Blues v Chiefs: A game of two halves

@Machpants

Duffie is fine at #15

Blues halfbacks are fucking terrible Ruru is a headless chicken Perofeta is poor & can't kick to save his life
Plummer & Black are backups at best

Blues are awful - poorly coached, high error rate, mental erros Giving up 32 pts in the 2nd half is disfracful

BB won;t make a difference if he has a bum at scrum half
Good thing Landers have a Mitre 10 squad with A Smith & Iaone or else Blues would AGAIN be worst NZ team in SR

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Hooroo said in Blues v Chiefs:

Who was the dickhead who said we are getting an out of form fossil back to the Chiefs???

His field kicking was comical at times. Not sure he’s going to last long either, so be careful....

It was me if you didn’t catch the sarcasm.

From the little I saw of the two halves, it just appeared more controlled in the second half. I could be wrong though as I flukely only really saw tries and build up to tries

@macandcheese From all comments Nock and Plummer are fine they just need to select them.

Perofita

Far out, that was as frustrating a game to go to as I can remember. We did enough in the first half to win by 20, but couldn't kick goals, keep pressure on or get the rub fo the green. Chiefs knew our weakness (mauls) and just exploited it over and over again.

Blues I thought looked a lot better. Some of the short passing is really tasty, just hanging a ball up in space for someone to run to. Should get better and better as the season goes on.
Scrum was a weapon we just weren't smart enough to capitalise on.

Ref was poor, missed a lot live, and seemed to miss a lot on replay too. We're not good enough to win tight games if we don't get a fair shake; same as last year.

Ruru was frustrating as all hell. Coughed up ball, made some poor choices on defence I thought, and was generally not great. Nock looked a lot better when he came on.

Lineout fell apart. Lost 3 in a row on our own throw in the first half - it's just letting people off the hook. Don't know why it was so bad.

Well played Chiefs, they won't win many if they can't fix the scrum, but well played to get over the top. Now yuo'll all have to excuse me as i go and drink a few beers and grizzle on the internets.

Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started

Last two years have been light years ahead of where Tana dragged us down to. Nice try though.

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started

Ya say that, but they got the score to go up 26-19 after being 19-all. They ddint' go into their shells, played some decent footy.

Forwards crashing it up and a decent scrum is something yo ucan build a team around. Backs went OK too, we just threw up a shit lineout and slack maul defence again. That and some brain farts and it's all over rover

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started

Last two years have been light years ahead of where Tana dragged us down to. Nice try though.

You Blues fans have blamed every coach since Ted and you know it.

By the way, I didn't read the thread before writing my comments on the game.

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started

Last two years have been light years ahead of where Tana dragged us down to. Nice try though.

You Blues fans have blamed every coach since Ted and you know it.

I refer you to the stats thread from Duluth. Tana finished on what 6% against Kiwi teams?

He was in a category by himself of incompetence. Took ages to cycle out those shit Counties players he selected too.

@Stargazer pretty fair write up. Good work writing all that.

@nzzp said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started

Ya say that, but they got the score to go up 26-19 after being 19-all. They ddint' go into their shells, played some decent footy.

Forwards crashing it up and a decent scrum is something yo ucan build a team around. Backs went OK too, we just threw up a shit lineout and slack maul defence again. That and some brain farts and it's all over rover

Typical Blues. Always find a way to lose a game

@Stargazer said in Blues v Chiefs:

By the way, I didn't read the thread before writing my comments on the game.

Probably the biggest factor for both teams were injuries. Chiefs suffered in the first half, the Blues in the second.

According to Duluth who was the game we had some walking wounded out there for the last 15. And that backline was not ideal to end the game with!

@canefan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@nzzp said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started

Ya say that, but they got the score to go up 26-19 after being 19-all. They ddint' go into their shells, played some decent footy.

Forwards crashing it up and a decent scrum is something yo ucan build a team around. Backs went OK too, we just threw up a shit lineout and slack maul defence again. That and some brain farts and it's all over rover

Typical Blues. Always find a way to lose a game

Yep. And failure breeds failure - opposition always think they can get up over us. As a fan, it's incredibly frustrating.

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Stargazer said in Blues v Chiefs:

By the way, I didn't read the thread before writing my comments on the game.

Probably the biggest factor for both teams were injuries. Chiefs suffered in the first half, the Blues in the second.

According to Duluth who was the game we had some walking wounded out there for the last 15. And that backline was not ideal to end the game with!

Has there been any post match updates on any of the injuries? Was Sam Cane looked after and pulled at half time or playing Poke and got Yanked or was he injured??

@Hooroo said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Stargazer said in Blues v Chiefs:

By the way, I didn't read the thread before writing my comments on the game.

Probably the biggest factor for both teams were injuries. Chiefs suffered in the first half, the Blues in the second.

