Chiefs' win throws the competition wide open
Geez, that was an exciting, close game! The Chiefs' win throws the competition wide open. The only reason the Crusaders are certain of a spot in the final is not their number of competition points, points differential or total of wins, but the fact that the Blues and Chiefs game right at the end of the round robin is likely to knock one of these two out of the Final.
I held my breath a bit during the first half, when Mo'unga seemed to get injured in a tackle by Vaa'i. He was not well at all, for a while. It wasn't clear on screen, but the radio commentators were talking about it quite a bit. He still played reasonably well after that though, but it seemed a bit with the break on.
Fainga'anuku failed his HIA and also McLeod was treated for an injury about 5-10 minutes before full time, and not looking good at all. They may need to give Rene Ranger another call... Brodie McAlister also slightly injured when he left the field. Who's the Crusaders 4th hooker?
In the mean time, David Havili was massive on defence. 16 tackles made from 16 attempts; only one less than George Bower. Jordan also good (running 132 metres from 7 runs!).
No doubt, the Crusaders will play their first choice team - as far as available - against the Blues next week.
Did the Chiefs lose any players to injury? I think they survived this game quite well?
The Chiefs had 62% of territory and 61% of possession, so it's obvious they didn't have to tackle as much. Ross topped the Chiefs' tackle stats with 10 tackles from 11 attempts.
Great to see Boshier back. Really making a difference. ALB also had a good game; he was the Chiefs' metre eater with 64 metres from 11 runs.
As you'll understand, I was quite happy to see Jonah Lowe score his first Super Rugby try. I just saw a tweet saying he's now played more minutes for the Chiefs in SRA, then for the Canes in 3 years. That move to the Chiefs has been great for him. What a difference a coach makes that gives a player a chance!
After this game, I'm even more keen to see whether an ABs midfield of Havili and ALB would work. In 2016, our post-Nonu/Smith midfield worked best and the midfielders were Crotty and ALB. I think Havili and ALB could work just as well.
@nevorian said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Any thoughts on Barrett as a captain? I am not completely sold on him just yet
Still early days, only his second season.
@cliff said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Taukeiaho has alot of potential just needs to sort out his throwing
Yep - I'm happy to get him into camp and have them see what magic they can work on his throwing there. Coles and Taylor will likely play most games, Harris had a good cameo today (including the clutch throw for the final play) and Aumua can be brought in if any injuries to the main two.
@bones said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
@cliff said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Taukeiaho has alot of potential just needs to sort out his throwing
Yep - I'm happy to get him into camp and have them see what magic they can work on his throwing there. Coles and Taylor will likely play most games, Harris had a good cameo today (including the clutch throw for the final play) and Aumua can be brought in if any injuries to the main two.
I think that if Harris can come back and throw well, Takeiaho will be about fifth in line. I don't know it they'll bring him in but I agree that if he sorts his throwing he's a good chance.
In this game the set piece functioned well enough and I don't think we were rewarded as we should have been (at scrum time at least). We got a bit lucky with at least one call in the first half from which we got points, and in the 2nd half we managed to get points almost every time we went in their 22.
Despite some very shaKy exits in the 2nd half, we also managed to not give up easy points and didn't give Jordan 10s of metres at a time on every attempt at a deep exit.
It's been good to to see the competition getting closer, and the difference in that Saders pack without Sam Whitelock makes me hope that we'll be a much better pack next year with BBBR back.
In other random thougths, Codie Taylor is quite a player and Dmac did a good enough job at 10 tonight. We need our 15 to be more involved as a playmaker though. ALB was fantastic.
@gt12 yeah, DMac with a Havili, Jordan or Jordie at 15 would be an interesting prospect.
@canerbry said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Accuracy seems a bit off for the Crusaders, Mo is missing the timing for some hard runners a bit. A small adjustment and they'll take this Chiefs team apart later in the game.
Great prediction there, Nostradamus. ?
The Highlanders beating the Blues yesterday, the Chiefs beating the Crusaders today. Great to see the self-appointed Big Two brought down to Earth with a BUMP!
@sparky said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
@canerbry said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Accuracy seems a bit off for the Crusaders, Mo is missing the timing for some hard runners a bit. A small adjustment and they'll take this Chiefs team apart later in the game.
Great prediction there, Nostradamus. ?
