[2016 Super Rugby] Chiefs vs. Blues (Round 7) 08/04/2016

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: FMG Stadium Waikato
Time: 09:35 CAT (SA, GMT+2)​

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Both teams have been named:

CHIEFS: Damian McKenzie, Shaun Stevenson, Anton Lienert-Brown, Charlie Ngatai, James Lowe, Aaron Cruden (co-c), Brad Weber, Michael Leitch, Sam Cane (co-c), Maama Vaipulu, Brodie Retallick, Dominic Bird, Atu Moli, Hika Elliot, Mitchell Graham. Reserves: Rhys Marshall, Siate Tokolahi, Siegfried Fisi'ihoi, Taleni Seu, Sam Henwood, Tawera Kerr Barlow, Seta Tamanivalu, Sam McNicol.

BLUES: Lolagi Visinia, Rieko Ioane, Rene Ranger, Piers Francis, Tevita Li, Ihaia West, Bryn Hall, Steven Luatua, Blake Gibson, Joe Edwards, Josh Bekhuis, Hoani Matenga, Charlie Faumuina. James Parsons (c), Sam Prattley. Reserves: Quentin MacDonald, Namatahi Waa, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Akira Ioane, Kara Pryor; Billy Guyton, Matt McGahan, George Moala.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Chiefs by at least 15 points, if not more. Good to se Retallick back from injury.

 

[Larksea]

first look at the bird + retalick combo. bird will probably be very underdone. At the force game a couple weeks ago he didn't look like he had been keeping up with his conditioning.

 

[nzlizard]

first look at the bird + retalick combo. bird will probably be very underdone. At the force game a couple weeks ago he didn't look like he had been keeping up with his conditioning.

Yeah type of injury he had makes it hard to keep the fitness up, expecting maybe 50-60 minutes from him though.

We got out tickets so quite looking forward to this one.

 

[0tago]

Bad news for Moala, Piers Francis didn't miss a tackle and that was actually what the Blues have needed, granted the Jags were a little impotent with 10 of their usuals back home. Still a good effort on debut. It's pretty cemented now that Crotty, Ngatai and Fekitoa are the 3 AB centres barring injury. George did look a lot better defensively when he came on last week though, and he's a good option off the bench for that MF penetration.

Hope the Blues can cause an upset here for our sake, Chiefs with all their home games coming up could run away with it, like the Canes did last season.

 

[nzlizard]

Hope the Blues can cause an upset here for our sake, Chiefs with all their home games coming up could run away with it, like the Canes did last season.

Yeah 4 wins away from home is huge, and in all honesty we were almost robbed against the Lions, should have been 6 from 6.

Still got the Highlanders and Sharks at home so they will be hard games.

 

[0tago]

Yeah 4 wins away from home is huge, and in all honesty we were almost robbed against the Lions, should have been 6 from 6.

Still got the Highlanders and Sharks at home so they will be hard games.

You were robbed against the Lions, that reffing performance was poor. Leitch coming back has made a big big difference though, I actually think you've played better without Rettalick to. Sometimes subconsciously the All Blacks don't put the pedal down to save themselves for test season. The Saders last season definitely suffered from that, although that was more deliberate than subconsciously.

 

[smartcooky]

Another cracking game tonight in front of the biggest "non play-off" crowd at Waikato Stadium for many years; 21,000

Chiefs bonus point win, 29-23

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Another cracking game tonight in front of the biggest "non play-off" crowd at Waikato Stadium for many years; 21,000

Chiefs bonus point win, 29-23

Never expected to see a game with two bonus points in it this season!

Scrappy game, Chiefs lucky to come away with the win.

The Chiefs have now scored four or more tries in all seven games this year. They would be sitting on 31 points under the old system.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Pleasantly surprised to be honest. I expected a pretty one sided game and it ended up being a tad unfair for the blues.

