Hurricanes v Blues
My two cents on the game and where do I start?
Well how can you not go past Laumape's try after gassing Beaudy and running over Otere at the line? Fair play to Beauden hitting right back with an impressive surge under the posts.
The Hurricanes were quite dominant in the early stages of the game but they struggled to finish their chances through line breaks from Laumape and Peter Umaga Jensen, who I might add had his best game in a Hurricanes jersey.
The Hurricanes had the advantage at scrum time which allowed them to get well over the advantage line on attack, again though they will be a tad grumpy for not executing.
A positive for the Canes is that they showed calmness under pressure in those final 10 minutes that will give them plenty of confidence heading down to Christchurch next week.
From a player perspective the three standouts for me were Ngani Laumape, Jordie Barrett and Peter Umaga Jensen. Ngani Laumape, well his performance speaks for itself and if you haven't seen his brilliant interview post game, check it out here - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2805567983004746.
Jordie Barrett was exceptional and rose to the occasion against his older brother when it really mattered. He caught everything kicked his way as well which would have pleased the All Black coaches.
Lastly, Peter Umaga Jensen took his chance, he ran with purpose and intent all night, constantly looking dangerous. Broke through the heart of the Blues defence early with a hard and direct line, in what was a common sight all night.
From a Blues perspective they showed plenty of grit and determination to halt that Canes early onslaught which is promising for such a young group. A sign of a good team is one that stays in the fight without really firing too many shots and that's what the Blues did last night. They took all their chances when they came and nearly pulled off a win that looked highly unlikely after the first 20 minutes.
From a player point of view I was really impressed with Kurt Eklund, he continues to grow his game and will push for the top Blues hooking spot moving forward, and deservedly so.
Dalton Papali'i was my next pick of the Blues bunch, he was everywhere on defence, making something like 18 tackles which was massive on a night like this.
Mark Telea's stocks also continue to rise, every time he got the ball it took about two or three guys to put him down. With a bit more coaching on his defence and technique under the high ball he could very well push for higher honours soon.
@Bones funny I mentioned to my bro after last weeks game that I thought Dalton ran heavy. Doesn’t appear light on his feet say like Ardie or even Akira. Like you say it might be just the way it comes across, but he got stood up a couple of times tonight. He’s got damn good shoulders though in how he hits. Did he play league as a kid?
@ACT-Crusader yeah he makes Cane look like a hot stepper but considering that, he's got a great eye on defence as he gets it right a lot and certainly makes it stick.
@ACT-Crusader said in Hurricanes v Blues:
JGB lack of class really showed tonight. He’s not a bad player but I thought he stifled some of the line breaks the Canes were making. He just couldn’t take advantage of those situations. He’s a little predictable in attack which makes it easy for the defence.
I think Smith needs another shot.
Just finished watching the game. And watched JGB closely. I thought he had one of his better games for the Canes. He certainly didn't stifle the Canes backline. His mistakes were giving away one penalty (not releasing), passing the ball forward re Jordie's non try (but he was being tackled as this happened) and dropping one ball from Goosen (in a tight situation). But otherwise he was good. Took the high balls, passing was good, tried a few thing a bit different. Some came off and a few didn't
Blackwell was back to passing to the ground again, But otherwise the team went well and was a good game to watch. Kirifi is a good player now. One of those I never expected much from (when he was first signed) but has really stepped up. Armstrong has a much better game too. PUJ had a game he can be very happy with. As can his midfield mate who maybe had his best ever Canes match.
Only saw bits of the game as I was out but from what I saw, we were dominated for large parts of it. Please get Plummer out of the 12 spot immediately. He looked lost out there. Suprised it was so close in the first half. Laumape looked like a prime Jonah Lomu out there.
@Canes4life ya proved to be correct on this occasion ya bastard 
@ACT-Crusader wasn't there a bit of tug and war between the Warriors and the Blues for Papalii? Or am I thinking of someone else?
@African-Monkey had my heart in my mouth when the Blues scored theat last try. Thankfully the boys brought it home. 
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@African-Monkey had my heart in my mouth when the Blues scored theat last try. Thankfully the boys brought it home.
The olds went last night along with the rest of the 20,000. Said it was a great game and the crowd was into it
@Chris said in Hurricanes v Blues:
I have a feeling the Canes may get the job done in this game,Canes to sneak the win by 2 points.
Looks like my prediction was close
@Gunner said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Kirifi is a hard man to tackle, he’s like a clone of Ardie. Wouldn’t mind seeing how he goes in black, but I don’t think he’s the style of player they’ll be looking for in a 3rd string 7.