According to Duluth who was the game we had some walking wounded out there for the last 15. And that backline was not ideal to end the game with!

Has there been any post match updates on any of the injuries? Was Sam Cane looked after and pulled at half time or playing Poke and got Yanked or was he injured??

AB rest directive? We lost Reiko early too I think because of that, he was on fire too

@Hooroo Cane was pulled at half time, no doubt because of the ABs gradual return-to-play protocol. Was surprised to see Rieko Ioane still on the field after the break. He only left the field in the 57th minute.

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started

Last two years have been light years ahead of where Tana dragged us down to. Nice try though.

You Blues fans have blamed every coach since Ted and you know it.

I refer you to the stats thread from Duluth. Tana finished on what 6% against Kiwi teams?

He was in a category by himself of incompetence. Took ages to cycle out those shit Counties players he selected too.

I didn’t single out Tana.
You can’t deny that coaches become scapegoats at the Blues. Already a very good coach in Rangi is being tainted by some fans.

@Stargazer said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Hooroo Cane was pulled at half time, no doubt because of the ABs gradual return-to-play protocol. Was surprised to see Rieko Ioane still on the field after the break. He only left the field in the 57th minute.

I made the comment during the match.
They are restricted to a total of 180 minutes in the first three games. It doesn’t have to be 40/60/80 but that was the requested structure.
He now has to be subbed earlier in another game to make up for it.

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started

Last two years have been light years ahead of where Tana dragged us down to. Nice try though.

You Blues fans have blamed every coach since Ted and you know it.

I refer you to the stats thread from Duluth. Tana finished on what 6% against Kiwi teams?

He was in a category by himself of incompetence. Took ages to cycle out those shit Counties players he selected too.

You can’t deny that coaches become scapegoats at the Blues. Already a very good coach in Rangi is being tainted by some fans.

Not this fan. Big steps forward - just not quite enough yet. Forwards went well, backs were not bad, still some maul defence and lineouts to focus on this week.

What I was impressed with was that there seemed to be some clarity in the team about what they were trying to achieve. Compared to previous seasons where headless chook behaviour was the norm, I'll cut him some real slack.

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started

Last two years have been light years ahead of where Tana dragged us down to. Nice try though.

You Blues fans have blamed every coach since Ted and you know it.

I refer you to the stats thread from Duluth. Tana finished on what 6% against Kiwi teams?

He was in a category by himself of incompetence. Took ages to cycle out those shit Counties players he selected too.

I didn’t single out Tana.
You can’t deny that coaches become scapegoats at the Blues. Already a very good coach in Rangi is being tainted by some fans.

My issue with Rangi is how do you watch Ruru for a season and then select him again and start him again.

Its a glaring issue.

@nzzp said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Kirwan said in Blues v Chiefs:

@Crucial said in Blues v Chiefs:

Good old Blues killing another coaches career.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is, until they solve the 9/10 issue they will play their guts out and end up on the wrong end of the score.
I actually thought that they played pretty good with good shape and discipline but they freaked out once the comeback started

Last two years have been light years ahead of where Tana dragged us down to. Nice try though.

You Blues fans have blamed every coach since Ted and you know it.

I refer you to the stats thread from Duluth. Tana finished on what 6% against Kiwi teams?

He was in a category by himself of incompetence. Took ages to cycle out those shit Counties players he selected too.

You can’t deny that coaches become scapegoats at the Blues. Already a very good coach in Rangi is being tainted by some fans.

Not this fan. Big steps forward - just not quite enough yet. Forwards went well, backs were not bad, still some maul defence and lineouts to focus on this week.

What I was impressed with was that there seemed to be some clarity in the team about what they were trying to achieve. Compared to previous seasons where headless chook behaviour was the norm, I'll cut him some real slack.

Thought the Blues forwards really dominated in attack particularly the reserves.

But 9 and 10 play continues to plague this Blues side. Terrible.

Hodgman was outstanding prior to his injury. Great scrummaging, which is new and interesting, and usual high workrate. He seems to have put on some additional weight as well. Two of the Blues tries were greatly due to his scrum dominance.

The Blues did not escape unscathed on the injury front either. Prop Alex Hodgman and bench hooker Ray Niuia both suffered what appeared pretty serious leg injuries, while MacDonald had some concerns over second-half try-scorer Karl Tu'inukuafe as well. "Our front row took a bit of a hit tonight."

Props falling over everywhere Chiefs have a couple as well Laulala and Ta'avau both injured not sure how badly.

Wasn’t it great seeing Cruden’s league-esque distance touch finders back.

Chiefs beat the blues without Mckenzie, Harris and Retallick. With Cane off at half time. With 2 tight heads that couldn’t scrum. And with Weber, cruden and ALB on the bench. (That meant TTT had to start which is my worst nightmare). Blues are sh*t, try to change my mind.

