NZ team of the 1st round
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="SammyC" data-cid="561581" data-time="1456707272">
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<p>Fekitoa at 13 for me.. loved it when Ranger came on and he smashed him straight away, knows who his competition is.</p>
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<p>I'd maybe put Hall at 9, his running game really sparked the blues attack. </p>
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<p>Who smashed who ? it's not clear from your post. But yeah, great to see RR back. Has he had a haircut and shave yet ?</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="MN5" data-cid="561603" data-time="1456717954">
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<p>Who smashed who ? it's not clear from your post. But yeah, great to see RR back. Has he had a haircut and shave yet ?</p>
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<p>Pretty sure it was Rangers first touch (or if not that then his second) Fekitoa creamed him.</p>
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<p>Blues need to find some distributors in a backline full of ball hogs from 12 out I reckon.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="SammyC" data-cid="561604" data-time="1456718046">
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<p>Pretty sure it was Rangers first touch (or if not that then his second) Fekitoa creamed him.</p>
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<p>Blues need to find some distributors in a backline full of ball hogs from 12 out I reckon.</p>
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<p>Yeah Moala and Ranger are definitely tuck the ball under their arms and trample/fend/step whoever is in front of them but Ma'a certainly learnt how to pop a sweet pass so anything is possible.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="KiwiMurph" data-cid="561596" data-time="1456712480">
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<p>Nigel Yalden's NZ team of the week</p>
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<p>9 - Hall</p>
<p>10 - West</p>
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<p>Bloody hell, that's more one eyed than Canebry. No way do those two make the list...</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="nzzp" data-cid="561589" data-time="1456710086">
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<p>Good energy, but his passing wasn't flash. Really showed up by A Smith, who's pass is a thing of beauty. Still, beats the hell out of the 9's we've put out recently, so I'll take it!</p>
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<p>I agree. </p> -
<p>A little surprised to see Luatua in there. I thought he looked slow, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.</p>
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<p>Parsons and Taylor the pick of the rakes. Cruds over West.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="ACT Crusader" data-cid="561611" data-time="1456722477">
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<p>A little surprised to see Luatua in there. I thought he looked slow, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.</p>
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<p>Parsons and Taylor the pick of the rakes. Cruds over West.</p>
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<p>The Blues blindside defence had some gaps, and Luatua certainly got caught out. Overall though I thought he covered a lot of ground and looked pretty quick.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="ACT Crusader" data-cid="561611" data-time="1456722477">
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<p><strong>A little surprised to see Luatua in there. I thought he looked slow, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.</strong></p>
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<p>Parsons and Taylor the pick of the rakes. Cruds over West.</p>
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<p>really? I was impressed on Friday. He looked at fault for the Highlanders try by the young 12, but the end-on shot showed one of the Blues midfielders jammed in, leaving Luatua covering 2 guys. He got a lot of shoulders on a lot of guys, and did a heap of shit work. Maybe i was just looking for him, but he seemed to pop up all over the place. </p>
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<p>I have only seen the game once though, so i might be wrong. </p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="KiwiMurph" data-cid="561596" data-time="1456712480">
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<p>Nigel Yalden's NZ team of the week</p>
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<p>1 - Ofa T</p>
<p>2 - Coltman</p>
<p>3 - Franks O</p>
<p>4 - Tuipulotu</p>
<p>5 - Brodie</p>
<p>6 - Seu</p>
<p>7 - Gibson</p>
<p>8 - Read</p>
<p>9 - Hall</p>
<p>10 - West</p>
<p>11 - Lowe</p>
<p>12 - Ngatai</p>
<p>13 - Fekitoa</p>
<p>14 - Nanai</p>
<p>15 - McKenzie</p>
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<p>Thought Moody went well at LH for the Crusdaers - keep this up and he'll leapfrog Crockett. Still sad that Laulala our for the season :(</p>
<p>I'd have A Smith ahead of Hall at 9, thought his passing was sublime.</p>
<p>Cruden ahead of West. Cruden looked very good. All the first-fives went well for the NZ franchises, except Barrett who was a bit meh.</p> -
<p>Moody scrummed very well but was nowhere in the loose. Ofa T, on the contrary, showed a great workrate during the 2nd half. He did not scrum to badly either. That is why my choice was Ofa.</p>