Quite an eye-catching performance from Kirifi.
Just watched the game again and we deserved to lose that one. Don't think we had a real advantage in any area in the game.
If you want to know what James Blackwell would look like as a blindside, just watch Carroll play at 6 for us. We should've started Lamborn or brought in Riedlinger-Kapa.
Outside of that poor miss on Laumape, I thought Papali'i was pretty good for us. Was everywhere and was rag dolling guys most of the night. Scoreline could've been worse without him.
31 missed tackles is just too much from us. So many poor misses and bad reads by us, especially in the first half. Defense got much better after that Coles try in the 2nd half though.
@Bones said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Weird moment in the game when they flashed up Ngani's running stats and he had 92m, cut to ten or so minutes later after he's made a 30m charge and they flash them up...93m....what the?
Same person who reports Ardie's height?
I think if Faiane had started yesterday, you’d have won - 6 missed tackles between Plummer and Ioane in the midfield really hurt and Plummer was a bit lost on both sides of the call. Faiane and Ioane are usually very dangerous - I think that one change may have slowed the Canes down a bit.
There are also a few players looking pretty tired - Pat T missed 3 and wasn’t at the same level as recent games.
Btw, player with most missed tackles (according to rugby pass) was .... Paps with 4. He made 21 though, to lead them team (followed by Rieko with 18!)
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes v Blues:
My two cents on the game and where do I start.
Well how can you not go past Laumape's try after gassing Beaudy and running over Otere at the line. Fair play to Beauden hitting right back with an impressive surge under the posts.
The Hurricanes were quite dominant in the early stages of the game but they struggled to finish their chances through line breaks from Laumape and Peter Umaga Jensen, who I might add had his best game in a Hurricanes jersey. The Hurricanes had the advantage at scrum time which allowed them to get well over the advantage line on attack, again though they will be a tad grumpy for not executing. A positive for the Canes is that they showed calmness under pressure in those final 10 minutes that will give them plenty of confidence heading down to Christchurch next week.
From a player perspective the three standouts for me were Ngani Laumape, Jordie Barrett and Peter Umaga Jensen. Ngani Laumape, well his performance speaks for itself and if you haven't seen his brilliant interview post game, check it out here - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2805567983004746. Jordie Barrett was exceptional and rose to the occasion against his older brother when it really mattered. He caught everything kicked his way aswell which would have pleased the All Black coaches. Lastly, Peter Umaga Jensen took his chance, he ran with purpose and intent all night, constantly looking dangerous. Broke through the heart of the Blues defence early with a hard and direct line, in what was a common sight all night.
From a Blues perspective they showed plenty of grit and determination to halt that Canes early onslaught which is promising for such a young group. A sign of a good team is one that stays in the fight without really firing too many shots and that's what the Blues did last night. They took all their chances when they came and nearly pulled off a win that looked highly unlikely after the first 20 minutes.
From a player point of view I was really impressed with Kurt Eklund, he continues to grow his game and will push for the top Blues hooking spot moving forward, and deservedly so. Dalton Papali'i was my next pick of the Blues bunch, he was everywhere on defence, making something like 18 tackles which was massive on a night like this. Mark Telea's stocks also continue to rise, every time he got the ball it took about two or three guys to put him down. With a bit more coaching on his defence and technique under the high ball he could very well push for higher honours soon.
Game Highlights:
Post match presser:
And a special mention for TJ (apart for one kick out on the full when he moved to ff) being at his absolute pain in the arse best and causing a lot of poor ball for the blues
@Bones said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Oh and...youse fellas that have been dusruspicting Laumape better watch out.
Will the north island selectors go ?
12 Laumape
13 R Ioanie
@kiwiinmelb I’m thinking Laumape/Leinert-Brown, Ioane back to the left wing.
@gt12 said in Hurricanes v Blues:
followed by Rieko with 18!
Not really sure that tackling machine is the best use of Ioane, I'd like to see him back on the wing TBH.
Also, crazy to have two inexperienced midfielders start together when TJ is available.
Me too, but that 18 made illustrates that the three missed weren’t quite as bad as they seem. Personally I think it was probably a good game for his development - getting turned in and out a few times usually helps for midfielders early - unless it becomes what they are known for...
Just watched the game again and I was actually very happy with how JGB ran the show. Not sure why he's getting so much negativitiy on here, he was very solid without being spectacular and I think that's what the Canes need atm. He cleared well, was strong when running into contact, defended well and his passing wasn't as laboured as some people make out.
