Well that was rather tragic viewing. Things that we've known for a while were there for all to see tonight. Having 3 opensides out there was a disaster even before Savea was forced off. They're far too passive playing together on defence and a lack of muscle in there was evident as the Irish virtually walked up the field on attack. Sam Cane wasn't great out there and despite him working hard, a lot of his work was ineffective, but was still a hell of a lot more than what Papali'i produced. He was anonymous all match and certainly isn't a starting test 6 on that evidence. Can't say I really noticed a lot of Ardie out there, certainly not on defence anyway. He made the odd ineffective carry. It's a broken record, but most of us can see that he's perfect foil for the bench. Don't think we need to see Sowakula for the next test. He has hands like feet and not much of a rugby brain in general. He reminds me of Peter Saili with his hands, difference is, is that Saili never got close to a test jersey and rightly so. Surely Sotutu comes in for the next test and hopefully Ioane on the side of the scrum. we need some power out there.

Don't know why Codie Taylor seems to have a mortgage on the 2 jersey. He's been on a steady decline for a while yet he seems to still be one of the first names of the teamsheet! Taukei'aho is well overdue to get his time as a starter now. Taylor, along with Tu'ungafasi, missed tackles and was extremely poor on the carry. Something Taukei'aho does very well with ball in hand is fight for every metre with his low centre of gravity and get you front foot ball, something that we did not get at all tonight as we had no strong ball carriers on for the first 55 minutes. No disrespect to George Bower, he was the most effective one out there along with Barrett and it's frustrating when we have ones sitting either on the bench or in the stands. Tu'ungafasi had a poor night and through no fault of his own, had to stay out there all game. He's another whose best work comes from the bench which we'll most likely see once Laulala returns.

Is Brodie Retallick's time up? I think we all know that he isn't the player he once was, but he was outshone by Scott Barrett tonight and with Sam Whitelock to return, is it time to put Retallick to the bench or even start to bring Tupou Va'ai into the 23? It pains me to say it as I love what Retallick has done for the black jersey, but itstead of bullying opposition, he's starting to get bullied by opposition tight 5s. He's also not getting any younger so maybe it's time to slowly move him on? (I know we won't). His body had taken a battering pre covid, and he hasn't come back the same after returning from Japan 6 kg lighter.

Tupaea and Fai'anganuku had nights to forget, especially Big Leicester. He looked lost out there, made a crucial error in early in the 2nd half, and then made a horrible misread on defence in the lead up to the Irish try before thankfully getting dragged, and with Jordan back and Possibly Clarke, I doubt we'll see him back next week.

Another key battle we lost out there was the aerial battle. Barrett and Smith, once our ball went static (and quite often too), were putting the ball too far, allowing their back 3 to return the ball with no pressure and allowing the Ireland forwards to get back to set up their attack, as well as not giving our wingers a chance to compete more often than not, where as the former Blues reserve halfback during the dark old days Gibson-Park was on point with his kicking from the base, where the Irish competed, and won almost everything in the air. He certainly redeemed himself after having an indifferent game last week .

Mass changes are certainly needed that's for sure after that debacle, I'm not holding my breath as they have proven that they are reluctant to make changes so I'm only expecting there to be about 2 changes max and I'm not on the anti-foster brigade, but I'm getting very close to joining as we seem to be going backwards at a rate of knots.

Just got back from the game......absolutely stoked to finally win down here for once! Credit to the Crusaders for the way they fought back especially when they were down to 14, showing how hard they are to beat no matter the situation, but also credit to the Blues for digging deep especially with a few desperate bits of defending from Rieko on Jordan which led to our first try, and his effort on Gardiner in the corner to win it for us, and also for big Luke Romano and his effort charging down the wing in the 70th minute to attempt to make a cover tackle after the shift he put in. Yes, they ended up with a 5 meter scrum, but its moments like that which live long in the memory. I put my hand up, I thought he shouldn't be playing so many minutes and was well over the hill, but his carries are invaluable and he really gives us a hard edge. Well played big fella.

Everyone really stepped up in the forwards tonight, especially our loose trio led by Dalton Papalii. A superb shift from him and well complemented by Sotutu and Robinson as well as big Ofa who was everywhere.

Hope Hodgman is OK. An awful shot put on him by Barrett. No excuse for it and needs a lengthy suspension for it. Gallagher and Gardiner did well under the circumstances.

Was disappointed with our kicking game just giving it back to Jordan. I wanted to strangle Barrett after that chip which led to the Reece try but in general play he was decent, just his kicking game was poor, and Perofeta didn't have a great night either especially that missed kick on half time. Mounga and Jordan began to drive us back and all we did was hand it back to them instead of putting it in the stands, or going to the air, but we did enough to hold on!

