Moana Pasifika v Highlanders
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@Grooter Hastie looks a talent
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@KiwiMurph great to hear a coach speak intelligently and honestly.
So good to have him back home.
Bloody good player and now a bloody good coach. -
The bench completely disrupted the Highlanders' game in the second half: De Groot struggled at scrum time while Taylor was unable to throw properly. Obviously, this didn't make things easy for Arscott and Gilbert. And then there was BOK who had decided not to penalize Ardie Savea ...
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Just some quick thoughts from me.
Scrappy game that was heavily disrupted when Robinson got subbed the less than a minute later Millar got KO’d. Gilbert did a serviceable job filling it at a pinch but it just goes to show him important a specialist 10 is.
Moana looked good and applied a lot of pressure in the last 20, not sure how me managed to hang on but we did. Credit to Moana, they will upset some teams this year if they can continue to play like that. They definitely can’t be taken lightly.
A couple late scratchings in Fakatava and Hurley also caused some disruption but awesome to see the team just crack on with the next man up approach and Hastie make the most of his opportunities(who was it on here saying the highlanders were trying to end his contract early?).
A win is a win, last year we would have most likely found a way to lose that game so to grab 4 points playing ugly feels weirdly good for a change.
The bye comes at a very good time. We should have Umaga Jenson back and thank god, Te Hiwi offers nothing… along with Nareki being closer, Renton back after the bye and Howden being that extra week fitter. Hope Cam Millar is doing ok, that head clash was nasty.
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For those nerdy like me, the full statistics from last night: https://super.rugby/superrugby/match-centre/match-packs/2025-rd3/2025-rd3-moana-pasifika-v-highlanders-post-match-statistics/
Most notable team wise was that Moana smashed the Landers at the breakdown, but the Landers were still better in the tackle + getting turnovers.
The Landers also kicked off 9 loads. Hastie kicked 15 times, compared to Gilbert (4) and Robinson (3)
Individually, Broughton was busier than I thought as the top tackler with 20.
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@Landers92 I’d be interested to see the second half breakdown, but felt like we had none of the ball. Te Hiwi was playing out in the wing, I imagine Tangitau’s stats probably not dissimilar in the 2nd half?
Definitely could have got busier though, was not a performance which screamed pick me.
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@mencey said in Moana Pasifika v Highlanders:
Ardie was fantastic FFS and whoever keeps on going on about him not being penalised give it up. He plays near the mark like all great players.. He is getting back to his best. Should never have gone to Japan last year. Legend.
Ardie was pretty good on the end-of-year tour despite the narrative on here. Better at 7 I'd argue, though.
Back to the game. Frustrating from the Clan, just lackluster. Jamie will have to find some way to emotionally rile them up each week.
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Clan lucky. Thought MP had that.
Have skipped the thread, but would like to comment on the commentary.
Rikki is good. But who was the idiot with her doing the "expert" comments?
Was it Wheeler or Parsons? Whoever it was can someone tell him TO STOP YELLING!
NOT EVERYTHING IS EXCITING AND AWESOME AND IT BECOMES AN EXHAUSTING CACOPHONY IF YOU YELL ABOUT EVERYTHING.
Just take a deep breath and describe what is going on. That's your job.
You're not attracting new audiences, you're putting them off.
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@Landers92 yeah disruptive week just look at Gilbert trained on the wing, started at fullback and ended up as the 10 of sorts, we move forward to the Canes in a fortnight.
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@Grooter said in Moana Pasifika v Highlanders:
@Landers92 yeah disruptive week just look at Gilbert trained on the wing, started at fullback and ended up as the 10 of sorts, we move forward to the Canes in a fortnight.
i often stay out of the match thread now days but came here to say exactly this, but i also dont think its doing us or him any good, how big is our squad? and gilbert is the answer to any change in the backline even though he hasnt had a blinder in a long time
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@booboo Still cant get my head around the head on head contact not being looked at , i spoke to one of Aucklands top whistle blowers today and he agreed with me that the Cam Miller head contact with Danny Toaloa should have been looked at further and under the WR frame work it should have been a red card
Its almost like this never happened and the silence is deafening from many parts of the media.
2nd week in row MP has been stiffed
May not have changed the result but you can bet dollars to doughnuts if the boot was on the other shoe we would heard about it by now -
@Steven-Harris Citing commission has passed it on, so I guess the ruling is low force, mitigating down from a red.
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