The Beaudy-RTS-Rieko combo has barely featured at all with all 3 unavailable at different times.

Akira vs Valetini at 6 would have been a lot of fun - might have to wait until playoffs or Bledisloe for that one.

Ah, OK. That was the game in which both teams rested a lot of their top players.

@mikey07 I wouldn’t mind chucking Moorby on the right combining with Love at 15. Savea is just too much of a liability on defence and the Canes never look good having two big wingers starting.

@FakatavaFuture its weird, i obviously have players i like, but i never "follow" them, i always support otago and the highlander regardless of who is playing for them

hopefully it pays off...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/128683072/all-black-scott-barrett-sought-mental-skills-and-tackle-technique-advice-after-highshot-ban

Harry Hoopert, Matt Faessler, Feao Fotuaika, Ryan Smith, Angus Blyth, Seru Uru, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson, Tate McDermott (c), James O'Connor, Jordan Petaia, Hamish Stewart, Josh Flook, Suliasi Vunivalu, Jock Campbell

Reserves: Richie Asiata, Dane Zander, Sef Fa'agase, Connor Vest, Angus Scott-Young, Kalani Thomas, Lawson Creighton, Filipo Daugunu

Abraham Pole, Ray Niula, Sekope Kepu (c), Michael Curry, Sam Slade, Sione Tu'ipulotu, Solomone Funaki, Henry Time-Stowers, Jonathan Taumateine, Christian Leali'ifano, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Danny Toala, Solomone Kata, Tomasi Alosio, William Havili

Reserves: Luteru Moli, Ezekiel Lindenmuth, Joe 'Apiokotoa, Alex McRobbie, Jack Lam, Ereatara Enari, Lincoln McClutchie, Henry Taefu

Paddy Ryan issued a Warning

The SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee has examined a matter relating to Paddy Ryan of the Waratahs for contravening Law 9.13 - A player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously, after he was Red Carded during a Super Rugby Pacific Match at the Weekend.

Ryan has been issued with a Warning for his actions. A Warning may be issued by the SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee for foul play incidents that are very close to, but in their opinion do not meet the Red Card threshold.

The incident occurred in the 76th minute of the match between the Waratahs and Hurricanes played at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney on Saturday 14 May 2022.

The SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee of Michael Heron QC (Chair), Stefan Terblanche and John Langford assessed the case.

In his finding, Foul Play Review Committee Chair Michael Heron QC ruled the following:

"Having conducted a detailed review of all the available evidence, including all camera angles and additional evidence, including from the player and submissions from his legal representative, Aaron Lloyd, the Foul Play Review Committee found the foul play did not breach the red card threshold."

"With respect to sanction the Foul Play Review Committee deemed the act of foul play merited a Warning as it was close to, but did not breach the red card threshold. The Foul Play Review Committee deemed that the significant mitigating factors, including the ball carrier significantly dropping in height, rotation, and additional players being involved within the tackle, mitigated the sanction to a Warning."

"The player is therefore free to resume playing.”

@Canes4life said in Rebels v Chiefs:

@ACT-Crusader atleast we beat the Tahs. 😂

We’ve been underdogs all season.

@taniwharugby said in Brumbies v Crusaders:

@Machpants and different people watch for different things...some people will watch for every error a player makes, or every good thing another player does...

It's Hunt's fault

@ACT-Crusader Yeah Eklund won't be getting a call up as good as he has been over the last few years.

@Machpants thanks for explaining a bit more than "he's not a normal 1st 5"

that makes sense, my feeling was he was running a lot but trying to feed and distribute, not just going to ground like a crash ball, so to a dumb front rower it just looks like another form of play making, just the opposite end of the scale to a first 5 whole kicks everything away

Good we got 5 points... Drua were appalling though, they try to play too much 7's rugby in this comp, that's never going to work well in 15's.

@Dice I noticed that live. Funny.

Tavatavanawai has beaten 42 defenders in 5 games.

Will Jordan is 1st for defenders beaten with 45, but he's played 9 games.

Some of that Crusaders defence in the second half was very impressive.

Series of dominant tackles driving the Force ballcarriers backwards.

A great deal more enthusiasm and intent than the previous week.

Hopefully a few more players like Retallick, Ioane and Weber are back on deck this weekend or next, maybe even Stevenson. McMillan really needs to decide on his best back three from here on, and must realise that Gatland and Trask can't start together.

The Chiefs have played the 3 best Aust teams to date so as long as they win their remaining 3 games should secure 4th position and a home QF. That said, their away record is much better than their home record this season.

