Force v Blues
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Team naming tonight 6pm
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CAPTAIN RETURNS TO LEAD BLUES TROOPS BACK INTO ACTION AGAINST WESTERN FORCE — Blues Rugby
The Blues welcome back some key players as they take on the testing challenge against the Western Force in Perth on Friday evening. Several players with minor niggles or on All Black leave, who missed the Super Round in Melbourne, have joined the team for Friday’s clash. They include captain Dalto
1 Alex Hodgman (49)
2 Kurt Eklund (31)
3 Ofa Tuungafasi (114)
4 Luke Romano (8)
5 Sam Darry (12)
6 Akira Ioane (88)
7 Dalton Papalii© (51)
8 Anton Segner (4)
9 Finlay Christie (24)
10 Beauden Barrett (12)
11 Caleb Clarke (32)
12 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (5)
13 Bryce Heem (14)
14 AJ Lam (15)
15 Zarn Sullivan (12)16 Ricky Riccitelli (7)
17 Karl Tu’inukuafe (36)
18 Marcel Renata (5)
19 James Tucker (6)
20 Adrian Choat (13)
21 Taufa Funaki (5)
22 Tanielu Tele’a (19)
23 Mark Telea (33)Players not considered: Harry Plummer, Sam Nock, Rieko Ioane, Hoskins Sotutu, Nepo Laulala, Tom Robinson, Stephen Perofeta.
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@Daffy-Jaffy I don't know which Tele'a/Telea is which.
I assume by their placement that the one with ' is the midfielder.
Good to see Ioane back. Although I thought they may have given him a run at his old position of 8.
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I thought Clarke wasn't due back until next week, or did his get downgraded?
He says without reading anything...
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Akira finally gets to start his season
I like that backline. Swap Heem for RI and that's the Blues best backline IMO
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@Duluth I've liked what I've seen from Segner so far this season, don't know why razor wasn't interested? the young man cleary has a big future🙂
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@Duluth Hell of a team.
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Internationals Rieko Ioane, Nepo Laulala and Hoskins Sotutu are on All Blacks rest week while abrasive loose forward Tom Robinson is spelled after a minor knock in last weekend’s clash against the Fijian Drua.
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@taniwharugby said in Force v Blues:
I thought Clarke wasn't due back until next week, or did his get downgraded?
He says without reading anything...
No Clarke missed his full 3 games. Chiefs away, Crusaders away, Drua in Melbourne.
I like the balance of that team.
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@KiwiMurph ha I thought we'd only had 2 games 🤣
Where does the time go!
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assuming the Force show up, the Blues should win this by a thousand if they decide this week to play with even a smidgeon of patience.
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Force
Tom Robertson, Feleti Kaitu'u (c), Santiago Medrano, Ryan McCauley, Izack Rodda, Fergus Lee-Warner, Kane Koteka, Ollie Callan, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Reesjan Pasitoa, Manasa Mataele, Bayley Kuenzle, Kyle Godwin, Toni Pulu, Jake Strachan/Jake McIntyre
Reserves: Andrew Ready, Bo Abra, Greg Holmes, Jeremy Thrush, Tim Anstee, Alex Masibaka, Ian Prior, Richard Kahui
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Interesting that the German is playing at 8.
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@Tim Its his 3rd start at 8 as well this year, so do they see him as an 8?
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in Force v Blues:
Internationals Rieko Ioane, Nepo Laulala and Hoskins Sotutu are on All Blacks rest week
Hasn't he already had a few "rest weeks"?
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V.good team and really happy to see Akira Ioane back.
Blues need to get back to same form that saw them beat Chiefs & Crusaders away from home. If they do they'll put 50PTS on the Force. I think that's likely given Christie/Barrett are back running the show. Funaki/Barrett didn't gel last week.
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@FakatavaFuture He'd be nowhere if he wasn't German according to our Crusaders mates.....
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@Bovidae said in Force v Blues:
@Daffy-Jaffy said in Force v Blues:
Internationals Rieko Ioane, Nepo Laulala and Hoskins Sotutu are on All Blacks rest week
Hasn't he already had a few "rest weeks"?
4D chess. Can't get suspended if you don't play.
