[2017 Super Rugby] Round 2: Chiefs vs. Blues (03/03/2017)

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: FMG Stadium Waikato
Time: 08:35 CAT (SA, GMT+2)​

 

[The Jones Boy]

Very tough game coming up for the Blues away from home against a Chiefs team that looked impressive against the Highlanders in Dunedin last weekend.
Will Kaino return this weekend?
The Blues defence will be sorely tested.
Hopefully the young forward pack can muster a powerful performance against the quality the Chiefs have.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

tbh the Chiefs weren't that impressive last week, and I actually think that the Blues look the better of the two teams. Either way it'll be a great game and no doubt close. I'm backing the Blues to take it out.

 

[The Jones Boy]

Really?
I watched both games and I thought the Rebels were pretty woeful on defence, whereas the Highlanders were more a mixture of unlucky (two intercept passes that led to tries) and sometimes took the wrong option and that was the game. The Highlanders looked a much tougher proposition than the Rebels.

Secondly, Waikato have a bad habit of rolling Auckland. They just seem to want it more like an angry younger brother. Ranfurly Shield Games being a particular favourite of theirs to undermine the bigger brother. It's a pain in the backside losing to uppity sides from south of the Bombays but there you are...

 

[SomeOke]

Got to agree with Caitlyn, obviously the Rebels are much much easier opposition than the Highlanders but all the Chiefs really showed me is that they can defend, two of the tries were intercepts after all.

Anyway the Chiefs have an amazing squad and it was only the first game but if anything I would say the Chiefs should be more nervous about the encounter.

Interested to see how both backline's will mount up. Collins didn't look particularly good for the Blues, I can't help but think moving Nanai to FB and adding in Moala in at either 13 or 14 will make them even more dangerous.
I've only seen him play that once but didn't think Jonny Faauli looked great either, not much shown on attack and quite a few tackles missed (which is a pity since I took a punt and added him to my Fantasy team ).

Keen for the game, I love a NZ derby.

 

[The Jones Boy]

The Blues have been nowhere in the last 6 seasons. It's been tumbleweeds and empty cabinets.
IN contrast the Chiefs have won the Super rugby twice in the last 6 years and enjoyed top 5 status pretty much the whole time.
Now here we are again and the Chiefs have home advantage.
I'm not seeing any favourite stakes or good omens for the Blues young squad.

 

[SomeOke]

Chiefs are definitely favourites, I'm just saying they have reason to be nervous.
Past performances have no bearing on the current year anyway.

 

[The Jones Boy]

The Chiefs have a strong and settled squad.
The Blues still have a big pile of unknown quality/potential.
I would love it if the Blues could really genuinely turn a corner and come up trumps before Sonny Bill comes back. (But thats a big 'if' when you look at the historical situation) We have Ranger, Moala and Kaino to return for this match. Thats a big step up.
I wonder what Tana has planned?

 

[WaterboySA]

Sounds as if the Chiefs are smashing the Blues? What happened with the red card?

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Pretty bad high tackle from Luatua on a player without the ball.

 

[galumay]

Chiefs will be happy with the win, they played well in patches I thought, but the red card did take the game away from the Bloos. Discipline was a bit of an issue in the second half, which given the advantage of numbers on the field will be a bit of a worry.

I thought the Blues lifted well in the last quarter of the game, as the commentators mentioned the bench of AB's really helped the Blues lift the tempo.

 

[The Jones Boy]

I told ta we'd get smashed, same old Blues...

WTF was Luatua thinking?
We were always going to struggle against a quality settled team like the Chiefs but basic discipline must be apparent or we will disintegrate again against the better sides.
Round two and we are already into damage limitation mode.

Tana has his work cut out...

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Blues were only 15-6 or 15-9 down at the time of the red card and put on a bucketload of points at the end when a man down. Going on the week one performance of Highlanders and Crusaders I think Blues can compete for third in the conference.

 

[The Jones Boy]

Once again all we are left with is hope...
What was Luatua thinking??
He might cop a ban for that.

 

[nzlizard]

He got 4 weeks I read.

 

[galumay]

Wow, 4 weeks for that is tough. Hope they are consistent if that is the standard.

 

[Larksea]

4 weeks seems excessive, one field red is a big punishment in itself. Then give him a week off to think about it, 4 weeks seems silly for something that was picked up in game and dealt with accordingly.

Chiefs ticking along ok, penalty count is an issue. The big problem is they are giving away a number of simply pointless penalties. Silly ones they wouldn't even really benefit from if the ref missed them.

For a while the chiefs attack looked very hard to resist, Cruden was attacking well after he didn't fire much week 1, TKB is playing very well so far. ALB has been a bit quiet I wonder if he would be better at 12, the new guy at 12 is doing ok at times but struggling a bit with his distribution and doesn't look the playmaker ALB or Ngatai are. Lowe and McKenzie both looking hot on attack as well.

The game up front was absolutely brutal. The physicality in the contact between the forward packs was more like a high level test match. Some huge pressure in the scrums as well. This was not your average contest between packs in super rugby, it was ferocious.

Laulala is looking good but to me Hames is looking very hungry, he looks like he has lifted his game again this year, maybe his taste of test rugby has got him hungry for more. I also think the chiefs bench props (Moli & Fisiihoi) are doing a brilliant job. And the other squad prop Sosefo Kautai really impressed me at the 10's. makes me wonder who is coaching these guys, coaching and selection of the props looks spot on.

Add to that the pressure they put on the blues at lineout time as well. I still think Dom Bird should be an AB he fronts week in week out and overall for the chiefs there's nothing between him and Retalick. Birds become a blueprint of what the ideal lock should be, and man hes big see after the game he and Tuipulotu were chatting and Bird made him look small...

Lachlan Boshier has been a massive find, he was good last year, I was surprised when Karpik started ahead of him last week and toiled hard but I think its pretty clear now Boshier is probably the better of the two. Looked very comfortable at this level every chance he has had. Another thing I like about the chiefs loosies is that Messam and Seu seem to work well together when they are both on the field. Both have had a great start to the season.

Other than the penalty count the only downside for the chiefs was the drop in intensity towards the end. Maybe they did take their foot off the pedal a bit. They havn't fully clicked yet, I think its a good sign they are winning without really playing their best so far which is a good sign.

Still some positive signs for the blues. Pulu looks in amazing form. They will win games this year and when they get close to full strength and SBW is back they will start winning NZ derby games as well.

 

[The Jones Boy]

On field red card, and 4 weeks... I don't mind that, better to send a harsh message that makes all the players think about their conduct.
The bloke didn't have the ball and Luatua knew it, he acted in a premeditated way like a loony.
I really like him as a player but that utter garbage has no place on the field and he has hurt his team and his AB chances in a Lions year.
What a numpty.
See you in a month Looney-Tuna, if you can get in the team by then. He might be back in time to join SBW.
Hopefully we can win a couple of the 4 games while he is out and keep ourselves mid-table.