Must say i let a huge celebration on fulltime, with a few glares but they all came and congratulated me which was nice and were generally in good spirits apart from the booing when Barrett got sent off. A great night to be a blues fan, wins in chch dont come everyday thats for sure!

It always helps when Akira's in the starting lineup. He sorted the Pumas out last year when he came in and did much the same last night. Jacobsen was also very strong and worked well with Ioane, where both were stopping the Fiji ball carriers in their tracks. I'm definitely on the Jacobsen bandwagon for the time being, he reminds me of a young Kieran Read style wise. Would like to carry Papali'i off the bench for the Aussie test as he can cover all 3 backrow positions, with the same back row.

I know its only 25 mins against a tiring Fiji pack, but Taukei'aho is certainly one to watch. He could become a regular in the matchday 23 in the not too distant future. Scott Barrett has definitely gone ahead of Tuipulotu as well in the lock department. He gives away penalties at times, but his wor in the tight is more effective than Tuipulotu at this level. Tuipulotu needs to go back to his old role in the side which is a 15-20 minute impact player as he is no starter at this level sadly.

In the backs, I like Havili at 12. He's certainly the most rounded midfielder in the country as he's light on his feet, has the ability to crash and play as another playmaker. If they're gonna keep starting Mo'unga, I feel that Havili has to start outside him. He has the ability to take the pressure off Mo'unga and they've played more than enough rugby together.

My preferred back 3 would be Rieko, Jordan and Jordie with Reece off the bench but it looks like they prefer Reece starting. Not usually a Reece fan, but he's been good against the Fijians, so he deserves a spot for now somewhere in the 23.

@chris Geez mate a bit desperate going to the journalists to back up your point haha. They would have less knowledge than us idiots on here and we're bad enough!

FWIW, I can see why people are criticising Blackadder, but there's something to work with there. Hes a handy player to have in the squad and there's far more upside in his game than Frizzell. I think he'll go better in his next start but probably wouldn't have him in my strongest 23 just yet, but still, far better than last years options Grace and Frizzell who both should never have been anywhere near the squad.

I remember saying after his debut that Taukeiaho is the future and its definitely looking that way. Going forward, I would actually like him and Aumua in our 23 with Taukeiaho starting as his set piece work is far better than Aumua (which Aumua will no doubt improve at) but they sure do get through a lot of work and its effective work as well. Both strong on the carry and hit hard on d. Nothing against Taylor as he's done fairly well in the past, but his form has dipped in the last season or 2 in Black and I'd probably have him as 4th choice now (shows our depth there at the same time). Coles imo, still has a bit to offer and will keep the 2 youngsters honest.

Am I the only one who was very impressed with Vaai? Every time he carried he busted over the advantage line and got us good go forward. I thought he out performed Tuipulotu and is certainly more mobile around the field than Tuipulotu who for me, is no more than a 20 minute player at test level but for me, is the 5th choice lock. Hes a bit slow getting off the deck and is slow to get into defensive position. He'll get caught out in d against a quicker side with halfbacks that will snipe around the ruck and play at a quicker tempo, similar to Luke Romano a few years back, which i feel Tuipulotu is these days, which is another version of Romano. His physicality is also less prominent at the highest level where more often than not he gets caught either on or behind the advantage line with ball in hand. Funnily enough, I think Japanese rugby will help him which usually isn't the case with our big men, as it might speed him up a bit around the field.

Sotutu was back to his best I thought. He picked his moments when to pick and go, targeting the lazy Argies ruck defence and did it brilliantly which led to the first try. Hes been guilty for me of overplaying his hand a lot of the time and trying to pull off the miracle plays but yesterday, he rained it in and we saw how good he can be when he uses his brain. His work off the back of the scrum was also top notch for me, where he got us out of trouble with his carries, as well as playing a part in Perenara's first half try with his work off our attacking scrum. Again, not quite in our strongest starting 23, but he provides good competition for the starters.

Is it just me or has Lomax improved out of sight from last year? He was very strong at scrum time and I like what he brings in the tight (even though he plays on the edge traditionally) but yeah, been really impressed with his game of late. I never thought too much of him in the past, but he looks a much better than what I've seen of him previously and is miles ahead of Ta'avao imo. With Tu'ungafasi's injury record of late, I think Lomax should be there if any injuries occur especially against the bigger more physical sides. Ta'avao is not test standard for me as he is a poor scrummager and is not even effective around the field as he misses tackles and doesn't really carry which is a must for an impact player. I'd consider him as nothing more than an ok Super Rugby player.

Sad to say that I can't see Christie lasting beyond this year as an AB. He didn't seem to enjoy the Argies pressure at ruck and set piece time. He wasn't terrible, but he looks a bit fragile out there and will get monstered out there with teams that apply pressure at breakdown time. He tries to play at a quick tempo similar to McDermott for the Wallabies, but lacks a Smith type pass and strength to give himself time in contact when in trouble like Perenara has to be considered a real option at test level, and has no real box kick or any kicking game in general. Still, good to have him if shit hits the fan in that position.