@Canes4life Canes had plenty of go forward and opportunity and they needed a bit of class in their playmaker to take advantage. Defensively he’s not too bad.
@ACT-Crusader it takes time in the saddle to become a classy player and I think both him and Fletcher Smith are coming along nicely, without setting the house on fire.
Aslong as they keep improving and come more comfortable barking orders I think we will start to see the best. I wonder if they will continue the rotation and bring in Smith for the next game.
@number9 said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@junior said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@number9 said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Kirwan said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Stargazer said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Akira not good at no. 8. Sotutu can't come back soon enough.
Yawn. He’s cleaned up some messy scrums tonight
Blues scrum is fine, the delay with Christie and Ioane is terrible.
Hardly. They’ve been shoved all over the park
Bullshit! Christie taking his time and Aki is slow when picking up the ball from the back.
Ball getting caught behind locks' feet. Schoolboy stuff.
Not much to add.
Laumape brilliance ended up being decisive.
Apart from brief spell in 2nd Blue never used powerhouse forwards to punch up centre.
At 27 - 22 I was shouting to drive, drive, drive, draw a penalty and at 30-22, to quote a line from The Matrix, it would have been, 'Dodge that!'!
BB seems a shadow of his previous self. Not a great kicking 15.
And Patty T/Ofa very subdued.
Couldn't see what was going on in scrum, but thought May stood up well to Ofa, and Hodgman up and down against Lomax.
Was incandescent when O'Keeffe chose to signal on field decision try at end. I VERY, VERY much doubt he actually saw the ball touch the line, and had he asked the TMO to make the call it would have been no try. The protocol needs some work IMO.
All that said, Canes ought to have had it won by the 60, and Blues played poorly and only just lost, so no huge need to go back to the drawing board.
As a biased Blues supporter I would rather have seen O’Keefe immediately award a try.There was no immediate raised arm,but an unconvincing call that he had seen the ball on the line.Going to the TMO proved nothing.Before TMOs we would have been happy the ref had seen the try and gone home happy.
@pakman I think he got the top bodies to move and was able to see the Canes player with the ball grounded over the line. No other way to actually see the grounding as it happened
@pakman said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Not much to add.
Laumape brilliance ended up being decisive.
Apart from brief spell in 2nd Blue never used powerhouse forwards to punch up centre.
At 27 - 22 I was shouting to drive, drive, drive, draw a penalty and at 30-22, to quote a line from The Matrix, it would have been, 'Dodge that!'!
BB seems a shadow of his previous self. Not a great kicking 15.
And Patty T/Ofa very subdued.
Couldn't see what was going on in scrum, but thought May stood up well to Ofa, and Hodgman up and down against Lomax.
Was incandescent when O'Keeffe chose to signal on field decision try at end. I VERY, VERY much doubt he actually saw the ball touch the line, and had he asked the TMO to make the call it would have been no try. The protocol needs some work IMO.
All that said, Canes ought to have had it won by the 60, and Blues played poorly and only just lost, so no huge need to go back to the drawing board.
I haven't seen May on the pitch, he wasn't in the starting 23.
@Bones said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@cgrant yeah he pulled out before the game - pretty sure it was Armstrong.
Fair cop. I didn't see lineups and checked on Scrum.com, which said May. Then reading GetStuffed.com I saw Armstrong, and meant to change it.
Thought he did well.
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Just watched the game again and I was actually very happy with how JGB ran the show. Not sure why he's getting so much negativitiy on here, he was very solid without being spectacular and I think that's what the Canes need atm. He cleared well, was strong when running into contact, defended well and his passing wasn't as laboured as some people make out.
Agree. I had read the criticism before the match so was surprised how well he played. His passing was good in this game. It was a bit labored in his first two starts but not this one. The key though with how rugby is played now is clearing the ball. Its essential now even more so than in the past. And in this respect hes clearly better than Smith
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Bones He's like Prinsep - an easy target for when things go wrong.
It's funny - Blackwell has started playing fairly ordinary and not a patch on his form at the start of the year - yet he now gets less attention.
@Bones said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Bones He's like Prinsep - an easy target for when things go wrong.
It's funny - Blackwell has started playing fairly ordinary and not a patch on his form at the start of the year - yet he now gets less attention.
He was never in great form. He varies for ordinary or maybe slightly more (Chiefs last game) to poor. There is a reason why he doesn't play 6 (at 1.90 that would be his obvious position) and these reasons reflect his lock performances.