Blues v Cheetahs
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Great to see Kara Pryor back. Gibson will need some rotation soon. Also glad to see all the others return from injury. Would've liked to see Matt Vaega ahead of O'Donnell though. Not sure what's up with him this year? Played very well for North Harbour last year, and made the most of his chances with the Blues.
Looking forward to seeing the backline with Faiane distributing at 12.
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Tuipulotu returns to face Cheetahs
10 May 2017
All Black Patrick Tuipulotu makes his return from injury for the Blues in their Investec Super Rugby home clash against the Cheetahs at Eden Park on Friday night.
Tuipulotu has been sidelined with a back injury since the round six clash against the Force, and comes into the starting line-up with Gerard Cowley-Tuioti moving to the bench after starting in nine of the 10 games this season.
Fullback Michael Collins and winger Matt Duffie, who have started in all 10 games this season, have the opportunity to refresh ahead of a busy next four weeks, including travel to South Africa and Samoa.
Melani Nanai returns to the starting line-up at fullback with former New Zealand Sevens player Declan O’Donnell to make his Blues debut on the right wing after a lengthy time on the sideline following impressive pre-season form.
Meanwhile, TJ Faiane makes his second start in the midfield in place of Sonny-Bill Williams who has not fully recovered from his concussion injury against the Waratahs.
Blues coach Tana Umaga said Williams was improving but it was considered prudent to take the opportunity to rest him this week with the demanding schedule ahead over the next month.
The Blues also welcome back a raft of players from injury who get their chance off the reserves’ bench. They include prop Alex Hodgman who will make his Blues debut, Kara Pryor who played 13 times last season, Ihaia West who has missed four games with an ankle strain, and halfback Sam Nock, while Hame Faiva replaces an injured Matt Moulds.
“Most of these guys would have played already had they not been injured. They have worked really diligently in their recovery and all have been excellent in training and fully deserve their opportunities,” Tana said.
“Likewise our playing group have had a big run of games and we will be looking for the players coming in to add some real energy to the team.”
He added: “Last week we produced probably the best first half of the season but dropped off in the second half. We are still looking for 80 minutes of complete football.”
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hope Nock can have an extended run of being uninjured, with Pulu's form, real opportunity to press for a starting role.
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This could be the highest scoring game of the round if both teams play to their strengths. Cheetahs have selected a very exciting backline that love to shift the ball and straighten the attack.
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter (c), 12 William Small-Smith, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Niell Jordaan, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Charles Marais
Replacements: 16 Elandre Huggett, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Johan Coetzee, 19 Armandt Koster, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Niel Marais, 23 Clinton Swart
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@ACT-Crusader weather not looking good for tonight, so might affect the scoring, I doubt the intent will change though
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@taniwharugby said in Blues v Cheetahs:
@ACT-Crusader weather not looking good for tonight, so might affect the scoring, I doubt the intent will change though
That's an understatement, just had to swim the kids to school.
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one of these games huh...
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some optional soft defence at the moment
