@gt12 said in Chiefs v Highlanders:

I’m really pleased to see him there, he jumped out at Mitre 10 level so I hope he can step up and perform as he meets the needs of a tough six and line out option.

I first saw Finau playing for St Peters at 1st XV level. The thing is he played mostly at lock at school and for the NZ U20s but is better suited to 6 when there are 2 m locks available.

My biggest concern is that both of our locks are also really lock/sixes too, so we should be mobile but are also a bit undersized. I hope the set piece stands up...

It will be interesting. Vaa'i is the same height as Tuipulotu so not small. Brown might play 6 when he is subbed on, so the lineout wouldn't suffer.

@act-crusader said in Game of three halves - Blues/Crusaders/Chiefs - 20/02, 12pm:

Agree. Nock has huge upside I reckon but will need time.

is looking like his time is now, was starting to look good last Super season, until he was dropped, presumably for a off-field incident (breach of team rules form what I heard) but was superb for Northland.

Am thinking Christie will get first chances though, but we know how attritional things are, so he will get his shot.

Photosport gallery:

https://photosportnz.photoshelter.com/gallery/210213-Game-of-3-Halves-Preseason/G0000WAmARXB0J4I/C0000azGTB7px3Ds

@yeetyaah said in Chiefs 2021:

@tim Harris is BoP so doubt it.

Cynics. 🙂

@antipodean said in Hurricanes v Chiefs:

When did dwarf throwing deserve a three week suspension?

Since 2011, when the initial punishment was early exit from a RWC

@No-Quarter said in Chiefs v Crusaders:

@kiwiinmelb said in Chiefs v Crusaders:

@mariner4life said in Chiefs v Crusaders:

One point from my perspective.

Mounga and Jordan the most dangerous players on the park, looking like top level players.

While our starting all black wingers just look average.

And for all our talk of midfield depth, the guys most likely to start the first test aren't showing much.

Okay 2 points.

I would actually consider Jordan to play right wing

Agree, a back three of Rieko, Jordie and Jordan is looking our best bet at this stage (IMO)

Be interesting to see if his mentioned defence deficiencies can be ironed out in the ABs.

Pierce was very good for his comeback within the 23. He is a better lock the Goodhue IMO but PT and GCT are on fire for the moment so it will be hard for him to find a place in the starting 8.

Halfbacks discussing their Bantam weight scrap post match -

@mariner4life said in Chiefs v Hurricanes:

@Stargazer should be given a reward

The mere idea he should be penalised for two players running into the same space is ridiculous. As is the "late tackle" explanation. There's no tackle, just a halfback getting in the way of a flanker.

@sparky said in Crusaders v Chiefs:

@cgrant said in Crusaders v Chiefs:

Ah Kuoi was the best lock on the paddock. His workrate is impressive and he is quite dynamic in the loose. Not a bad LO jumper either.

Disagree, Sam Whitelock and Mitch Brown both made twice the number of tackles as him and hit more rucks. Not a vintage performance from Sam Whitelock, but he was still the best lock on the paddock in that game.

He was the only lock. The rest were trainees

That would be the ideal scenario,

very good chance the Crusaders could end up more than a game clear by the time we get there though, by beating them first time around at home , and accumulating more bonus points

@Hooroo about 20 or so?

Didnt stand out, but then his team was getting bullied and didnt look like they had much of a game plan, so tough to make too much of an assessment

@Bovidae that was my point.

@Jailbreak7 said in Chiefs v Brumbies (round 4):

Colour me irritated/disappointed bloody annoyed.
Not with the loss so much (then again, maybe) but more the manner in which we lost.
Chiefs have prided themseleves on their D for the 1st 3 games. The D against the Ponies was weak as water non-existent at times

Agreed. People are talking about how good the Brumbies were - not hard to look good when you're consistently going forward and making breaks from poor defence.

A straight line instead of shooters leaving gaping holes and making first up tackles would've resulted in the Brumbies kicking more often, giving some possession to the Chiefs.

Split the Japan/SR conversation to its own thread

https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/3783/japan-and-super-rugby

@ACT-Crusader Mounga would've made a big difference on Saturday.

@KiwiMurph said in Blues v Chiefs:

just put a different halfback in rather for some reason always defaulting to Ruru as the starter

you would hope Nock will get a chance this weekend, and he has a massive opportunity to claim that jersey, if not, Christie will get his chance and the merry-go-round will continue.

@Stargazer I still remember how filthy I was at Clarke about jumping on Alaimalo after he scored the try and injuring him for the whole season. In hindsight, he's leaving anyway so 🤷

@MN5 said in QF 3: Jaguares v Chiefs:

@Jaguares4real said in QF 3: Jaguares v Chiefs:

@MN5 said in QF 3: Jaguares v Chiefs:

@Jaguares4real said in QF 3: Jaguares v Chiefs:

@MN5

As you want to be wilfully obtuse/dense I'll break it down for you

Fact that ARG are 10th in rankings is:

A. Meaningless

B. Linked to their lack of intensity for Test matches they consider friendlies

There's been ALOT of changes to ARG in last 18 months

Ledesma going from Jaguares HC to Pumas HC in 2018

As well as Quesada now being the Jaguares HC in 2019

Times are changing

Pumas have woken up from their lethargy & incompetence at all levels of the game

Says who ?

I have a feeling the ABs would be mighty pissed off if they lost the number one ranking.

Scotlands two victories both came in the last 18 months.

ABs are a different animal They've been #1 for most of the Professional Era

Pumas have no interest TBH in rankings You can play mickey mouse teams & pick up points

**SCO victories whilst nice are ultimately meaningless long term

RWC is the objective & as I've stated already Pumas were still getting their shit together**

OK, well in that case hopefully all international matches between World Cups are called off. What's the point in them ?

