[2015 Super Rugby] Highlanders vs. Chiefs (Round 16) 30/05/2015

[austingtir]

Yep should be a great game next week in Napier alright!

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Didn't think much of the official. From a neutral perspective wasn't a fine performance from him.

 

[smartcooky]

Darwin hasn't been in this thread yet so I'd just better say it for him.......















BEN SMITH!!!!!

 

[Kiwi_]

Really wish I made the trip for this game. Great team effort.

Naholo and Osbourne are quality. Only Savea and Jane would really be up there with them.

What a backline. Best I've seen us, since the Tony Brown glory days.

Back 3 of the Chiefs were good, but ultimately out played and our kicking is superb, Smith, Sopoaga and B.Smith are such consistent kickers. Sopoaga really has found consistency this season.

Chiefs have a lot of injuries, they might struggle with the rest of their games. I think they will scrap into the quarters and lose their game away.

We're more than capable of making the final and I wouldn't fear the Hurricanes either if we do make it!

- - - Updated - - -

Didn't think much of the official. From a neutral perspective wasn't a fine performance from him.

I thought he was fine, one of the better reffing displays this season in the SR.

 

[austingtir]

How Tim Nanai doesnt get more starts at fullback is a bit of a mystery to me. I think thats one huge mistake the Chiefs coaches are making. Mckenzie is good and all but he's not a patch on Nanai williams especially against the Highlanders.

 

[Kiwi_]

How Tim Nanai doesnt get more starts at fullback is a bit of a mystery to me. I think thats one huge mistake the Chiefs coaches are making. Mckenzie is good and all but he's not a patch on Nanai williams especially against the Highlanders.

He's had injuries and lately I think he was tied up with the Samoa 7's team. But yeah, he's light years ahead of McKenzie in quality.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

I'm always a bit scared when nani williams comes on, I would have started him just for the head game

Pretty happy with that...survived the pressure and then came back to close it out...exactly what we have missed in the past

 

[Kiwi_]

I'm always a bit scared when nani williams comes on, I would have started him just for the head game

Pretty happy with that...survived the pressure and then came back to close it out...exactly what we have missed in the past

Yep, what's impressive is our defensive record and 2nd half concentration. We were opening teams up in the 1st half then letting them back into the game or conceding soft tries in the 2nd half. 2 games in a row without conceding a try is a great effort. I think even with a full strength Chiefs squad we would have beaten them.

 

[bazwaz]

Deserved win by a confident Highlander outfit strong in both defence and attack, also playing in front of their home crowd an advantage.
A very error and penalty ridden game from the Chiefs B team. The second time the Chiefs have lost to the Highlanders this year and in previous years the Highlanders have also had their number.

Happy for Naholo that he has Hansen's attention albeit at the Chiefs expense - great for the ABs to have players like Savea and Naholo flying down the wings in a RWC year if you're a Kiwi supporter. The work these two players put in in the midfield is phenomenal and also what sets them apart from many wingers is their proclivity to come in off their wings and get heavily involved. Not to mention their power and speed.

The Chiefs; very flat on attack with Marty McKenzie and Pulu not firing in the halves a big problem. With the return of Tom Marshall from injury to fullback, Damien McKenzie will return to standoff as the solution - even more potent if SBW is running off him...Pity our AB U20 team is missing players like Damien McKenzie, Akira Ioane, Otere Black, Anton Lienert Brown as the RWC tournament starts this week in Italy minus many Super XV players . Rescheduling this event so it doesn't coincide with the Super XV season should be considered perhaps.

Tim Nanai Williams such a great utility player so his benching was completely understandable given he can cover wing , centre and fullback. Only two weeks back from concussion also a factor and have a feeling Rennie may also be rotating/managing his players with the semis in mind.

James Lowe also very much missed on attack. And with the return of players from injury the Chiefs will be a totally different side. They will learn from their mistakes like trying to play in their own half and putting themselves under pressure in the process.
They will analyse their penalties and try to redress the high penalty count. Their star players will return....The Chiefs are still very much in the mix despite hitting a speed bump, with an away game coming up next week against the Reds a chance to secure their place in the top six.

 

[austingtir]

I really cant see the Chiefs even getting within 10 points of the Brumbies at home (maybe even with their topside). And the Reds could be difficult.

Im sorry guys but I dont care if Tim can cover multiple positions good off the bench. He is hands down the best fullback (and probably center aswell) in that team and he should be getting selected there or at a minimum 13! They need guys like SBW and Tim nanai on the field and firing at the same time to turn this around.

If they dont select him in the starting lineup they've bottled it imo.

 

[Gena_ZA]

Highlanders in my view seems to be the best rounded team at present, real ***le contender

 

[Kiwiwomble]

i don't know about that but its the most well rounded Highlanders team in...god knows how long...maybe ever but at least since 1998-2000

 

[nzlizard]

Yeah our success of 2012/13 was playing guys like Nanai every week, he played outstanding wing also when Anscombe had the 15 spot as his.

We seem to have moved away from what made us successful, sure the rotation worked in those seasons, but alot of that was discovering where people played best. Once we discovered that then we needed to utilize it.

All credit to the Highlanders, they player well and deserved the win, they look like they could go on in the comp and compete, us on the other hand have looked really patchy over the last few weeks and will need a major kick in the arse to get past our first playoff game, if we get there.

 

[austingtir]

Highlanders in my view seems to be the best rounded team at present, real ***le contender

Yeah they've been good but they can still be made to look bloody terrible by teams like the Brumbies if the HL have an off day and the Brumbies do their homework which they seem to do quite well then things can go really bad for the HL.

