Waratahs v Blues
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@Duluth said in Waratahs v Blues:
Why is Bell only on the bench?
They probably want some experience to go with a very young inexperienced bench front row (bench hooker is 5th choice). I wouldn't be surprised to see Bell on the field after 30 minutes.
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Some of the Opta facts for this game:
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The Blues have won their last nine matches on the bounce against the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby competitions; it's the Blues' longest winning run against a single team in their history.
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The NSW Waratahs have won only one of their last six Super Rugby Pacific matches (L5) - a 37-24 victory against the Crusaders (2 March 2024).
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The Blues will be looking to avoid back-to-back defeats in Super Rugby for the first time since April 2021, following their 21-29 loss against the Hurricanes last time out in Super Rugby Pacific.
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The Blues have retained possession from 98% of their rucks in Super Rugby Pacific this year, the best rate of any team, also recording the quickest average attacking ruck speed in the competition (2.69 seconds per ruck).
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Mark Tele'a (Blues) has made 48 carries in the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season - five more than any other player in the campaign; in addition, his 17 defenders beaten is the third most of any player (Cam Roigard - 19 for Hurricanes and Selestino Ravutaumada - 18 for Fijian Drua).
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@Duluth said in Waratahs v Blues:
The Blues have won their last nine matches on the bounce against the NSW Waratahs
The NSW Waratahs have won only one of their last six Super Rugby Pacific matches
The Blues will be looking to avoid back-to-back defeats in Super Rugby for the first time since April 2021,
Well, I don't think they've got much to worry about...
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Teams from that last Tahs win in 2015:
Israel Folau, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Matt Carraro, Kurtley Beale, Rob Horne, Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps, Wycliff Palu, Michael Hooper, Jacques Potgieter, Dave Dennis, Will Skelton, Sekope Kepu,Tolu Latu, Benn Robinson
Reserves: Hugh Roach, Jeremy Tilse, Paddy Ryan, Sam Lousi, Mitchell Chapman, Stephen Hoiles, Brendan Mckibbin, Peter BethamCharles Piutau, Frank Halai, George Moala, Francis Saili, Melani Nanai, Daniel Bowden, Jimmy Cowan, Jerome Kaino, Brendon O'Connor, Steven Luatua, Patrick Tuipulotu, Hayden Triggs, Charlie Faumuina, James Parsons, Tony Woodcock
Reserves: Keven Mealamu, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Angus Ta'avao, Culum Retallick, Luke Braid, Jamison Gibson-Park, Simon Hickey, Pita AhkiCouldn't find any highlights on youtube
Ofa & Angus the only guys playing this weekend too
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couple of pretty decent rugby teams there, how did the Blues only win 3 games?
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@mariner4life coaching and administration
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@mariner4life Certainly a mid table Blues side there at least.
Mind you, by the end of the season, the team that year looked a lot different to that side.
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@Duluth said in Waratahs v Blues:
Teams from that last Tahs win in 2015:
I was at that game. From memory Kaino smoked someone in a huge hit and got carded - which was a defining turning point in the game. Felt dubious at the time but funny thinking back it would probably be a 20 minute red and a few weeks off these days.
Interestingly the year prior 2014 Blues were the only Kiwi team to beat the Tahs in their title winning season.
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@KiwiMurph Yeah that's when Cheika spent the whole of halftime intimidating the ref which led to a ridiculously lopsided penalty count in the 2nd half. We would have still lost anyway as we were hopeless that year, but yeah, Chieka did a good job for his team that night.
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@African-Monkey That's right. Forgot about that part.
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@Nepia said in Waratahs v Blues:
@KiwiMurph said in Waratahs v Blues:
@Nepia Tahs offered a 2 for 1 ticket deal for last week's match and all nsw school rugby players and junior referees get free entry.
Well that doesn't help me and my middle aged mates this weekend.
Sadly, I haven't seen any deals this week.
There is a deal for General Admin + 2 x Coopers beers for $40.
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@KiwiMurph said in Waratahs v Blues:
@Nepia said in Waratahs v Blues:
@KiwiMurph said in Waratahs v Blues:
@Nepia Tahs offered a 2 for 1 ticket deal for last week's match and all nsw school rugby players and junior referees get free entry.
Well that doesn't help me and my middle aged mates this weekend.
Sadly, I haven't seen any deals this week.
There is a deal for General Admin + 2 x Coopers beers for $40.
Cheers, I actually scored some free tickets during the week.
The price of the general admin tickets wasn't the issue (for the others), it's where the seats are.
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Bell is a bit grumpy about being on the bench
“I always want to start,” Bell said. Asked if he’d been given a reason for his demotion to the bench, Bell replied: “I’ll let [coach] Darren [Coleman] explain that. You can hammer him about that.” -
@mariner4life said in Waratahs v Blues:
couple of pretty decent rugby teams there, how did the Blues only win 3 games?
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