How good was Kieran Read...?,actually thought he should have been the MOTM..!

Walked away from Eden Park on Saturday night asking myself one question..have the Blues got the right skipper..?
Being down 3-12 and with a man in the bin,I thought the Blues did extremely well to keep the Saders scoreless during that time.
However the decision not to take 3 points from a very kickable position on the stroke of halftime had many of us in the west stand shaking our heads..On 2 other occasions points on offer were turned down..
You often wonder why the Blues never quite get across the line in this local derby games..much of it you can put down to poor leadership and decision making on field.

Sure you can heap blame on individuals but despite that in many cases poor options when coming to terms of what’s required and understanding game situations is something they need to fix and in a hurry..
I was often told,when your playing a good team,stay in the fight and when it gets down to the wire anything can happen,for that to happen you have to keep accumulating points.

There was a lot to like,talking to a good friend in Christchurch who caught up with Matt Todd earlier today..Todd had told him the Blues were definitely a different beast from previous years ,very tough up front and more structure to their game.but they also knew whom to pressure in the last 15 minutes and get maximum value..interesting coms..

Just from my own point of view,I think the Blues would have Brocken their duck against any other franchise ,but after all we are playing a team that’s got everybody else’s number in NZ.

Just on a man of the match..if Ardie and Sam are considered the best 7s in the country ,Matt Todd must the unluckiest player running around..watched his running lines from the top of the west stand always in the right place at the right time..not far behind the young Ennor ,but I have always known how good this kid was gonna be from his St Kent’s and NZ 20s days.

For the Blues,if Akira can keep this form up,who knows I am sure Hansen will no choice but to have him involved with the Blacks.
Nonu surprised me,did most things right and more ,got gassed by Ennor,but at the end of the day just up against younger faster legs.

Like the look of Tom Robinson,would love to see him used more running off a short pass from a prop channel 1 or 2..

Disappointed with the loss,but will be back for the next home game..loved the banter from the supporters up on the West Stand,never laughed so much at a game.

Interesting listening to Murray Mexted this morning on Radio Sport,touched on both the Blues & Auckland and the issues both have had over the last decade.

I was delighted to hear Mexted speak both frankly about the failure to identify or scout talent,which has been a big bug bear I have had for a least 10 years..

Even the current Auckland Mitre 10 cup is classic,having watched quite a bit of Auckland club rugby,I have been highly impressed with the 3 argentine Costa brothers that play for Eden,I was told by someone on the AK coaching staff,that they were not up to mitre 10 level.

yet Nico comes on for Auckland v Canterbury at halfback and almost changes the game,a position Auckland have struggled at in the last few seasons,and I would imagine all 3 x Brothers would have a great understanding of each other's game..just saying..!

I also question the Blues ability to select a player required for their roster,I see the Blues signed the boy Ruru from Otago,with the greatest respect I reckon Jack Stratton from Canterbury looks a much better prospect,can think right back to the Lions first game against the NZ Babas,he was awesome against quality opposition.

Even the selection of Otere Black bothers me,he was targeted by the Blues a couple of seasons ago and declined,
Personally when the Blues were chasing Beauden Barrett,I would gave gone after Richie Mo'unga,at the time he was the 3rd choice 10 at the crusaders,but having seen him at NZ 20s level,one could see he had the goods.
Even in recent times,best young first five at the NZ under 19s tournament a couple seasons back was Brett Cameron from Canterbury,..will probably be the 3rd choice at the saders in 2018 behind Mo'unga and Hunt.

Another player I would be all over is Jackson Hemapo from Manawatu,the man is a beast,and from the time Stephen Luatua signed with Bristol,they should have been all over it.
I realise in the scheme of things there are agents and money to deal with,but man alive,open your eyes..!

For all the commotion that was made about releasing Matt Todd from his Japanese contract,he hardly played 20 minutes in the 2 most important tests of the tour..what was the point..?

Outplayed and out coached by the Irish on the day,no real complaints from me.
Not the end of the world, but I have seen plenty of evidence to suggest signs of staleness within this coaching group.

No question it was a points decision to Joe Schmidt after this mornings match and that what’s worrying me
We have the players,but is this coaching group getting the best of out of this group..?
I have often believed if you have several players at their best in a team of 15 there’s a good chance you go on an win.
That’s been a real concern not just in this mornings game,but also last weeks performance against England ,just the lack of our so called world class players standing up and when you consider the All Black coaches pulled out all the stops by taking away 51 players on this tour to protect many of our big guns..
Was it the right strategy..?,based on what we have seen you would have to say no..
Also our discipline when don’t have the ball has been terrible,some of our senior players the real culprits.
What’s that all about..?
Which leads me on to why all the penalties,when you give up ball with a poor kick game against a team like Ireland who can hold on to the ball no matter where they are on the paddock..you have got to ask questions abou strategy and dare I say it captaincy..

My apologies if I am sounding like Watto,but I would like to think I have outlined my argument with a degree of thought.