Pub quiz in Glasgow.. "And the final question to win the £200 is:
Take Thats first album consisted of four words, the first two words were "Take That" so what was the second two words. . .?

There was a long pause then a wee Glasgow man pipes up...

Was it "Ya C@nt"...?! 😂😂

Think we’d have a better shot against the Jaguares, but the direct flight to Christchurch is understandably more appealing!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/113466880/super-rugby-chiefs-hoping-to-face-topseeded-crusaders-in-quarterfinal

@shark

It's not hard to understand, it's merely wrong.

Each of Havili'i, Bridge, Reece and Ennor are in possible AB contention. They would not care less about the guys behind them, because the guys behind are far worse than they are. They will play every game as well as they can, because they are looking at higher honours, not over their shoulders.

Meanwhile other teams have their best players not being fielded. That's a far worse situation that worrying that some of your also-rans can't make the team.

I would love it if the Chiefs could field Damien McKenzie, at the cost of not being able to field Etene Nanai-Seturo.

The tackle is over the top of the shoulder thus probably should be a penalty try anyway.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but Otere didn't even get off the bench in this game. Actually, 3 players didn't get off the bench, which is pretty rare these days. I bet the coaches were almost going to make it 4, but they somehow convinced themselves to let Pulu come on.

Never forget fellas

c733eaac-73ab-47f4-b75b-906c727e027d-image.jpeg

@cgrant said in Highlanders vs Chiefs:

For a few Ferners here : it's Jacobson and not Jacobsen.

Pity. It would make a better story if he was the son of Danish migrants.

@Chester-Draws said in Hurricanes vs Chiefs:

@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Hurricanes vs Chiefs:

@No-Quarter said in Hurricanes vs Chiefs:

@Rancid-Schnitzel I've been waiting for days for you to comment on Jordie's performance. This thread is now complete.

Ha ha. He still wasn't at 12 though!
For me, this isn't a Canes thing or Beadie's brother thing. I saw Jordie play for the NZ U20s and Canterbury before he ever signed for the Canes (I assumed he would stay down south) and could see that he was a special talent. It's frustrating when he does stupid shit (unnecessary offloads etc) but the potential is massive and he's still very young. Some people are very quick to throw players on the scrap heap. Just look at Nonu.

NZ sees lots of "special" players.

Sorry, but that's not enough.

Damien McKenzie is plenty special, but that doesn't mean he should start every game.

Another really special player was Rupeni Caucaunibuca. But special really, really isn't enough. The follow through is just as important.

I'm sorry, but that is a bizarre post.

Our forwards were absolute meh for most of that match. TBH I thought we would lose by more when I saw the starting side.
But we really need to learn how to defend at close quarters I lost count how many attacks came from straighttheough the middle of the ruck. Where were our guard dogs FFS?

@Nogusta Well that's fucked for the young bloke. He was starting to really show some form too at fullback.

@cgrant good point, almost like a Cane lite.

I was impressed by Luke Jacobson. His tackling was ferocious, hit the rucks with efficiency and ran hard. He is one to watch this year IMO.
Incredible game from Alex Nankivell too. I hope he will keep playing like that. A combo with ALB could be interesting in the next weeks to come.

Weber looks well off the pace to me. Hesitant at the breakdown and his passing is erratic at best.

Switching DMac back to his best position is the best news out of Hamilton so far this season, let's hope they try it.

I need to qualify what I meant by my comment about NPC form meaning nothing. It can certainly play you into a Super Rugby squad, but doesn’t neccessarily mean you can translate that form into SR, and some find that step up much harder than expected. It’s relatively easy to dominate at the lower level but then the next step is becoming harder by the year as our depth is eroded. Problem being, how often in the NPC is a freshie coming up against an established Super Rugby player, or veteran, in ten rounds?

@Duluth Missed that.

@Nepia Coaches, as well - Leon, KK, Andrew Goodman, Hammer....Toddy is away seeking global domination! 🙂

@Duluth lucky nobody on here got on their high horse insisting that they knew the laws and it was a straight red.

#nobody knows the fucken law interpretations with any certainty

UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO CHIEFS REGION UNDER 16 TOURNAMENT SET TO KICK-OFF

University of Waikato Chiefs Region Under 16 Tournament is set to showcase the up and coming rugby talent within Chiefs Country. The tournament proudly sponsored by University of Waikato will see Bay of Plenty, Counties Manukau, Taranaki and Waikato’s respective Under 16 sides take to the field from Monday 30 September through to Thursday 3 October. Teams will compete across three days with hosts Taranaki kicking off the tournament against Waikato at 5.00pm, followed by Counties Manukau and Bay of Plenty at 7.00pm. Both games will take place at TET Stadium, Inglewood on Monday 30 September, before the tournament moves to New Plymouth Boys’ High School for day two (Tuesday 1 October) and the final round robin matches on Thursday 3 October.

.

The tournament format is as follows:

Monday 30th September 2019: TET Stadium, Inglewood
5.00pm Kick off: Taranaki vs Waikato
7.00pm Kick off: Counties Manukau vs Bay of Plenty

Tuesday 1st October 2019: New Plymouth Boys’ High School, New Plymouth
12.00pm Kick off: Bay of Plenty vs Waikato
2.00pm Kick off: Taranaki vs Counties Manukau

Wednesday 2nd October 2019: Education Day, New Plymouth Boys’ High School, New Plymouth
9.30am – 12.00pm

Thursday 3rd October 2019: New Plymouth Boys’ High School, New Plymouth
12.00pm Kick off: Counties Manukau vs Waikato
2.00pm Kick off: Taranaki vs Bay of Plenty

For team lists, see the article.

The French should feel mortified they lost to a team that had that as a first five-eighth. Exactly the sort of game that gives me All Black RWC nightmares.