Oh and without Luke Jacobson who’s a tank for us too ^

@kev said in Blues v Chiefs:

@macandcheese From all comments Nock and Plummer are fine they just need to select them.

That's noted

I can live with Plummer at #12 or ahead of Perofeta at #10

I've no clue how good Nock is Not seen him play much
Seen enough of Ruru to know he's putrid at #9 at least at SR level

Firstly congratulations to the Chiefs , it’s no mean effort being down 5-19 at halftime and then coming back to win going away especially whilst having a host first liners unavailable..
Thought the changes made by Gatland at halftime were spot on,Cruden’s impact especially, his ability to seize upon opportunities, but more importantly his ability make sure his team is playing in the right parts of the field goal kicking aside.

They often say the first sign of madness is repeating the same things and expecting different results ..
Over the last few seasons and again tonight , you cant fault the effort the Blues forwards, really and truthfully they set a platform in the first half that should have seen the game taken well and truly away from the chiefs..
But what happens behind the scrum at 9,10 and 15 is so crucial..these are positions in the modern game where doing the right at key times in terms of game management is everything .

I am not sure what picture the coaches or the high performance coaches are watching in around these positions , but they have been an issue for a very long time and it continues to be an issue ..

Sometimes it’s easy to criticise the players that are running out in these jerseys ,but the art of being a good selector knowing when players can’t step up into a position,so the next move is to address it, do what ever it takes..
I am more disappointed with the people within the Blues organisation that make these decisions..

@KiwiMurph problem is, the 9s in the squad.

Ruru has had his moments (however fleeting) Nock even less so, and Christie who isn't much cop either...who do you choose?

That said, if Nock gets a run without injury and gains some confidence to play to his potential, he has the game to Become one of the missing peices in the Blues puzzle...but that is IF.

Ruru, Perofeta and Duffie were predictably poor. Eklund wasn't great either, but Niua was good off the bench, so that's a positive on the hooker front.

Marchant was OK in his debut, but didn't get much chance to really run in space because Ruru had an obsession for attacking the blindside for most of the game. And then in the 2nd half, Perofeta stopped passing to the backs and we missed some overlaps because of that.

Samisoni look the real deal

@taniwharugby said in Blues v Chiefs:

@KiwiMurph problem is, the 9s in the squad.

Ruru has had his moments (however fleeting) Nock even less so, and Christie who isn't much cop either...who do you choose?

That said, if Nock gets a run without injury and gains some confidence to play to his potential, he has the game to Become one of the missing peices in the Blues puzzle...but that is IF.

Nock hasn't had nearly the opportunities that Ruru has had. Nock actually started to show some really good form last season and won the starting job and looked good but then got injured out for the Super season.

So sure enough Ruru gets given almost all the preseason minutes and is named the starter despite it being super obvious last season his play was hindering the Blues attack.

Nock might not be the answer either but they need to give him a shot - his service is far better and surely that would help whoever is at 10.

@KiwiMurph was quite evident in that game he went off last year, his passes were swift and accurate, when Pulu came on his looked like they were in slow motion by comparison.

This is Nock's 5th season with 25 appearances...

A fit Akira would've been pretty handy in that last 30-40 minutes.

So after reading the comments:

(1) Laulala and Ta’avao looked seriously underdone, and Angus seemed to be carrying his leg injury into the game. Well done to the Blues scrum but I expect the Chiefs won't be playing Brown much as a TH lock as he depowered the scrum. Ross did very well to play the full 80 mins, and Moli fitted in at TH in the 2nd half. Getting Allardice back will help, as well as playing a more balanced loose forward trio.

(2) 32-10 in the 2nd half tells the story. The Chiefs could bring some class and experience on to finish the game and that was the big difference. I was surprised it was Nankivell that was replaced but he didn't display his Tasman form out there.

(3) I thought TTT wasn't great in the 1st half, throwing some high passes to Trask, but he was much better in the 2nd half. Weber should be the starter though.

(4) I have always rated Boshier and he showed his value in this game. He can get on the wrong side of the ref at the breakdown at times but is so good over the ball. It might be better to play him and Cane as flankers with Sowakula at no.8 next week. And Jacobson to return...

If I was a Blues fan I wouldn't be too despondent. They looked very good in the 1st half, got much quicker ruck ball and were more aggressive on defence. The key is to maintain that energy and performance for the full 80 mins.

I can only assume that Ruru is picked for his defence, because he doesn't offer much on attack. When Christie returns it will be interesting to see who the preferred starting halfback is.

@Toddy said in Blues v Chiefs:

A fit Akira would've been pretty handy in that last 30-40 minutes.

Particularly as Gibson was completely anonymous when he came on, unlike the Chiefs flanker on debut.

Considering that Akira wasn’t even training with the team and in his blazer, and on the back of the tired athlete comments last year, isn’t it likely he’s in the extra group of 9 being rested?