The Highlanders beating the Blues yesterday, the Chiefs beating the Crusaders today. Great to see the self-appointed Big Two brought down to Earth with a BUMP!
We were underdogs in this match. Did you hear we had an AB prop, lock and centre missing. Did you see our tight 5. Plus we were missing McCaw and Carter.
@winger said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
I thought at HT that the Crusaders would run away with it. So esp well done to the Chiefs. For this win and 4 in a row. Do they want Gatland back?
Not particularly. Clayton's done a good job and as a Chiefs fan I can be happy with this season even if we don't make the final.
@stargazer said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
I held my breath a bit during the first half, when Mo'unga seemed to get injured in a tackle by Vaa'i. He was not well at all, for a while. It wasn't clear on screen, but the radio commentators were talking about it quite a bit. He still played reasonably well after that though, but it seemed a bit with the break on.
Not sure if I am talking abut the same thing here, but there was a ruck 'clean out' on Richie that looked like it hurt him. Pretty sure I heard the crowd gasp at the time. I said to the Mrs I reckon Richie is going to be hurt here but the camera didn't show him for a while after that. It was a flying clean out, that on my one and only look seemed to take his legs out at a great rate of knots. I am amazed his knees survived.
@crazy-horse said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Not sure if I am talking abut the same thing here, but there was a ruck 'clean out' on Richie that looked like it hurt him. Pretty sure I heard the crowd gasp at the time. I said to the Mrs I reckon Richie is going to be hurt here but the camera didn't show him for a while after that. It was a flying clean out, that on my one and only look seemed to take his legs out at a great rate of knots. I am amazed his knees survived.
Yeah saw that, thought it might get a look by the TMO but seems not. It looked awkward, think Mounga got hit in the shins type area if I recall correctly. Get the feeling it probably looked more illegal than it actually was.
@arhs said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Enjoyed being there.
Yep, the biggest crowd I've seen at the stadium in a long time, even allowing for the club day. Great atmosphere.
I was worried in the 1st half that the Chiefs would pay for not taking their opportunities when on attack. I also thought the ball-runners were often too static when doing those pick and goes near the line.
As to the players, one guy who I thought had a huge game and hasn't been mentioned was Ah Kuoi. Tiatia was terrible and looked absolutely gassed (and slow) when chasing back for that kick, before gifting the Crusaders a try with a stupid pass in-goal. He should have been subbed for Wainui, not Lowe, but is obviously a McMillan favourite. Impact off the bench is his lot, but not a starter.
I read a stat that the Crusaders had only lost 2 of their last 13 away games, both to the Chiefs. Now that becomes 3 losses.
@billy-tell said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Thought the stand out players were backs (ALB, DMac, Jordan) although Jacobsen had a great game.
Neither grace nor blackadder look like 8s which is a real problem for the crusaders.
DMac constantly keeps defence guessing and he passes flat was quite impressed tbh.
Agree re Jacobsen. He was a pain in the arse all game. Solid running game, some of his ruck work was outstanding and hit hard on defence. He seems very strong in contact.
It was a weird game in that the Crusaders seemed largely unconcerned about the Chief's attack until the near the end when they gave away a few penalties in a row. As someone mentioned during the game, the Crusaders didn't frequently infringe on their own line for much of the game. I reckon that was a sign they thought they had them under control.
Did anyone see the offside that the Chief's kicked the winning points from? Not saying it was the wrong call, I just didn't see what the ref was getting at. It was an unusual penalty for any team to give away so softly in that situation.
@act-crusader said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
@stargazer said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Crusaders
1 George Bower
2 Brodie McAlister
3 Michael Alaalatoa
4 Mitchell Dunshea
5 Quinten StrangeIt’s only the Chiefs aye Razor... ?
And we quite rightly paid the price for it. But at least Weber acknowledged they beat the Bs.
@crazy-horse said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Chiefs have a good chance in this one I reckon. They are on a winning run and the Crusaders seem to be in a bit of a trough.
Oh how we laughed
@sparky said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
@canerbry said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Accuracy seems a bit off for the Crusaders, Mo is missing the timing for some hard runners a bit. A small adjustment and they'll take this Chiefs team apart later in the game.
Great prediction there, Nostradamus. ?
The Highlanders beating the Blues yesterday, the Chiefs beating the Crusaders today. Great to see the self-appointed Big Two brought down to Earth with a BUMP!
