Good to get Gibson out of that Auckland enviroment and into a proper one.

Keep safe Blues, these Crusaders are dodgy and have a horrible culture.

@tim Haha so we have an opposition coach basically saying that our selections are horrendous.

Imagine if Umaga was still coach. Michael Collins would be starting and Nanai would be playing for Manukau Rovers

I think Ioane looks a good prospect personally. He has a beautiful passing game and looks good when taking the line on. Probably the most natural 10 in the country. Mo'unga's more off the cuff, tends to play whats infront of him. He has a more touch rugby style to him which can look brilliant especially against staggered defense lines that fall out of shape, but he'll have a harder time of things on the big stage when sides don't fall out of shape defensively. Good luck to Mo'unga I say, he needs to start delivering on this stage as he's been poor so far at test level.

I hope to see more of Ioane at this level tbh. I think his style is suited to test rugby if given a decent chance.

Looks like this was the thread to get Waikato rugby back on track.

Lol good one Devlin you irrelevent clown

Reed Prinsep - He's no world beater but solid enough and does a decent enough job. The hate for him is ridicuous on here mainly from Wellington and Hawke's Bay fans as they're moaning that one of their own hasn't been picked ahead of him.

Gerard Cowley-Tuioti - A bit too small to make the international scene but he's been very reliable for the last 4 years where he is strong around the field especially in the contact area and a safe bet at line out time.

Sione Mafileo - One of the best scrummaging tightheads in the country who like Cowley-Tuioti, goes under the radar. Probably lacks a bit around the field to really stand out to the public and make the next level, but he's outstanding at scrum time and good to have come on as the Blues don't lose anything at set piece time.

Sean Wainui - Not one of the big names at the Chiefs but he's probably been the best for the Chiefs (aling with Ah Kuoi) this year.

@sammyc Larry the lamb decided to come over and sign my hat haha. But great win, great to finally go to a game down here where we've won, it's usually miserable going to an Auckland/Blues game down here.

Thought Lemalu was huge again stopping their rolling maul. He really has made a huge difference for us there and the Cantabs barely tried to take us on there after that. We outmuscled them for once across the field and didn't get dominated at set piece which also goes a long way. Tumua Manu surely has to be signed by the Blues next year. He shut down their outside backs brilliantly and was a constant threat on attack along with TJ Faiane. Ruru was also fantastic behind the scrum I thought. Annoying to concede 2 late tries but can't be to fussy as we never win down here to begin with so we'll take that.

Hats off to Luke Romano for Canterbury as he was virtually a one man band today.

@antipodean Absolutely. SR and test footy are far different beasts altogether. People treat it as if it's the same level of rugby when it is anything but. Parts like set piece, the high ball and the collision are big focus points at international level unlike SR where teams like to use the ball off set phase and play away from the set piece as well as give the ball a lot of air, hence why guys like Ardie Savea and Mo'unga tend to thrive in the looser style of play and carve up their rivals, yet don't have as much success at test level where the space is harder to come by, and the physical side of the game becomes more important.

I think a lot of people are struggling to get to grips with the fact that we're not as dominant as we used to be and that doing well in SR doesn't mean a hell of a lot once you get to the higher level anymore.

@Bovidae Patrick Osborne was playing as if he still wanted to play for Canterbury. Wasn't impressed by him at all tbh.

@taniwharugby I thought Patty was OK personally. Did a lot of work in the tight. Yeah he looked to be struggling towards the end but it was a very high paced game so he did well to go the 80.

@sparky Hodgman has made a difference there after a slow start.

@kiwiinmelb He's put in a good shift despite a slowish start.

@taniwharugby They heard you

@Yeetyaah Great reward for a great player.

Great team try.

Lienert Brown did well in that tackle too.

Jesus the difference Caleb Clarke has made today!

Good team try. Mo'unga and Clarke with some big plays in that try.