He's probably thinking to himself "If Bridge can make the ABs...."

At least he won't get benched now.

Sitting through the Black Ferns v Wallaroos XVs game was an absolute treat compared to sitting through the 2018 Blues season.

Clearly the punishment should be that the Crusaders are forced to start Brett Cameron at 10 this week vs the Blues.....

@cgrant No they'll just look short compared to the towering height of Ardie on the opposite side.....

@Tim said in Blues 2020:

Anyone know when Parsons will be available?

There's no rush...

@wreck-diver said in Bledisloe II:

@mimic said in Bledisloe II:

@rancid-schnitzel said in Bledisloe II:

@nzzp said in Bledisloe II:

@antipodean said in Bledisloe II:

I just don't see the Wallabies being that bad the week after. The lineout is solvable and even if you lose a couple, try something else... The scrum will be bolstered with Sio back and Tupou on the bench. A couple of sessions on running lines and catch-pass for the backs. Hey presto, they're competitive.

They were damn good for the first half. Aggressive hard defence, straight running. On a different night with a different ref, you're looking at a healthy half time lead.

I keep saying it; ther'es not much between these sides at the top level. I don't think the Wobbles will be as bad at set piece, and I reckon supporters should be heartened by the non-set piece effort last week.

All true but they don't have the heart and lungs to do it for 80. They were absolutely gone after 35 minutes. The ABs blew several opportunities in the first half as well and also lost line outs. I agree that it's a decent Aus team, but Cheika is just a shit coach.

This can be easily fixed if they amend their game plan to slow the game down in certain areas. They were trying to play at pace when they didn't have the fitness to last the full 80. Losing Tongan Thor was a huge loss.

Please he's not a Norse God he is a fat Sth Auckland kid that didnt have the balls to have a go in NZ after leaving school. In his own words he said he was used to running over skinny little white boys so move to Aussie to play rugby. I dont see him adding anything to their team let alone his youtube page.

This seems harsh. He's a 22 year old tighthead prop who really improved this year in Super Rugby. He looks a serious talent.

Worth it for the reaction of Crusaders fans

Nothing says "I want to show i'm my own man" by selecting zero new starters.

The back 3 is just plain weird - shoehorning the best 15 to wing in order to select someone at 15 who looked far better at 10 (not 15) during Super Rugby and then on the other wing deciding against a strike winger.

@sparky Beaudie has chosen the four year sabbatical....

@steven-harris he stayed on for 25 minutes after that try though. And it looked like he was still able to get up to full speed when he needed to. They were certainly working on his calf earlier in the game.

Tupaea to me is the dark horse at 12 for me. Of course a lot will depend on if he can get game time there.

@bones said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:

@taniwharugby said in Hurricanes v Blues:

wonder what Reiko said to Laumape early on, Laumape kept mouthing something and giving the old nod for a good 30 sec after.

Not keeping your cool after some verbals is another tick in not ready for Test match column

You're talking about Reiko right?

Who is Reiko?

Newsome isn't a Super Rugby quality player and he's the captain (yes with Gordon injury). Says a lot.

@stargazer said in SR Australia Round 2: Brumbies v Waratahs:

Great try! Good little chip kick from the centre.

Ikitau the Brumbies 13 looks the best 13 in Aus.

To compete against Brumbies/Crusaders you have to limit handling errors (for defending scrums) and limit penalties (for defending lineouts).

Tahs have done neither.

Sky are usually good at putting up a graphic on the scoreboard for bonus points so I didn't think it was one.

Plummer made a much better fist of 12 than his game v Canes last year at Cake Tin. Low error rate is the key.

Laumape on the other hand had a night to forget.

Aumua showed why he is in the ABs and Eklund isn't.

Rieko can dive!!