Read has been the standout ABs loose forward in the opening 20

What a game,I have aged 10 x years

My impression of last light nights test.
Was that the Hurricanes that played the springboks last night...?

2017 NZ under 20 & NZ Maori Prop Pouri Rakete Stones has signed a 2 year deal with the Hurricanes which he penned last Friday ..
Rakete Stones switched from Tighthead to loosehead and was selected for the NZ Maori in the 2nd test against against Fiji this year..
Rakete Stones is a former NZ Junior powerlifting champion..
He shocked many in the NZ Maori squad when training at the Blues facility in Auckland earlier this year when he squatted 300Kg, Ofa Tu’ungafasi has the record at the Blues of 265Kg..
Rakete Stones is 118Kg 1.82
At 22 ,has a massive future in front of him..

The biggest take away from this victory before everyone starts .is the poor field exits,I don’t care who the team your playing is but if you gift any team with this much field POSITION & TERRITORY because of poor tactics when exiting,of course it’s gonna bite..

Plenty of ticker shown tonite,but it does not have to be this hard.
Was great that we held onto the ball for 3 minutes at the end to run the game down.,
Ma Nonu outstanding,

Some interesting first up results ..
Looks like it might be more of a learning year for newly promoted team Ngāti Hine Moerewa/Uk..apparently they have lost Justin Davies,Warren Dunn and Paora Allen to HoraHora which is a bit of a shame but great news for HH who have also gained Kara Pryor who will pack down in the back row with Jacob Matiu and the very promising rangy loose forward Tiaki Smith ...HH could be a bit of a dark horse if they can keep everyone in the paddock ..hard to know how good Western Sharks were given whom they were up against ..
Just chatting to a contact that was at the KeriKeri v Mid Northern game , a good tight contest that saw a very big crowd from up..
Some good news for Taniwha supporters with Wiseguy Faiane deciding to put his head down ,and a genuine crack at the Northland Taniwha team , has returned to Waipu ..
Wellsford had a very good team on paper against Waipu , but according to reports , tried to go wide without getting right up front first ..
An interesting newcomer to OBM will be big number , Isileli Manu, younger brother of Pauliasi Manu ..very sizeable human being.

@gt12 hes a poor choice..based on what..?

@taniwharugby the most disappointing aspect was, many of the players ended up ringing the union to see if they were still on the books as it was news to them.

I find this article really annoying because it’s come from a journalist that’s taken free license to implicate both Northland and Southland without doing some serious research ..
There’s is also someone within the NZRFU leaking info as well who would probably rather not see a Mitre 10 Cup up and running .
From what I understand there are some factions that would prefer to have an 8 or 10 team competition, I think if we wrote down a few a names ,we would all come up with similar names..
The most disappointing aspect is, at a time when these unions need to be united , some are looking at saving their own skin.
I know of one Union that is Super Franchise base that took out a massive loan from the NZRFU last year to prop itself up..How does that work...?
I know both Northland & Southland are good to go in what ever format the competition takes shape ,
the players understand The circumstances they find themselves in at this time especially with the staff at the respect unions
Our good old mate Rob Nichol’s name kept popping up in some of the conversations I have had some today ...

Have heard some great things about the new CEO for the Blues who is working hard with the 3 unions that make up the franchise, only disappointing aspect is to hear one of them is not playing ball.

Hey all, just reaching out to anyone who might be interested in chatting UFC for a streaming show..if you know this sport inside out, please send me a message ..cheers.

@Bovidae that article should be why New Zealand Rugby should be embarrassed with their own ineptitude ..

80 - 90 million is hardly a war chest when your wage bill is $93 million , and you have had no turnover in what will possibly be 3 months by the 26th June and you are wanting to slice your provincial comp..to me that’s the sign of business that’s been in trouble for a very long time..
Auckland on the hand have had to live from hand to mouth , but have still managed to put some money aside for their stakeholders ,the clubs

What is NZ rugby put on the table for their stakeholders at Mitre 10 level..nothing , because their war chest is their to cover their own arses.

@Bovidae I personally can’t see test match footy happening, I guess it’s going to come down to the Covid19 situation..if we can eliminate it reasonably quickly here in NZ, why not..!, I would love to see Pacific Island Barbarians tour NZ with midweek matches involved ..with Covid19 having an effect on Europe at the minute, most pacific island player would be available at the minute..and you know what, for good measure, invite some x all blacks like Charles Piatau, Steven Luatua and maybe Victor Vito to with this PIB team..?

@chchfanatic ,stay away from that Porn

@Bovidae it’s seems Sky are desperate to screen the higher end product so they can sell it offshore ..that way, they get extra money which funds the Mitre 10 cup..
It seems to me organisation’s like the NZRFU and the NRL live from hand to mouth, crazy when you think the NZRFU wage bill is $ 93 million ..
Very little saved for a rainy day..
One Union who is much maligned is Auckland, but you have got to give them a ton of credit for having some cash set aside for a rainy day having just propped up their clubs with extra cash.. full credit to Auckland as Fitzy would say..