@Damo said in Reds v Highlanders:

blimp

Clearly the badyear one and not the Goodyear.

@antipodean said in Brumbies vs Hurricanes:

@NZbloke said in Brumbies vs Hurricanes:

Canes made some pretty poor handling errors... but disappointing to lose to a dour Brumbies team that lack imagination.

It's a clear contrast in styles and speaks to where rugby is at: Brumbies don't "play" rugby; they play for territory and set piece (read lineout) opportunities. Canes are the opposite but don't have the cattle to secure possession; average backrow and poor skills means they give up the ball.

Brumbies carry the ball less than almost any other team in the comp and when they do they hardly offload. It's about minimising errors. Boring to watch but effective.

I'm looking forward to watching them play the Blues because the Blues have a vastly better backrow and are playing a more rounded style of game.

You don't have to play boring safe rugby to win, reckon the best way to win matches is a balance of good forward play & attack with your backs when it's on, you're giving yourself a lot more attacking options, that's the main reason why the Crusaders have won so many Super titles over the years.

Nothing wrong with Canes backrow, they clearly have the skill sets... in general we just didn't play that well overall.

Brumbies use to be really robotic when George Gregan was their halfback... as we know he use to basically execute very short inside passes all day long to either a forward or back running up the middle, use to be utterly boring crap.

@Chris-B said in Force v Blues:

@African-Monkey He's only 20 so far from the finished article.

According to his stats a centimetre shorter than Read, which looks about right.

He doesn't look fast enough to be a 7 to me, so pack a bit of weight on him and play him as a 6/8.

I think he'll end up an Ethan Blackadder/Luke Jacobson type loosie ie, can cover all 3 backrow positions. Agree with you even at 108KG he doesn't seem quick enough to be a 7. Also looks like he'll put on 5KG without sacrificing mobility.

@pakman said in Drua v Highlanders:

@Victor-Meldrew said in Drua v Highlanders:

First time I've really seen Tu'u. Looks a real prospect.

Not a big Clan watcher? Even more impressive given against Drua. Seemed to stand up well to their physicality.

As much as any other team I guess. Just that he's never really stood out for me before.

@kiwi_expat said in Waratahs v Crusaders:

@Billy-Tell said in Waratahs v Crusaders:

Terrible display. The forward pack is a mixture of journeymen and once-great players past their peak. Best forward was newell, that guy has a big future. Best back imho was Jordan. Thought goodhue did ok but Havili was poor. I think he’s a busted flush as a midfielder. This is the weakest crusaders side in along while. No way they win the comp.

I highlighted this at the end of last year in the 2022 squad naming's thread and was promptly labelled a nut-case.

Hilarious that you all have suddenly changed the narrative, in the SR squads thread it was deluded misinformed surface level comments along the lines of: 'Crusaders have all the best talent, look how stacked they are!' while I calmly pointed out that the Blues & Chiefs squads were at least on par & if you studied them closely actually significantly better in multiple areas.

My recollection was more that the Saders had a potential 13 AB starting XV with another on the bench.
Point was correct that the next layer of Saders didn’t look so flash and the next level of players in the country were sitting in other teams.
Depth has been the key to NZ teams this year. Previously the Saders had some but maybe the cycle has finally changed a little. This happens usually when positions 1 and 2 are filled and up and comers opt to be number 2 elsewhere rather than 3 with a blocker.
Remarkably the Saders management have dealt with that for a long time but it can’t sustain forever.

Ross rightly got props for his work at scrum time, but one thing which spider cam showed was how much Taukei’aho worked with him to overwhelm the TH. Impressive stuff when that was Tupou!
Must be one of first names down on AB team sheet.

@Donsteppa said in Rebels v Pasifika:

@Kirwan said in Rebels v Pasifika:

Oh fuck. Didn’t kick it out.

Terrible play to finish the game with. Got too greedy on the territory possibilities...

CF having to leave the field was crucial.

@Canes4life said in Hurricanes v Reds:

@NZbloke said in Hurricanes v Reds:

Was bloody annoying that the ref pinged us heaps in in the first 15-20 minutes on 50/50 calls, so was hardly surprising the Reds went out to a pretty big lead in that period... at least after that the ref started to ping both sides.

Yeah it was a dodgy first 15 by the refs, I mean how the hell did they miss that crooked throw by the Reds? One of the worst misses I’ve ever seen. What made it worse was that the Reds gained a penalty a few phases later which got them on the front foot.