Was impressed with McKenzie and Tupaea. McKenzie didn't overplay his hand which was key and played very flat, getting our runners hitting the ball at pace which kept the argies defence guessing, as its not usually what we see from him. He looked very assured out there and him, Tupaea and Rieko looked very comfortable working together. We saw another side to McKenzie game last night and showed that he can be a quality 10 at test level when he uses his brain and doesn't try and score off every play, similar to Sotutu. I feel you can only take 2 out of him, Barrett and Mo'unga in the starting 23 and before this test it would have been Barretg and Mo'unga off the bench, but with McKenzie being the more versatile out of the 2 and proving that he can be effective as a 1st receiver, maybe Mo'unga misses out in the future? Good problem to have having said that.

George Bridge is a funny one. Not a fan of his usually, but would be be worth starting against the Boks next week? He'd nullify De Klerk's box kick. Yes he's ineffective in the contact despite his efforts to get his hands on the ball, can get caught out on d but went ok last night, but he goes alright in the air. He's a safe option, something you're more likely to see in a European back 3, but lacks the attacking spark that we like in our left wings like we have in Ioane, Clarke and Faianganuku where they can smash themselves over the advantage line. Maybe a start next week for him however to blunt their high ball tactic for one of the fern favorites? Even if he only plays the first 50, I wouldn't complain, before bringing/ shifing Ioane/Reece to the left wing (I'd have Reece kn the bench) to finish the game. Food for thought anyway. A solid, without being spectacular outing from our George last night.

Good to get Gibson out of that Auckland enviroment and into a proper one.

Akira Ioane showing how selfless and how much of a team man he is, on top of being a world class player.

Far out what a tough crowd haha. Of course we weren't at our best, but the Boks didn't allow us to get into any sort of rhythm, with their up and in lines peed and their constant pressure at breakdown time gave us no real opportunity to settle, as well as their up and under tactic which gave us the shits all night and didn't allow us to play on the counter. We all know what the boks are about and their game plan worked a treat where guys like Akira were being forced into working hard in the tight with Savea. Blackadder was obviously our best loose tonight as it was his sort of test where the majority of the play was in the tighter channels. This is a great learning curve for us to not only come away with a good hard fought victory when being forced into playing a different style, but also for our younger forwards coming up against a big physical pack for the first time in their careers. They found it hard, but they'll come out of it stronger.

Something that I didn't like out there was us trying to create something off 1st phase at every set piece. Yes, it worked originally as we tried to speed the game up and caught De Allende and Am folding in on the decoy runners, but once they adjusted, we kept using it as our default play from set piece which the boks read quite easily which ended up forcing us into a high error count. Havili needed to just crash more and set up play in a game like this instead of going through the same set moves which had less effect as the game went on, and he should have been getting the message about that too as Rieko could also have assisted with crashing i feel. We needed to play tighter when plan a wasnt working.

I notice Brad Weber getting a lot of live and he was good too, added a bit of energy out there, but also a special mention to Pat Tuipulotu. He was everywhere on attack and defence, proving that he can be a valuable bench option at test level. Its definitely where he's best suited. Weber, Tuipulotu and Sotutu were easily our best coming off the bench, same can't be said for Ofa though. He gave away penalties at scrum time, stupidly collapsed a rolling maul, and dropped the ball while hot on attack. They targeted him at scrum time and as did a lot if thing for the boks tonight, it worked! He may have played himself out of a spot for next week after that performance with Lomax hot on his heels.

Sadly for fern favorite George Bridge, he was a disaster, one of the worst performances I've seen, possibly the worst since the late Sione Lauaki against the Wallabies in 2008. I have never ever been a fan of Bridge but even I fell into the trap of picking him to diffuse De Klerk, Pollard and Le Roux's high ball tactic and sure enough, it backfired badly. Having said that, I feel Reece would have had just as much of a torrid time out there so yeah, either way it was gonna be a tough night for our back 3, but the try he conceded was unforgivable as well as a few other simple bombs he put down. If ALB is fit next week, then Rieko can move to the left and Reece can move to the bench. I feel Reece could make a difference in the last 15-20 jn tight tests like these going forward. Again, we'll learn from the experience as our back 3 would never have encountered such a tactic of excessive high balls in their lives. Maybe we could use the Boks tactic that they employed against Wales in the 2019 WC semi of surrounding the catchers with about 5 forming a circle haha. We wouldn't dare do it, but we know that its coming, as does the whole world.

What we also have to remember is that this is a win against the World Champs without Whitelock and Aaron Smith, 2 of our most influential players. Smith's service and game awareness alone would have given our forwards an extra split second to crash over the advantage line and negate the Boks speed off the line and would have forced the boks into retreating a bit more, which would have allowed us more time to create some phases, given our cleaners more time to support our carriers and allow us to dictate the pace of the game a bit more. As a result, they hammered us in the tight, we couldn't string more than 1-2 phases at a time and we ended up going backwards a lot tonight as a result. He really is a huge loss to this side.