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@Duluth said in Force v Blues:
Force
Tom Robertson, Feleti Kaitu'u (c), Santiago Medrano, Ryan McCauley, Izack Rodda, Fergus Lee-Warner, Kane Koteka, Ollie Callan, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Reesjan Pasitoa, Manasa Mataele, Bayley Kuenzle, Kyle Godwin, Toni Pulu, Jake Strachan/Jake McIntyre
Reserves: Andrew Ready, Bo Abra, Greg Holmes, Jeremy Thrush, Tim Anstee, Alex Masibaka, Ian Prior, Richard Kahui
Who? Oh thrush and Kahui, I recognise those names!
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@Machpants Old man Romano will feel right at home once Thrush (37), Holmes (38) and Kahui (36) get on for the force.
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in Force v Blues:
@Machpants Old man Romano will feel right at home once Thrush (37), Holmes (38) and Kahui (36) get on for the force.
Zimmer fight!
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This is how competitive the Force are; Kahui is old enough to play Masters and looks a class above when he takes the field. Quite why he's on the bench instead of starting is mystifying.
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@Duluth I expected more Force players to be out - I guess the question is how many of that Force 23 are not 100% due to Covid-19.
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Yeah, I guess it depends on how sick they were? Were they just positive and therefore not allowed to play or genuinely sick?
There's some updates in this article. Almost all of their squad is available this week
Western Force reveal extent of Covid, injury afflictions
Western Force coach Tim Sampson insists there was simply no way he could have fielded a team last week after COVID-19 ripped through the player squad.
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Conventional rugby wisdom has that after such a long period out of the game, you bring a player back via the bench. Ease him back into the fray with 20-odd minutes off the pine. Not Ioane though. MacDonald says what he’s seen on the training field instils confidence his ball-playing loosie is ready to give him an hour from the opening hooter before he “falls off a cliff”. ... “We held him back deliberately,” said the coach. “We could have pushed him out last week, but wanted to give him extra time, get a few more miles in the legs and confidence levels up. At some point he will get tired and he’s going to feel it, but we just felt this week he looks ready to go.” -
A change in the 23: Kneepkens replaces Mark Telea on the Blues bench.
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@Duluth said in Force v Blues:
Conventional rugby wisdom has that after such a long period out of the game, you bring a player back via the bench. Ease him back into the fray with 20-odd minutes off the pine. Not Ioane though. MacDonald says what he’s seen on the training field instils confidence his ball-playing loosie is ready to give him an hour from the opening hooter before he “falls off a cliff”. ... “We held him back deliberately,” said the coach. “We could have pushed him out last week, but wanted to give him extra time, get a few more miles in the legs and confidence levels up. At some point he will get tired and he’s going to feel it, but we just felt this week he looks ready to go.”Awesome. My expectations are high!
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Pretty much 3 opensides in the 23. I would've chucked Plumtree on the bench. Still a very good team though.
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Don't be surprised if this force team take longer to break down than people are expecting. They have a hard working, nuggety pack with 4 internationals in the tight five. Even when out classed, and giving up early leads, they tend to hang close to teams and still be in games into the last quarter. Also NZ teams rarely play well in those midnight kick off games in Perth when your body clock is telling you that you should be asleep. Hopefully being in Oz for the extra week will help with that adjustment. I think the experience and class of Christie and Barrett will be the difference in the end.
Edit: Then again, I heard Richard Kahui on the radio saying that they only trained once this week due to players isolating. It will be interesting to see how their energy levels are after the Covid enforced week off. The 6-2 bench should help. -
@Daffy-Jaffy said in Force v Blues:
Don't be surprised if this force team take longer to break down than people are expecting. They have a hard working, nuggety pack with 4 internationals in the tight five. Even when out classed, and giving up early leads, they tend to hang close to teams and still be in games into the last quarter.
Just look at last year. The Blues smashed them in the first half then let the foot off the gas. The Force won the second half 21-3
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They really are commited to kicking this game off as late as possible eh?
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@KiwiMurph I've already decided to watch it tomorrow morning. It's been a long day. I hate these late k/o times.
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@Stargazer Really struggling not to go to bed. Have not missed Perth games ...
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@Stargazer said in Force v Blues:
@KiwiMurph I've already decided to watch it tomorrow morning. It's been a long day. I hate these late k/o times.
I don't blame you.
Something tells me this is gonna be a scrappy affair
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Now the players have to warm.up for 5 minutes
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@Tim said in Force v Blues:
@Stargazer Really struggling not to go to bed. Have not missed Perth games ...
Im too old to stay up like this.