That's for sure, in the first quarter the ref let the Reds get away with a lot of stuff - gave them a huge advantage starving us of ball... from a penalty they could either have a crack at a 3pointer, or kick the ball out 40-50 metres downfield & then have the throw in to the lineout as well.

@Nepia said in Blues v Drua:

@TheMojoman said in Blues v Drua:

@gt12 said in Blues v Drua:

I love Rieko’s speed. I cant see any reason why he needs to be on the wing, he’s showing how he can use it on offense and defense.

The dude is lightning..reminds me of Rokocoko 2003-2005 period.

I understand why some are reluctant to see him at 13 given some of his brain farts - think dropped ball over try line vs Wallabies in 2020, but I think we need to accept that as part of him as a player. What he brings in attack/defence more than makes up for the odd brain fart.

Huh. He really doesn't have that many brain farts (and especially no more than Jordie) - one dropped ball, hell Cullen and Jonah both did the same thing in the same match.

I'm only reluctant because I think he's our best weapon on the left wing.

Brain farts was prob an exageration but I have noticed at times not giving to support players and going himself, defensive lapses which he covers well with his pace. Last week in 49th minute he drifted hard on the Drua fullback which allowed Drua winger to get outside RTS and place a dangerous kick downfield which Telea covered. Again, I'm probably nitpicking but just something I noticed.

@TheMojoman said in Rebels v Crusaders:

@ACT-Crusader said in Rebels v Crusaders:

@Bones said in Rebels v Crusaders:

@Old-Samurai-Jack said in Rebels v Crusaders:

Havili and Goodhue as the midfield FFS!

I will be mildly surprised if Razor selects that midfield after steadfastly sticking to today's one the last couple of years. Best coach can't be wrong!

Razor has played Havili and Goodhue together a couple of times. I think it will be an easier decision now that Jordan has cemented the fullback position.

I wonder if he will have a dabble and try
12-Goodhue
13-Fainga'anuku

Fainga'anuku played more like a centre on the weekend anyway.

I don't think he'll leave out either Goodhue or Havili. Probs Goodhue to 13? Not sure if Havili has ever played 13.

I expect 12. Havili, 13. Goodhue, too.
Havili has played at 13 before, next to Crotty, but I doubt he'll be moved again (other than to fullback, if needed).
No way Razor will leave him out of the starting XV.

lovely day in the sun, biggest gripe was how poor RA handled promoting it, sitting next to some brumbies fans, they had come down for it and were shocked at how small the crowd was, pointed out there had been next to no advertising

Wore my old Dunedin RFC jersey and Fakatava and Vahaakolo came over for a photo, both seem like really good blokes, Freedom was just chatting away about how disappointing the results was, letting the fans down, but how thankful he was to be getting a shot at that level, even more of a fan

@gt12 said in Chiefs v Waratahs:

How fucking good is Lord?

That line out take in the 23rd minute was sweeet.

alt text

Q4 Rewatch.

First thing to say is that both teams played some very good footy in the period, but Blues were just a bit better when it counted.

Some specific points:

Blues kicking. After the game I was very critical of BB and by association Sullivan for poor kicking. But on analysis there was only one poor kick in period, BB's chip kick around 67 which went to Drummond on Chch 10m line, and he passed to Jordan who took advantage of the misaligned Blues 'D' (they hadn't expected chip). He made a good 30m, and this led quickly to Reece try, albeit via an earlier regather, having knocked ball 5 feet forward and with hint of Blues touch which would have made it a knock on.
Other big Chch gain off a kick was where they spread it wide to edge near their 22 and Lester chipped to Blues 10m line. That one was allowed to bounce (wickedly) and Chch regathered going deep into Blues 22. Then BB charge down with Jordan knock in goal which wasn't checked. But Blues kick itself was actually good!
All that said, it was the case that Ritchie was getting more distance on punts than BB.

Red card period ran through to 67. At 63 Blues awarded penalty and took the 3. At the time I thought that was feeble, and after rewatch I'm convinced. Blues still had the momentum, and with the extra man ought to have kicked to corner. Another try would have been match winner. They got the 3, but failure to press the advantage exposed their mental frailty, which wouldn't have gone unnoticed and offered ray of hope to oppo.
Once the Red card period finished Chch were reinvigorated, whereas Blues looked like they were in 'hold on' mode.

Last 8 minutes. It was 23-27 and all to play for. At 73.30 Christie knocked himself out and that definitely weakened Blues. At 74 Sullivan kicked 22 to 22, and close to touch (see above), but Chch with the lucky bounce off Lester chip went the length of the field back. From there they threw the proverbial kitchen sink at Blues, as one would expect. To their immense credit Blues D was indomitable and legal. The Ioane/Paps tackle got the raps, but the last 4 minutes were a case of they shall not pass: bravo!

