Hurricanes v Blues
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@African-Monkey speaking of Simon Hickey....
@Nogusta Don't you start lol. Are you gonna tell us he's coming back or something?!
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@pakman strong young kid but defs not the finished product. He has shown signs of promise but it will be a big test for him this week.
And hes still only 21. But for a 21 year looks very promising. it will be interesting to see how he goes though this week after being part of a dominant pack last week (the scrum went to pieces after the starting front row was replaced)
Overall I like the look of this Canes team. The best starting team so far this year. Reservations. Fletcher Smith. If he's crap coaches need to get him off quickly. Or swap him with Jordie. As he had a good game at FB but when the pressure is on he seems to struggle at first. Luckily last week there wasn't too much so I hope he can build on this performance.
Kobus Van Wyk. Superb game last week but unsure what his defense is like. Goosen is VG in this respect. Lam is not great as a defender so this could be a weak area for the Canes.
But thankfully Blackwell is not starting. Likewise Princep. Both are good enough backups in case of injuries but thats it
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And hes still only 21. But for a 21 year looks very promising. it will be interesting to see how he goes though this week after being part of a dominant pack last week (the scrum went to pieces after the starting front row was replaced)
Overall I like the look of this Canes team. The best starting team so far this year. Reservations. Fletcher Smith. If he's crap coaches need to get him off quickly. Or swap him with Jordie. As he had a good game at FB but when the pressure is on he seems to struggle at first. Luckily last week there wasn't too much so I hope he can build on this performance.
Kobus Van Wyk. Superb game last week but unsure what his defense is like. Goosen is VG in this respect. Lam is not great as a defender so this could be a weak area for the Canes.
But thankfully Blackwell is not starting. Likewise Princep. Both are good enough backups in case of injuries but thats it
@Winger good summary, my other worry is that who plays fullback if Barrett gets injured? I know Lam has played there before but he isn't exactly someone that fills you with confidence when you touch on his high ball/kicking game. Probably would have been smarter having Tiatia on the bench.
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@Winger good summary, my other worry is that who plays fullback if Barrett gets injured? I know Lam has played there before but he isn't exactly someone that fills you with confidence when you touch on his high ball/kicking game. Probably would have been smarter having Tiatia on the bench.
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@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Bovidae said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Akira needs to make this opportunity count.
Not really. He needs to play well for the team, but in terms of minutes, he's going to get more opportunities. We can't play Sotutu and Robinson in every game.
I'd like to see a back row of Dalton at 7, Akira at 8 and Sotutu at 6, with Robinson playing lock again. Akira's particularly good at cleaning up messy scrums (not that we have had many this year).
Robinson is a better 6 than 5, IMO.
@cgrant said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Robinson is a better 6 than 5, IMO.
Sure he is a better 6 but he is still very good at lock.
I think it helps him make the AB squad playing well in two spots. A real lock/blindside on the bench helps the balance of the reserves so much
From a Blues perspective it's great for rotating players and keeping them fresh.
There's now 3 guys playing well who can partner Tuipulotu in the second row (and GCT might get added to that list this weekend)
There plenty of options at 6 (Robinson, Papali'i and I do think Sotutu would play well there)
Two quality no 8's
Papali'i is clearly the best openside in the squad (I still prefer him at six though). However Lamborn has surprised me with how well he has gone.
Gibson has been slightly disappointing but hopefully his form returns soon.That's a much better situation than previous years where there was a clear top xv and a drop off to the reserves. It reminds me of the situation the Highlanders had in recent seasons with a lot of good loosies (and a lock/loosie) constantly rotating.
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@Canes4life Proctor has played at FB for Wellington.
@Bovidae
of course he has. -
I would imagine Robinson will get some rest next week v Lions and they'll probably start Papalii at 6.
I wouldn't mind seeing Reidlinger-Kapa get an opportunity at some point as another option at 6.
@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:
I would imagine Robinson will get some rest next week v Lions and they'll probably start Papalii at 6.
I wouldn't mind seeing Reidlinger-Kapa get an opportunity at some point as another option at 6.
I think Patrick will definitely be rested next week. I don't think Dalton needed to be rested this week because guys in the AB frame are allowed to play 6 games in a row, but I don't think they wanted both guys to be out at the same time.
If Robinson rests next week too, then we have to hope Akira plays well enough to get another start next week so we can roll out Sotutu, Papali'i and Akira in the backrow.
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Interesting game this one.Hurricanes need to win this at home,Chiefs and Crusaders to come pressure on if they lose.
@Chris said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Interesting game this one.Hurricanes need to win this at home,Chiefs and Crusaders to come pressure on if they lose.
TAB has the Blues at $3 for this one and that's probably about right. Hurricanes pretty settled and at home against the Blues travelling back from SA.
Has Akira been playing any club or other rugby? Tough ask to go under the "He's Shit (or not)"microscope if he's not had some warm-up games. There's not many who can come in cold and not show plenty of rust.
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Hoping for Akira to have a massive game. And hopefully his non-inclusion until now is more about him being tip top at the end of the season, rather than flaming out half way through, granted Hoskin Sotutu has been going well.
Still want Hurricanes to get the W though. -
Be interesting to see how the blues back up from last weeks impressive performance
@kiwiinmelb said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Be interesting to see how the blues back up from last weeks impressive performance
Not well so far haha.
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Ordinary tackle attempt by black
@kiwiinmelb said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Ordinary tackle attempt by black
lost his footing, good step by Laumape though, spotted a half gap, Otere slipped and he went straight through
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Good steal by akira but was under advantage
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bloody solid start from the 'Canes.
