Hawke's Bay v Auckland
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@Nepia My prediction of an upset almost came off lol.
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@African-Monkey There's no almost! You won. Grrrr.
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@African-Monkey I thought the Ioane's would carve it up, I didn't realise you were going to waltz Seu on from the bench and then unleash Pleasants-Tate as the new outside hooker back.
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@Nepia said in Hawke's Bay v Auckland:
@African-Monkey I thought the Ioane's would carve it up, I didn't realise you were going to waltz Seu on from the bench and then unleash Pleasants-Tate as the new outside hooker back.
Yes the beauty of depth where it can get you out of the shit like it did for us tonight. Still think we're struggling with the rules.
Mark Abbott was probably the best out there tonight with West (apart from his miss at the end). West had the ball on a string in the first half and Abbott was a handful all night. Your scrum also dominated but that was to be expected against a rookie front row.
Do your good Auckland mates a favour and beat Canterbury on Sunday please. We know all you Bay fans (apart from stargazer) have a strong dislike for the cantabs
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I agree we haven't adapted to the news laws. Playing 3 locks and a no openside was a mistake.
It would make sense to have the large pack if we were winning turnovers by walking past the ball (or even getting a boot on it to disrupt it)
However it seems Auckland can only get the ball back via a maul or an opposition mistake.If we aren't getting turnovers I would rather select players to cover the width of the field better.
With Gibson injured we just need to pick Kaifa and trust him as the best available openside. The depth at 4, 5, 6 & 8 should just be used to keep everyone fresh.Also, hopefully we get more organised now that assistant coach Moon can concentrate on the NPC after the MAGS season
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@Duluth Is Kaifa a specialist 7? I always thought he was a 6 or 8 but yes we still need a proper openside despite the new laws whether that is Kaifa or Dominikovic-Murray until Gibson is back (that's if he does come back).
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@African-Monkey Not sure. I saw him mentioned as an openside option and I think that's where he subbed on in his debut?
More of an openside than Edwards and Ioane at least
