Hurricanes vs Crusaders
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Peter Lakai had his best spell of the season in the final 30 minutes of Friday’s game against the Crusaders. During that period, he had 9 carries, 8 of which across the gain-line, a try, 7 cleans, 3 breakdown contests, a lineout take, beat 3 defenders, won 2 turnovers and made 5 tackles.
But more importantly, he put the team on his back and led the fightback from the Hurricanes. Watching his performance, I was reminded of a recent interview with Nick Easter, the former England number eight, during the Six Nations where he discussed England’s options there and what he looks for in the position. He said: “I like my guys in the No.8 role to be like Alldritt and Duane Vermeulen, nuts and bolts guys who do the fundamentals on the back of the scrum with the ability to get everything moving forward. They are the guys who give the rest of the pack a target” [https://www.rugbypass.com/news/tom-willis-can-become-englands-answer-to-world-class-gregory-alldritt/].
Giving the rest of the pack a target, I think this best encapsulates what Lakai did in this game. He started the comeback with a line-break on the wing, after turnover ball, beating Tom Christie with the fend before accelerating and smartly passing back inside to his support.
The defining trait of Lakai’s 30-minute spell can perhaps best be characterized as ‘acceleration’: he continuously sped up the game, often acting as the 9 to continue the attacking movement or making a dominant clean to ensure quick ball. With the Crusader defence on the back foot, Lakai wanted to continuously increase the pressure, for example, by taking the quick tap inside the 22 after a penalty.
Lakai, in other words, clearly understood his role as a number eight during this part of the game: it was to keep the team going forward.
Ultimately, the Hurricanes came up short but those final 30 minutes did provide a template for the team. Lakai’s task for the rest of the season seems clear now as well: it is to keep repeating these kinds of performances, providing a target for the rest of the pack to follow, and ultimately lead them into the final six.
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Dead right, he looks so good at 8! Maybe the open spaces and broken play suit him even more than at 7?
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@nostrildamus said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
Dead right, he looks so good at 8! Maybe the open spaces and broken play suit him even more than at 7?
To be honest, I think Lakai’s game translates well to both positions. Even when playing at 8, he still does a lot of stuff you’d associate more with the openside-role (playing close to source, offering support and cleaning, disrupting breakdowns). He’s a bit like Aldritt, in that he’s getting through so much work that it often looks like he’s playing both positions at the same time.
But when he plays like he did in that final quarter on Friday then he really does look like a proper number 8. You'd want the ball in his hands as much as possible, whereas at 7 that aspect of his game wouldn't be as prominent.
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@reprobate said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@Mauss On the other hand, the game was already lost by then - down by 21 points, and he had been largely anonymous to that point?
How was the game lost by then? At the 75 minute mark, the Canes were behind by 7, inside the Crusaders 22 and playing against 13 men. They were in an excellent position to take the game (or at the least, force the game to go to golden point), only to come unstuck due to a number of self-inflicted errors and dogged Crusader defence.
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@ploughboy said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
lakai s problem isn't what he does with the ball its missed tackes. I quick browse of stats for this weekend, paps 0 LJ 0 finau 1 lakai 3 EB 5
So Blackadder made it to rucks to have an impact this week, but made it to tackles and didn't have an impact.
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Quick scrum question, does having a short hooker compared to the props make it harder for the locks to generate power (as your shoulders would be angled?). No idea just genuinely curious if it reduces scrum power.
Would that be a downside for a hooker of moananu's height? -
@Mauss said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@reprobate said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@Mauss On the other hand, the game was already lost by then - down by 21 points, and he had been largely anonymous to that point?
How was the game lost by then? At the 75 minute mark, the Canes were behind by 7, inside the Crusaders 22 and playing against 13 men. They were in an excellent position to take the game (or at the least, force the game to go to golden point), only to come unstuck due to a number of self-inflicted errors and dogged Crusader defence.
If you end up against 13 men and still can't win the game, then surely a big reason for that is that it was too far gone already? Yes there's still a chance to win it, but I'd reckon more than 9 times out of 10 you don't.
I completely agree Lakai was good in that period, and I really want him to be good, but to be honest I haven't been overly impressed this season (yet). I'd always put more weight on an impressive showing in a game that is close throughout, or in the first half of a big game - as opposed to looking good late in a game where the opposition may well have taken the foot off the gas. For me yes he was good, but there're caveats. -
@reprobate said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
I'd always put more weight on an impressive showing in a game that is close throughout, or in the first half of a big game
Interesting criteria. I suppose I understand the logic there, the start of the game being like an opening arm wrestle between forwards, where you want to impose your own game.
I guess I look at it a bit differently. I think of performance less like an arm wrestle and more like an 80 minute-race with a finish line. In cycling, you can attack early and build a lead, or you can lead the chase and finish on top through superior momentum. Each tactic has different physical and psychological challenges. The moment of your peak performance doesn’t really matter so much, so long as you’re able to get over the line first. I think the Canes timed their race well, they didn’t look gassed to me near the end. Just a lack of execution cost them.
I’m also not making any sort of case for Peter Lakai here. Just wanted to highlight how he gave a real number 8-performance in the final quarter and what that looked like to me.
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@Lancaster-Park said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
Quick scrum question, does having a short hooker compared to the props make it harder for the locks to generate power (as your shoulders would be angled?). No idea just genuinely curious if it reduces scrum power.
Would that be a downside for a hooker of moananu's height?your shoulders shouldn't be pushing the hooker anyway. All your power should be through your outside shoulder on to your prop.
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Thank you