 

[0tago]

Argh, really disappointed the Chiefs got a bonus point here, when I saw the scoreline I was pleasantly surprised as well, but then I saw the try count and couldn't believe it, 5 tries to 2. I haven't seen the game yet but will watch it later, from what I hear McKenzie had an up and down game and missed most of his kicks which kept the Blues in it.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

So Chiefs still score 5 tries to the Blues 2. Looks like they're in need of their bye next week to freshen up.

 

[nzlizard]

Ref was pretty **** as well to be honest.

Blues pushing the offside all night, particularly in the centres and ref never looked, and infringing at the breakdown.

Penalty count was 9-1 against the Chiefs in the first half which was ridiculous given what the Blues were doing.

The whole team did look flat last night and the backs were nowhere near the standard they were against the Brumbies the week before. Forwards looked tired as didn't have the spark that they did last week.

Blues did look dangerous out wide, esp Tevita Li, but the biggest thing was they just didn't know what to do when they got through the Chiefs defensive line, poor option taking.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Argh, really disappointed the Chiefs got a bonus point here, when I saw the scoreline I was pleasantly surprised as well, but then I saw the try count and couldn't believe it, 5 tries to 2. I haven't seen the game yet but will watch it later, from what I hear McKenzie had an up and down game and missed most of his kicks which kept the Blues in it.

I think McKenzie did have a mixed game, but actually all four of the kicks he kissed were from quite far out. Of the two he got, one was up close and the other was also far out, so it's not like he was horrible or anything.

 

[0tago]

More drunk TMOing, absolutely pathetic. This year has being an absolute disaster, can someone tell me what hell is going on?

 

[nzlizard]

At the game you could not see that on either of the big screens when they replayed it, and we got 5-6 looks across the angles.

We all thought it was out, until the replays and then we were like try time.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

More drunk TMOing, absolutely pathetic. This year has being an absolute disaster, can someone tell me what hell is going on?

I watched all the replays and didn't see that. I bet the person who took that photo spent a long time trying to get that frame.

 

[smartcooky]

Ref was pretty **** as well to be honest..

I disagree completely with that staement

Jamie Nutbrown was bloody excellent in this game, and importantly he had ZERO impact on the result or any of the tries. Being an ex-player at the top level, he has a real empathy with how the game is played and what the players are trying to do. JN's calls were clear and concise, and he was spot on with his management of potential infringements with pre-emptive calls.

I watched the whole game live, and didn't pick up a single error. Yes, there were a couple of things I did not agree with, for example the ruck PK against the Chiefs after Shaun Stevenson's right hand sideline break and kick ahead, but that is down to subjective judgement, so its not a mistake as such. There was also some really good split-second judgement on his part. Late in the game, when TKB came through the ruck and pressured Bryn Hall into a mistake, I (and a lot of other referees I assure you) would have PKed him for offside, but when I saw the replay, I realised that TKB did come though from behind his team hindmost foot at the ruck, and therefore he was entitled to do what he did. That was a great call IMO.

More drunk TMOing, absolutely pathetic. This year has being an absolute disaster, can someone tell me what hell is going on?

I think the TMO got the call spot on, based on what he had to look at, which was no frame that showed Brad Weber's foot touching the line before he let go of the ball. Much has been made of a frame that came out afterwards, but even that is not conclusive

I see nothing here that convinces me 100% that Brad Weber was out before he let go of the ball. In the one frame that looks like he might have a toe on the line, you cannot see the line or the toe because of the AR's foot, and by the time the AR's foot is out of the way, Brad Weber's foot is off the ground.


This is Shane McDermott, the same TMO who made the controversial "no knock on " ruling with Ardie Savia a few weeks ago. I agreed with that call, and I agree with this one too. The TMO must make his decision on what he SEES happen, not on what he thinks MIGHT have happened.

 

[0tago]

I watched all the replays and didn't see that. I bet the person who took that photo spent a long time trying to get that frame.

So you're telling me a bloke at home with his TV and phone can get a better frame than the professional TMO which has literally 10 TV's and top technology at his disposal?