@kiwi_expat said in Moana Pasifika v Hurricanes:

@SBW1 said in Moana Pasifika v Hurricanes:

@Canes4life They are pretty close to being the form team of the comp and possibly have the most depth of any of the franchises. A lot of this success probably has been springboarded by the success of the Wellington Lions at NPC level.

Might be a Chiefs vs Hurricanes final this year, Canes are riding a wave behind a NPC winning Lions contingent. Chiefs have a squad that's peaking also.

But Crusaders have all but one forward in ABs, or NZ XV or Pacific test teams, and a lot of back depth too. It is all about the best team you can field for knockouts - and Crusaders will have the edge regardless

@Duluth
If he’s running like that, which flanker’s catching him? 😆

@cgrant said in Moana Pasifika v Chiefs:

There is also Finau in contention for a bench spot. I like his physicality.

I'm a fan too, but I was still surprised he made the bench in game 1.

The Chiefs are short on THP

Yes, and the injuries to Ta'avao and Moli haven't helped, which is why there was an SOS to Ryan. Dyer is only 23. The majority of the young props in the Chiefs system that I am familiar with are LHs.

Just want to say; I called it a good 18 months ago when I said Sam Gilbert looked a good midfield option. Dermody saying he sees him as a viable midfielder.

@Bovidae malimali looked dangerous on the few occasions he was given the ball could be useful

Looks like Jonah Mau'u has been added to the MP roster permanently as opposed to injury cover as he was originally.

Northern Advocate, Talanoa, New Zealand Taniwha loose forward called up for Moana Pasifika Taniwha loose forward called up for Moana Pasifika

Waipū premier rugby skipper Jonah Mau'u has been selected for Moana Pasifika.

They all struggle. Lindenmuth hasn't kicked on from his age-group days and gets dominated at NPC level.

@Stargazer said in Reds v Moana Pasifika:

certainly their commentators are way more biased.

I wouldn't go that far.

Tavatavanawai has beaten 42 defenders in 5 games.

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

@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.

@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.

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.

@bones I really hope you are right!

@nogusta In all fairness to Plummer though, he's only started about 10-15 matches in that time and a lot of those were at 12 where he had to learn the position on the job. He's been chucked around a fair bit too in all honesty where he's barely played 2 games in a row in the same position.

The only reason why he played so many games consecutively was because he could cover both 10 and 12 and a fair few of those games would have been 10-15 minute cameos.

@mariner4life said in Moana Pasifika v Blues:

@bones said in Moana Pasifika v Blues:

@mariner4life said in Moana Pasifika v Blues:

@bones said in Moana Pasifika v Blues:

@antipodean said in Moana Pasifika v Blues:

@kiwimurph said in Moana Pasifika v Blues:

Are these players ever going to learn? Seriously?

He seemed bemused too, like he couldn't believe his actions there would be deemed a problem.

Yeah, standing there shaking his head - but this is the reaction we're going to get when half the time fans jump all over WR/Refs and say they've ruined the game. How often have we seen that recently and it goes on for days/weeks, without mention of the player? Laulala will probably get a ban, but other than reporting on that, there'll be next to nothing written about him being a grub.

Even as one of the more vocal about the red card situation

that's a fucking red every day. That's a dumb, and yes, grubby act that got what it deserved. Laulala is shit and not overly bright on the field and the ABs should get rid.

There is a mile of difference between this card and say, the one in the England v Ireland game

Yep you're right, the poor player that Ewels hit couldn't play on because he was knocked the fuck out, Laulala only gave someone a light touch up, why should he care?

Nice way to illustrate my point though!

Way to be a huge dick just for something new and different

Rugby sux lol

@nzbloke said in Moana Pasifika vs Hurricanes:

You're sounding like a broken record

You are the absolute world champ at ironing.

@stockcar86 said in Moana Pasifika vs Chiefs:

@bones said in Moana Pasifika vs Chiefs:

@shark I think I first started when he confused So'oialo with Conrad Smith

Maybe there needs to be a concussion protocol for commentators - get too many names wrong and they sub in Sumo for 10 minutes while Nisbo is off trying to remember what colour undies he has on

That will work, 10 minutes of Sumo nicknames only, then bring on TJ to get overexcited about anyone tangentiality related to Tasman/Crusaders and underexcited about anyone tangentially related to the Blues, then bring on Laban to tell us what school everyone went to and piss off anyone not already pissed off.

This competition is looking more and more amateur every week dealing with these restrictions.

I'm happy to give him a week to get back into it.

@Stargazer said in Pasifika SR team:

Another preview of "All Access: Moana Pasifika". Can't wait to watch it!

This was well worth watching.