Blues vs Hurricanes

[African Monkey]

@Chris Oooh expect a frosty reply from @Canes4life after that!

[Canes4life]

@African-Monkey I agree to a point that the Blues look stronger in the forwards only because Aumua isn’t there. If he was there then I’d give it advantage Canes.

The Canes backs look to be more settled than the Blues and I think defensively with Proctor running our D line I think we’ll be able to shut the Blues down.

I’m looking forward to this one though because it’s just a guessing game from a fan POV but ultimately I think it will be a bit of a dog fight. Could go either way really.

[foobaNZ]

I dunno about the Blues being stronger in the forwards. Tight 5 I'd say the Canes edge it.

If I combined the 5:

Numia
Riccitelli
Lomax
Tuipulotu
IWL

Loosies are interesting. You could argue Blues are better man for man but it's pretty damn close.

Akira Ioane, Dalton Papali'i, Hoskins Sotutu
Brad Shields (c), Peter Lakai, Brayden Iose

If you factor in the loosie reserves then Canes have a big advantage there. Could be telling.

[Chris]

@foobaNZ said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

I dunno about the Blues being stronger in the forwards. Tight 5 I'd say the Canes edge it.

If I combined the 5:

Numia
Riccitelli
Lomax
Tuipulotu
IWL

Loosies are interesting. You could argue Blues are better man for man but it's pretty damn close.

Akira Ioane, Dalton Papali'i, Hoskins Sotutu
Brad Shields (c), Peter Lakai, Brayden Iose

If you factor in the loosie reserves then Canes have a big advantage there. Could be telling.

Darry over IWL for me Darry has come on strong this season much more physical and is holding his form.
IWL form has fallen away over the last few weeks.

[foobaNZ]

@Chris yea, IWL and Darry are close.

Same with Numia and Ofa.

Lomax is the biggest gap between the players for me. Night and day there.

The rest of the pack is a bit of a coin toss.

[gt12]

@foobaNZ

Ofa looks much more like Moody and Franks at the moment... This is a huge game for him IMO.

[antipodean]

@gt12 said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

@foobaNZ

Ofa looks much more like Moody and Franks at the moment... This is a huge game for him IMO.

So only one dumb penalty this fixture?

[gt12]

@antipodean said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

@gt12 said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

@foobaNZ

Ofa looks much more like Moody and Franks at the moment... This is a huge game for him IMO.

So only one dumb penalty this fixture?

That would be a great game for him at the moment. He looks very average. I hate having him at LH and I think he has gone backwards since the move.

[pakman]

@gt12 said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

@foobaNZ

Ofa looks much more like Moody and Franks at the moment... This is a huge game for him IMO.

Ofa can play both sides, unlike those two, excellent scrummagers though they are. And he also does a decent chunk of the hard carrying. More pace left in his legs than Joe.

[pakman]

@Chris said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

@foobaNZ said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

I dunno about the Blues being stronger in the forwards. Tight 5 I'd say the Canes edge it.

If I combined the 5:

Numia
Riccitelli
Lomax
Tuipulotu
IWL

Loosies are interesting. You could argue Blues are better man for man but it's pretty damn close.

Akira Ioane, Dalton Papali'i, Hoskins Sotutu
Brad Shields (c), Peter Lakai, Brayden Iose

If you factor in the loosie reserves then Canes have a big advantage there. Could be telling.

Darry over IWL for me Darry has come on strong this season much more physical and is holding his form.
IWL form has fallen away over the last few weeks.

IWL is really competing with Patty T as TH lock/4. The match up between Darry and Delany is potentially for a place in AB squad, although there is a fair chance JR will make a Strange choice.

[pakman]

@gt12 said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

@antipodean said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

@gt12 said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

@foobaNZ

Ofa looks much more like Moody and Franks at the moment... This is a huge game for him IMO.

So only one dumb penalty this fixture?

That would be a great game for him at the moment. He looks very average. I hate having him at LH and I think he has gone backwards since the move.

With Tamaiti back and EDG nailed on, I’m expecting Numia to be third LH.
Lomax and Newell are also locked in, so for me Ofa is pencilled in as third TH.

[antipodean]

@pakman said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

@Chris said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

@foobaNZ said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

I dunno about the Blues being stronger in the forwards. Tight 5 I'd say the Canes edge it.

If I combined the 5:

Numia
Riccitelli
Lomax
Tuipulotu
IWL

Loosies are interesting. You could argue Blues are better man for man but it's pretty damn close.

Akira Ioane, Dalton Papali'i, Hoskins Sotutu
Brad Shields (c), Peter Lakai, Brayden Iose

If you factor in the loosie reserves then Canes have a big advantage there. Could be telling.

Darry over IWL for me Darry has come on strong this season much more physical and is holding his form.
IWL form has fallen away over the last few weeks.

IWL is really competing with Patty T as TH lock/4. The match up between Darry and Delany is potentially for a place in AB squad, although there is a fair chance JR will make a Strange choice.

[Bovidae]

@pakman said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

With Tamaiti back and EDG nailed on, I’m expecting Numia to be third LH.

I would not be surprised if Bower is one of the LH props.

[pakman]

@Bovidae said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

@pakman said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

With Tamaiti back and EDG nailed on, I’m expecting Numia to be third LH.

I would not be surprised if Bower is one of the LH props.

In fact that crossed my mind, but would be harsh on Numia.

[Canes4life]

@pakman yeah Numia has been the form tight head of the comp. His scrummaging has been awesome and he's probably more effective around the field than Bower. Numia would be a great impact prop off the bench in the last twenty. Him and Aumua coming on with 20 odd to go when the game opens up would be a weapon for us.

[pakman]

@Canes4life Agree, except he packs on left side!

[Canes4life]

@pakman said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

@Canes4life Agree, except he packs on left side!

Yeah loosehead I meant.

[Canes4life]

A good interview with Clark Laidlaw on SENZ previewing Saturday's game. He seems like such a level headed coach who backs his players 100%. Really glad we chose Laidlaw, I think he's a perfect match for the Canes with his sevens background and his ability to bring all his learnings from coaching the NZ sevens side over the last few years. Challenging all the players no matter the level of their experience makes the team take account for their actions on and off the field. He's really helped the likes of Aumua, Walker-Leawere, Proctor etc take their game to a new level.

You can find the interview here - https://www.sen.com.au/programs/senz-super-rugby/

[mikey07]

Anyone else find it weird that James O’Reilly is coming off the bench for HOBM instead of off the bench for the Canes?

[Higgins]

@mikey07 said in Blues vs Hurricanes:

Anyone else find it weird that James O’Reilly is coming off the bench for HOBM instead of off the bench for the Canes?

Maybe he has only paid 50% of his annual subscription fee so HOB-M might be digging their heels in and allowing him no more than 50% of the 80 minutes?