix, 2 something like that week. Grade 3 was not vital but needed to be done at some point. Trouble was to save on costs American Airlines only did 3s every six months, as against promptly by 'Brits'. Cumulative impact of many 3s can become as risky as a 2, and in exceptional circumstances a 1. May be out of date by now. I occasionally have this discussion with an ex AirNZ engineer and this is what I picked up BA are awful now, massive interference in engineering by the accountants. Cathy and Singapore have always been very good and maintained high standards The UK/US thing is a bit true but doesn't always hold water. One of the key things is the investment in parts on hand. As I described earlier every nut and bolt on a commercial aircraft is computer logged with identifiers and makes it possible to trace faults, compatibility and batch issues If you need to order a part (as opposed to having it in store) this safety aspect can mean that it takes a little longer. In passenger impact this can mean that an expected small repair becomes a bigger issue when the part you expect to use is not usable on that particular aircraft. So you get those situations where they sit you on the tarmac saying short delay, which then becomes a long delay.

Game on now for 2nd in the NZC and a home QF. The Chiefs-Canes game in the final round could determine that, assuming both teams win next round and the Highlanders don't upset the Crusaders.

@rapido yea, i sort of remember those days. Around 2000 suddenly everyone had their hands in rucks, and cleanouts involved a heap of force.

@broughie All elbows and knees.

@pukunui I would prefer Lousi to PT at the moment. He has made some pretty impressive strides since the days of the Tahs. Would add some needed starch to the AB pack compared to Barret.

@kirwan said in Blues v Hurricanes: Doesn’t have a two game AB break due? I hope so, Tana is grinding him into dust because he’s so reliant on the Ioanes saving his blushes. I'm not sure he does as he's not an AB, only those that played full ABs tests last year are included, I think. Even if they're on the radar. Hard enough to take those guys out of two games, let alone possibles and fringe players.