You can appoint yourself in the top two when you've won four comps in a row. I'm unsure what the other guy's claim to it is. I think it's a Big One.
@taniwharugby said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Is the captains challenge an IRB directive or just NZ (or are Aus using it too)
NZ experiment
@booboo said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
@taniwharugby said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Is the captains challenge an IRB directive or just NZ (or are Aus using it too)
NZ experiment
And I still wonder what happens in TT comp. Aus don't have it, and they got a few other tricks that we don't have like the 22-50 or whatever it is!
@booboo said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
@taniwharugby said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Is the captains challenge an IRB directive or just NZ (or are Aus using it too)
NZ experiment
The experiment has proven that it is a really dumb idea.
@dan54 said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
@booboo said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
@taniwharugby said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Is the captains challenge an IRB directive or just NZ (or are Aus using it too)
NZ experiment
And I still wonder what happens in TT comp. Aus don't have it, and they got a few other tricks that we don't have like the 22-50 or whatever it is!
As the law trials were only for SRA and SR AU, they won't run during SR T-T, unless the unions - with permission from SANZAAR and WR - decide to continue to use the modified rules for T-T as well. They'd obviously have to specify which rules will be maintained and which won't be.
Thought Aidan Ross was good. Chiefs had wood on Chch in scrums, but ref pretty disinterested. Big step down at LH from Moody to Bower.
Chiefs had watched Southern derby tape, with one off runners angling back towards ruck, or DMac reversing the play and receiver doing that on other side.
Result was that Chiefs got a lot of quick ball. Saders couldn' close things down in their usual fashion.
Hope you were taking notes, Panadol!
Chiefs were on to something with the way McKenzie kept swiftly changing the direction of the attack with sharp flat passes to stretch the defence. It made the defenders work harder than usual.
Yes Ah Kuoi had a huge game and Jacobson Ross Taukeiaho and Boshier huge shifts as well.
Chiefs just need to address their achilles heel of giving away soft penalties to gift opponents a driving maul 5 to 10 metres out.
@act-crusader Tupaea isn't an All Black yet but yes it puts perspective with him Sam Cane Retallick and ONeill and Moli missing and lots of second stringers in there
@act-crusader said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders
We were underdogs in this match. Did you hear we had an AB prop, lock and centre missing. Did you see our tight 5.
Oops. Just realised you were talking about Crusaders.
One of the better games this season in terms of skill and the way the game was officiated ..
I thought the Chiefs were good value for their win and whilst people will point to personal not being available, the Chiefs know all about injuries so we can safely park that one up .
This game reminded me of the Blues encounter at the same venue , with the visitors trying to bully the hosts , but I thought it was the hosts that played all the code , just their own momentum stopping them from either scoring or applying even more pressure..
From 1-8 the chiefs pack were superb , where as the Crusaders pack went in fits and starts , only Tom Sanders really shinning to me and in the backs Jordon and Mounga the only real genuine threats .
Even though the chiefs left it late, I thought the final score actually flattered the visitors ..although I do reckon the Mounga missed conversion from a handy position proved very costly at match ends ..
@arhs said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Chiefs just need to address their achilles heel of giving away soft penalties to gift opponents a driving maul 5 to 10 metres out.
In other words, talk to Mitch Brown. 
@frank said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
Thought McKenzie looked good at 10.
His transference was very quick and he changed the angle of attack several times.
There was no Beauden Barrett labored shoveling it on that I saw.
The biggest thing to note was the decision making. Not perfect but that’s a hard ask for any 10. Mostly right decisions and no brain fart ones.
The way both teams dealt with the breakdown seemed completely different. The Crusaders were happy to concede a lot and fan across in defense. The Chiefs put numbers in there and there were numerous hands competing for the ball. I wonder if the Chiefs would have been penalized more with a different ref.
Great game, with some of the ABs coming into some form.
@old-samurai-jack said in SRA round 8: Chiefs v Crusaders:
The way both teams dealt with the breakdown seemed completely different. The Crusaders were happy to concede a lot and fan across in defense. The Chiefs put numbers in there and there were numerous hands competing for the ball. I wonder if the Chiefs would have been penalized more with a different ref.
Great game, with some of the ABs coming into some form.
Goes both ways. Another ref may also have penalised the Crusaders for flopping.
