[2017 Super Rugby] Round 1: Rebels vs. Blues (23/02/2017)

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: AAMI Park
Time: 10:45 (CAT, GMT+2)​

Teams

Rebels: 15 Jack Debreczeni, 14 Jack Maddocks, 13 Mitch Inman, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Tom English, 10 Jackson Garden-Bachop, 9 Nic Stirzaker (captain), 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Colby Fainga'a, 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Lopeti Timani, 4 Steve Cummins, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Pat Leafa, 1 Cruze Ah-Nau

Substitutes: 16 Jordan Uelese, 17 Tom Moloney, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Culum Retallick, 20 Jake Schatz, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Sione Tuipulotu, 23 Jonah Placid

Blues: 15 Michael Collins, 14 Matt Duffie, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Melani Nanai, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Augustine Pulu, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Blake Gibson, 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 4 Jimmy Tupou (captain), 3 Sione Mafileo, 2 Matt Moulds, 1 Pauliasi Manu

Substitutes: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Sam Prattley, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 Murphy Taramai, 21 Sam Nock, 22 George Moala, 23 Rene Ranger

 

[The Jones Boy]

This is a must away win for the Blues against a handy Rebels team.
If the Blues pull this off then their season is off to a kickstart and they can gain confidence for the games against the other Kiwi franchises.
Hopefully the All Blacks coming i will give them an edge in the contact.
Particularly Kaino and Sonny Bill.

 

[SomeOke]

Blues Team:
Blues : 1) Pauliasi Manu, 2) Matt Moulds, 3) Sione Mafileo, 4) Jimmy Tupou, 5) Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 6) Steven Luatua, 7) Blake Gibson, 8) Murphy Taramai, Akira Ioane; 9) Augustine Pulu, 10) Ihaia West, 11) Melani Nanai, 12) Piers Francis, 13) Rieko Ioane, 14) Matt Duffie, 15) Michael Collins

Reserves: Hame Faiva, Alex Hodgman, Charlie Faumuina/Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Scott Scrafton, Taramai/Kara Pryor, Sam Nock, George Moala, Rene Ranger.

Doesn't feel like there strongest team to me, feels like you could easily fit Moala and Ranger in that side at the expense of Duffie and Collins but there is obviously some tactical reason I'm not seeing.

 

[ReddFelon]

Interesting choice for the debut, I'd have assumed Sonny Bill would've been a starter, possible he's still rehabing the injury from the Olympic Sevens either that or Umaga just isn't keen on using him immediately.

 

[SomeOke]

Interesting choice for the debut, I'd have assumed Sonny Bill would've been a starter, possible he's still rehabing the injury from the Olympic Sevens either that or Umaga just isn't keen on using him immediately.

SBW's out for a month or so - http://www.rugby.com.au/en/news/2017/01/26/02/03/sonny-bill-eyes-april-debut-for-blues

 

[ReddFelon]

SBW's out for a month or so - http://www.rugby.com.au/en/news/2017/01/26/02/03/sonny-bill-eyes-april-debut-for-blues

Ah cool, still recovering from the Sevens, shame.

 

[Jaguares]

Melbourne Rebels team to play Blues:

Cruze Ah-Nau, Pat Leafa, Laurie Weeks, Steve Cummins, Lopeti Timani, Jordy Reid, Colby Fainga'a, Amanaki Mafi, Nic Stirzaker, Jackson Garden-Bachop, Tom English, Reece Hodge, Mitch Inman, Jack Maddocks, Jack Debreczeni.

Reserves:

Jordan Uelese, Tom Moloney, Tyrel Lomax, Culum Retallick, Jake Schatz, Ben Meehan, Sione Tuipulotu, Jonah Placid.

 

[auzziedave]

How on earth Michael Collins is a starting fullback in Super Rugby is beyond me. I would have played Duffie at 10 and bough Moala into the starting side then bring Trainor or Perofeta onto the bench. Another stange move from Tana, exactly like last year...

 

[The Jones Boy]

SBW's out for a month or so - http://www.rugby.com.au/en/news/2017/01/26/02/03/sonny-bill-eyes-april-debut-for-blues

Bugger.

 

[Larksea]

here I have been talking up the blues and their first side looks like a B team.
Seems they have some injury issues

 

[The Jones Boy]

Where is my beloved Kaino?

 

[Larksea]

Kaino is taking a bit of time to come back due to the death of Lauaki

Moala and Ranger are benched as they are managed on injury comebacks.

My understanding is that James parsons has been dealing with concussion issues which have delayed his return but he is symptom free now at least.

Tuipulotu's return has been delayed because of the false doping test cloud he was under.

Jimmy Tupou will captian the blues in his debut game. Very good player and only like 24 years old. Blues ned their new locks to play well thats for sure.

 

[The Jones Boy]

All that talent and experience is out of the team, it's going to be a mountain to climb for the young ones.
The Rebels will definitely see this as a chance to catch the Blues underdone.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Super rgby time!!!!

- - - Updated - - -

Lovely try.

Ioane will want to forget that quickly though.

 

[martinspoonboy1]

The defending in this match is hilarious!

 

[galumay]

Tough night out for the Rebels, Bloos looked a bit light on with so many of their big names missing prior to kickoff but once they got a roll on they looked pretty slick. Those Ioane boys are going to cause plenty of problems this year!

Penalty count was very high for the Bloos which could be an issue in a tighter game.

A hard road ahead for the Rebels from here.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Gutted as I was thinking the Rebels could really step up and challenge for the Oz conference if they could get their terrible defensive frailties sorted out. I was holding out for them, the Cheetahs and Jaguares to freshen up the playoff chase compared to last year. Early days though.

 

[Car]

Gutted here, too. I thought the half-time deficit was unnecessary and wasn't happy about that, but that second half just felt awful. With the opponents we're playing next, the season might be over before it really started. Still, early days indeed.

 

[Jaguares]

The Kiwis are going to smash everybody this year!

Waratahs, Jaguares and Lions are the only real contenders. Probably Reds and another SA team (I'm not sure which)

 

[Larksea]

solid game, got a bit messy in the end. Rebs looked like they had the momentum for a lot of the 1st half but the blues seemed to wrestle it away from them by holding possession and it eventually broke the rebs down.

Pulu and West were very good, obviously the talking point is RIoane - was a very smart display from him and it wasn't all about his size and speed. He showed genuinely fine vision for the game and distributed well. he created as much as he finished. Made some big tackles, kept busy and never looked tired. This was a statement game for him. I had the feeling with many of blues stars out this game someone had to stand up and he very much did that.

Blues still have stuff to work on as will most/all teams after round 1 but there were some very positive signs. Impressive start.