Huge credit to the boys for finding a way to win that when things were tough. We certainly look a lot more mentally tougher than previous seasons where we can find ways to win even in tough situations like tonight. We're not there yet, but we're slowly building into a world class team again.

Stoked to get out of that one personally. The Brumbies are a stylistic nightmare for us and was hoping to avoid them. They're limited as fuck but fuck they're good at what they do. We sure as hell got away with Romano holding the ball on at the end but fuck it, you win some you lose some. Don't see people talking about the brumbies knock on before Eklunds tip tackle which changed the game along with the rain.

Started to think things were gonna turn for the worst when Barrett dropped the ball over the line and it almost proved true. We just ended up getting stuck and the Brumbies began to do what they do best - grind and chip away at the scoreboard via the high ball and rolling maul.

We couldn't put them away and it nearly cost us similar to the Force game, but we again found a way to get the job done so credit to us. 15 in a row is a fantastic effort. Dare I say the Crusaders style of play will suit us a bit more than the Brumbies?

UP THE BLUES!!!

@Canes4life God he wasn't that bad lol. I thought the loose trio worked hard out there on defence and it wasn't the reason why we lost either. You clearly have an agenda against the guy. Its the coaching thats the problem.

I actually see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel once we get new coaches in. We're simply not direct enough and are still playing our outdated gameplan which went out of fashion in 2017 of Smith giving it to Havili/Savea in the midfield to set up first phase, Smith then going back down the blindside to the next pod hoping to create a mismatch which we haven't actually seen created from this in a while which leads to our second phase, and from that phase, Smith then goes short to the next pod to go round the back to either the blindside winger/Jordie Barrett who receives it at 10 to try and create extra numbers out wide which again, looked the part about 7 years ago, but rush defences from about 2017 have figured a way to counter it and yet we still persist with it. Its ok to still use that play every now and again, but we aren't creating any mismatches out wide, we just use it as a default play and it gets used religiously both here at test level and at SR too. It looks great doing it at an inferior level like SR, but at the big boys level, international sides adapt quickly, they're not stupid, and this play has also become a problem because our forwards have almost been trained so much to move the ball once receiving it to the point that they have forgotten how to carry the ball into contact.

We seriously need to get our forwards carrying closer to the ruck as we certainly have players in there who can carry, but we don't do it. We have a more than capable halfback who is not being allowed to give our forwards a license to do it as well. Smith needs to do a lot more to get our backs some better ball and it needs to start by getting guys like Barrett, Akira, Ardie, Taukeiaho etc. running off him, and forcing guys like Marx to tackle a bit more, instead of him just scanning around David Pocock style. Its as if these coaches have no trust in our forwards to string phases together to grind us up field as we don't seem to like going more than 2 phases before going wide no matter what the situation is. Simply put, we need to earn the right to go wide which we seem hellbent on not doing, and everyone is being affected by it.

I think we do have the players at our disposal, obviously with a few that need to be moved on and quickly, and results will be positive, but the tactics are outdated and a new coaching team is needed asap which we all pretty much know.

Keep safe Blues, these Crusaders are dodgy and have a horrible culture.

@Duluth Had to laugh when I saw our favourite lock in the Reds match day 23. He's barely club rugby level.

@KiwiMurph So where is Auckland Rugby's favourite number 8 these days? Thought he'd have kitted up for the Force today?

@KiwiMurph Ahhh fair enough haha sorry, haven't seen any rugby since round 1 as I've been in Korea (not that anyone really needed to know that haha).

Vaolini Ekuasi lining up for the Rebels....that one snuck under the radar.

@Crucial And let's not forget about Romano doing his best to lose the semi for us against the Brumbies by not releasing the ball with a minute or so left. Sadly that night, Ben O'Keeffe had money on the Blues and refused to blow a penalty so his mission failed that night.

@Crucial I think the real story was that Luke Romano was sent to the Blues as a mole to leak the line out calls to the Crusaders come 'grand final' time......

@TJ Well by your logic, you may as well be talking about every side as virtually everyone has talent in their side that are prone to making dumb mistakes.

@TJ said in Hurricanes vs Blues:

@Stargazer said in Hurricanes vs Blues:

Thoughts? Neck-roll?

Thought a clear yellow card at the time. Rieko personifies this Blues team for me, so talented, but just does stupid things at times.

You'd think we'd only won 3 out of our last 26 games instead of it being the other way round the way you make it out.

@Old-Samurai-Jack Hopefully this week 😉

@Old-Samurai-Jack so I expect us to smash them up front now after your Blues prediction last week 😉