So Blues better than I thought, but IMO key lesson was not to become too tentative when Chch were still man down. That said, BB is no closer. That chip was a totally unnecessary gamble and had he just nudged the ball into the corner I very much doubt we'd have seem the Chch fightback.

Kudos, though, to Chch. Outplayed for most of match, at the point when the oppo showed a lack of confidence, and gave them a chink of light, they stormed back like the champions they've been.

Can only hope for more such derbies from here...

right, got back from two weeks in NZ last night, missed the game live as was out getting pretty fucking blind on sat which i think is a fair enough excuse, watched the reply on Stan when i got in

dont have a lot to add that hasn't already been said but wanted to add, dickson red was fair enough, even if he's standing his ground and the player is dropping...he's tucked his arm so basically a shoulder charge, just a bit stupid

@stargazer said in Chiefs vs Moana Pasifika:

@bovidae I saw a photo of Stevenson after the game walking with crutches. Didn't look good, but could just be to ease the pain. Fingers crossed.

Yeah, I read that on Stuff. The options for the outside backs could be very thin. Narawa and Trask were already out, Lowe looks to be being held together with strapping, and ENS was troubled with a hamstring in the 2nd half before being replaced.

Game was ok but QLD dropped away too much ball.

Was very light on the physicality after watching Crusaders Blues.

@hydro11 said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@gt12 said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@antipodean said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@hydro11 said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@antipodean said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@hydro11 said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@antipodean said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@hydro11 said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@antipodean said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@hydro11 said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@antipodean said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@hydro11 said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@antipodean said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@bones said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

@cgrant said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:

It was a very kickable penalty. How many chances to get the 3 points : more than 70% IMO. How many chances to score a try via the lineout ? 20% maybe ?

I'm struggling to understand this concept that it's impossible for the canes to win in normal time, yet so much more acceptable they'd win in extra time. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Trying to score from something they're bad at (lineout - maul) against a team excellent at defending a maul. Extra time provides unstructured opportunities which is something the Canes are reasonable at.

It's not just a maul though. Even if you don't score from the maul, you should be able to recycle and get an unstructured opportunity 5 metres out.

Did they..?

Going for the lineout has less than a 50% chance of success, so can't use the fact it failed to prove your point. It has to be based on the likeliness at the time.

Let me get this logic right: A Canes lineout has more chance of losing possession that winning it, so it's better to attempt that to its inevitable conclusion (as we saw), than to force other opportunities?

No. The lineout has less than 50% chance of leading to a try. Obviously, we have more than 50% chance of winning the ball back.

Ok. A Canes lineout has more chance of not leading to a try than scoring one, so it's better to attempt that to its inevitable conclusion (as we saw), than to force other opportunities?

Yes. Going to golden point also has more chance of losing than winning.

There's only two teams competing in golden point...

Yes, but the Crusaders are a far better team, thus giving them a greater than 50% chance of winning in golden point. I don't believe you think the Hurricanes are as good as the Crusaders, or would be as likely to win from that point.

Even if you think golden point is a 50/50, Jordie still has to kick the goal to take us there. Unless you give him a 100% chance of doing so, there was a sub 50% the Hurricanes won from that position.

I understand now. You weren't going to win so why delay the inevitable, get it over in normal time!

That’s exactly what I’m reading too.

We’ll only get one chance as we aren’t good enough. Fair enough.

What I find hilarious is that the Canes were 6/10 against the Saders for line outs won.

But the kick is the risky option.

Our lineout is much better than that normally though.

Ahhh that poor display must have contributed to J. Blackwell's dropping from the side that fronted against Moana Pasifika.

Canes desperately needed those 5 points to stay in the mix, other than that we didn't get that much benefit out of the match... MPs lack of depth is really hurting them, they were very poor at the breakdown & awful at defending the rolling maul, at times they were ok at scrummaging.

When Canes get back to playing one match a week we should be looking to field our best team each week, play all our best combinations together, which will give us far better flow in our game, making the Canes much more of a threat.

I'd rather see him in a black jersey than G. Bridge. The latter is known to be safe (that 2022 SA game aside) but is not of international calibre in terms of danger for the opposition.
It would be interesting to see his stats (defenders beaten, meters gained, aso).

That last play was about as good as it got , in between i was yawning on many occasions

@bones I really hope you are right!