<p>Hooker is a rather weak spot for this 1st round. No one stood out. Coltman was powerful, at least in the first few minutes when the Highlanders dominated possession.</p>
<p>I went for Faumuina because what I said for Moody is the same for Franks. Good scrummaging but low workrate. The Crusaders are slow starters.</p>
<p>The locks pick by themselves.</p>
<p>Blindside flank : everything Joe Edwards did was good. Nothing flashy but very solid. Seu did some freaky things but otherwise looked lost at times. Not the finished article yet.</p>
<p>Nr.8 : Luatua was far better than Read IMO and Squire only played 15 minutes (during which he was excellent).</p>
<p>Scrum half : Smith's passing and control were world class. Hall's passing gave West a few difficult moments.</p>
<p>1st Five : Cruden was outstanding for his first outing since his injury. West was OK but not better than Cruden IMO.</p>
<p>Temanivalu : I named him by default. Fekitoa made a few strong runs but looked like a headless chicken in each one. No composure, no passing game. I was tempted to select Lienert Brown who looked very good and dynamic when he came in.</p>
<p>Macilai : I think he was the most dangerous player of the whole Crusaders backline.</p>
<p>McKenzie bracketed with Smith : He was brillant while Smith scored two tries and was class. Two oustanding FB which is good for NZ rugby.</p> -
<p>I've never been completely convinced by Ardie Savea at 15s. Despite his AB "apprenticeship" ticket to Europe and all the hype. Cane is a lock for one 7 jersey, but if Gibson (or someone) else can have a good season, I don't think it's certain that Savea will be an AB.</p>
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="nzzp" data-cid="561608" data-time="1456721591">
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<p>Bloody hell, that's more one eyed than Canebry. No way do those two make the list...</p>
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<p>I put it down to over excitement about the Blues actually winning a game than one-eyedness.</p>
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<p>They weren't the best on display all weekend.</p>
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<p>You could even argue for DMac at 10 given the amount of times in the Chiefs gameplan that he popped up at first receiver.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="cgrant" data-cid="561624" data-time="1456728919">
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<p>Moody scrummed very well but was nowhere in the loose. Ofa T, on the contrary, showed a great workrate during the 2nd half. He did not scrum to badly either. That is why my choice was Ofa.</p>
<p>Hooker is a rather weak spot for this 1st round. No one stood out. Coltman was powerful, at least in the first few minutes when the Highlanders dominated possession.</p>
<p>I went for Faumuina because what I said for Moody is the same for Franks. Good scrummaging but low workrate. The Crusaders are slow starters.</p>
<p>The locks pick by themselves.</p>
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<p>Agree that Moody's main impact was in the scrum.</p>
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<p>However.... Franks made 12 tackles compared with Ofa T (6) and Faumuina (1). So I guess it depends on how you define workrate </p> -
<p>The Blues had most of the possession in the second spell and Ofa T and Faumuina drove a lot and were very physical in the rucks.</p>
<p>Manu had a good first half with ball in hand but was monstered in the scrums. He could have made a good hooker IMO.</p>
<p>Mitch Graham was excellent when he came in : strong scrummaging (against a tired O. Franks however) and strong carries.</p> -
<p>Ofa seemed like a different player and agreed with those 2 going forward. Better than seeing Franks going forward ass first. He was also stopping the go forward of the other team which to me is a more important feature of tackling. You might have 10 tackles but are you being driven back while doing so or are you stopping momentum and front toot ball. The Blues have some monsters and with refinement might go close to matching the Brumbies and Waratahs. Add Kaino to the mix. Ouch.</p>
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<p>Agree with what both of you are saying, the Blues props were very good.</p>
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<p>However the suggestion that Franks had a low workrate made by cgrant is a bit wrong in my opinion.</p>
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<p>12 Tackles in a match is excellent for a tighthead prop. I would like to see a few examples of Faumuina making this many tackles in a match?</p>
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<p>Crusaders were very good at the breakdown. This is where both Franks brothers excel. They are ruck hitters rather than ball carriers (the canes definately missed this on the weekend). I don't think the crusaders lost their match in the forwards, rather by giving too much broken field space to Mackenzie/Cruden etc</p>
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<p>This weekend will be interesting. The blues scrum looked pretty good against the highlanders, but I think the crusaders have the best scrum in the comp. Big test for Ofa and Patrick Tuipolotu who has question marks over his scrummaging. Crusaders will need to win this battle to have a chance of winning, Blues have a lot of dangerous ball runners.</p>