Basically the HL forwards are going to have to play out of their friggin skins to beat teams like the Brumbies, Tahs and Stormers in finals football. They seem to be resting Nasi (or does he have an injury?) well so maybe Joseph is onto it.

The Brumbies just showed them up so badly in that game so im a bit dubious about them still. But with the top team on the park they should be alot more competitive than that effort.

 

[Kiwi_]

Yeah they've been good but they can still be made to look bloody terrible by teams like the Brumbies if the HL have an off day and the Brumbies do their homework which they seem to do quite well then things can go really bad for the HL.

Basically the HL forwards are going to have to play out of their friggin skins to beat teams like the Brumbies, Tahs and Stormers in finals football. They seem to be resting Nasi (or does he have an injury?) well so maybe Joseph is onto it.

The Brumbies just showed them up so badly in that game so im a bit dubious about them still. But with the top team on the park they should be alot more competitive than that effort.

We rested our All Blacks in the Brumbies game. This is the only result I'm bitter about all season. There was a direct play-off rival and we rested our AB's.

We were only ordinary in the 1st half, and it was largely due to Tanaka and Sopoaga combination not firing.

 

[austingtir]

We rested our All Blacks in the Brumbies game. This is the only result I'm bitter about all season. There was a direct play-off rival and we rested our AB's.

We were only ordinary in the 1st half, and it was largely due to Tanaka and Sopoaga combination not firing.

Sorry but im not convinced there were what 4 or 5 players swapped out? They bottled it and the Brumbies read them like a book I honestly dont believe the result would of been much different if they'd of had the full first team run out. The Brumbies played one of the games of the season and just blew them off the park imo.

 

[Kiwi_]

Sorry but im not convinced there were what 4 or 5 players swapped out? They bottled it and the Brumbies read them like a book I honestly dont believe the result would of been much different if they'd of had the full first team run out. The Brumbies played one of the games of the season and just blew them off the park imo.

Convinced about what? It's like taking Cruden, Rettalick, Messam, SBW out of the Chiefs squad. Oh wait, that's what happened vs The Highlanders. We have depth, but not that much depth to go to Aussie and beat the Brumbies with our AB's out. Picking one game of the season we clearly put nothing into and rested our best players, 2 who are the best in the world in their position is going to have a HUGE impact on the teams performance. It's hardly a fair team valuation and it's pointless to pick the Highlanders apart for that result.

The Brumbies had just lost to the Blues and the Rebels (at home) then went and lost to the Tah's the weekend after playing us (again in Canberra) and we went there with our tails between our legs, writing the game off as a loss and fielded a poor team. Brumbies are good, but not THAT good. I was ****** off at Josef for this result. We could have rested some players in our home game vs The Sharks who had massive injury list.

Brumbies would be nearly out off the competition and we would be near the Hurricanes had we won this fixture. My only gripe with this season.

We would be mid table without Smith, Smith and Fekitoa.

 

[Larksea]

good win for the highlanders, it terms of the season/pecking order I dont think it means much, the chiefs were missing Messam, Retalick, Symons, SBW, Cruden and a raft of other players, of course they wont be getting Cruden and Bardoul and a couple of others back but with the majority of the big names coming back soon back they are still contenders. Imagine if the Smiths, Fekitoa and a couple of frontline forwards were missing from the highlanders.

The chiefs will be an entirely different beast all together with Weber at 9, Damien at 10, Messam, SBW, Symons and retalick back starting.

My other observations of the chiefs.
Pulu was poor after his breakout game last week. I thought he should have been subbed earlier but it wouldn't have saved the game.
I dont think Marty McKenzie is is the solution at 10, Damien or even Horrell would be a better option.

The highlanders are humming, and one of their strengths is that they are basically full strength, buckman has come back from injury and he's added an extra dimension to the backline. I understand the highlanders do need to rest their big names once more before the round robin is up.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Sorry but im not convinced there were what 4 or 5 players swapped out? They bottled it and the Brumbies read them like a book I honestly dont believe the result would of been much different if they'd of had the full first team run out. The Brumbies played one of the games of the season and just blew them off the park imo.

you do go on about the brumbies quite a bit....you said it yourself though "The Brumbies played one of the games of the season", i'm asking if they can do it again rather than treating it like the norm, it was really just one of the half's of the season as we out scored them in the second 12-6.

How about the Landers win of the top of the RSA conference Stormers?...or the win over the top of the aussie conference tahs...hell with all the talk about the chiefs injuries...we seem to have forgotten about beating them at home with a team that included messam, cruden, lowe and williams

good win for the highlanders, it terms of the season/pecking order I dont think it means much, the chiefs were missing Messam, Retalick, Symons, SBW, Cruden and a raft of other players, of course they wont be getting Cruden and Bardoul and a couple of others back but with the majority of the big names coming back soon back they are still contenders. Imagine if the Smiths, Fekitoa and a couple of frontline forwards were missing from the highlanders.

The chiefs will be an entirely different beast all together with Weber at 9, Damien at 10, Messam, SBW, Symons and retalick back starting.

My other observations of the chiefs.
Pulu was poor after his breakout game last week. I thought he should have been subbed earlier but it wouldn't have saved the game.
I dont think Marty McKenzie is is the solution at 10, Damien or even Horrell would be a better option.

The highlanders are humming, and one of their strengths is that they are basically full strength, buckman has come back from injury and he's added an extra dimension to the backline. I understand the highlanders do need to rest their big names once more before the round robin is up.

they're resting them this week against the Canes, i'll be happy with a bonus point and no injuries