Scrafton will be on the Canes bench to watch Blackwell play ! The latter is Plumtree's favorite lock and will it change next year ?

Brown - Parete vs Tuipolutu - Scrafton. The Blues have a serious edge on their opponents as far as locks are concerned.
Karpik - Sowakula vs Papali'i - Gibson : same thing for the backrow.
I wonder why Nankivell is not in the starting XV. He's been impressive since the SA tour.

I wonder why Whetton went to the Highlanders who are pretty well equipped with locks (Franklin, Hemopo, Dickson, Parkinson) while teams like the Chiefs and the Canes are struggling to find locks who are standing above 1.95 m. He could have got more game time there.

Hemopo and Franklin have been great, that's true. But what about Dickson who's got a lot more game time than Parkinson ?

@taniwharugby said in Blues 2019:

someone was saying on the radio Jones never played 7 for the Blues...so need to choose, Kaino or Jones at 6...

would that mean Mark Carter or Daniel Braid take 7

your thoughts @Nepia

This is pants. Just look at this :

What do you mean ?

The Chiefs forwards will struggle against their bigger and taller opponents. Hard to determine which team will win this one.

Dillon Hunt and Pari Pari Parkinson are missing from the Highlanders' lineup for a while now. Are they injured or just punished for bad performances ?

With his 1.97 m, Vai'i is the tallest man in the pack. His partner in the second row (Cullen Grace) has the same size as Blackwell (1.90 m, 106 kg).
Hopefully they will play Tamaiti Williams in his preferred position, which is loose head prop. He was outplayed against the Junior Wallabies while placed on the tight head. He is a good prop and had a commanding performance last year for the NZ schoolboys vs Australia.
Is Toala injured ? If not, his absence would be beyond any understanding.

He has also played centre and 2nd 5/8. However, one must consider him as a left wing where he usually plays. Vidiri comes second behind Howlett for the 14 jersey IMO.