Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Darwin" data-source="post: 384985" data-attributes="member: 24910">Close game, but I feel the Blues deserved the win.&nbsp; The Chiefs looked the better team for the first 30-odd minutes, particularly in the forwards.&nbsp; However the Blues seemed to get better as the game went on, and were the dominant team in the second half.&nbsp; Because of the poor conditions neither of the backlines had much chance to run with the ball.&nbsp; As much as I rate Mathewson, I thought his lack of a quality kicking game was exposed today, with a number of his kicks either going out on the full, or just not going far enough.&nbsp; In contrast Leonard put the Blues under quite a lot of pressure with his accurate kicks (though a felt he kicked just a bit too much).&nbsp; Hard to pick many standouts in the backs for either team, but I thought Sivivatu and Toeava where probably the two most dangerous backs on show.Mealamu was again a standout for the Blues - his &quot;follow me&quot; style of captaincy is really beneficial in these sort of games.&nbsp; Kaino had a very quite first half, but burst to life in the second making a number of telling runs and tackles.&nbsp; Isaac Ross again showed some beautiful ball skills for the Chiefs, and even hit a ruck during the game - this actually forced a turnover, as the Blues weren&#039;t expecting him to be anywhere near a ruck.... Messem and Scott Waldrom both had strong games in the loose, while Toby Smith made a huge impact when he came on the field - before he came the the Chiefs scrum was getting destroyed, but after he came on the Chiefs had the dominant scrum.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Darwin, post: 384985, member: 24910"] Close game, but I feel the Blues deserved the win. The Chiefs looked the better team for the first 30-odd minutes, particularly in the forwards. However the Blues seemed to get better as the game went on, and were the dominant team in the second half. Because of the poor conditions neither of the backlines had much chance to run with the ball. As much as I rate Mathewson, I thought his lack of a quality kicking game was exposed today, with a number of his kicks either going out on the full, or just not going far enough. In contrast Leonard put the Blues under quite a lot of pressure with his accurate kicks (though a felt he kicked just a bit too much). Hard to pick many standouts in the backs for either team, but I thought Sivivatu and Toeava where probably the two most dangerous backs on show. Mealamu was again a standout for the Blues - his "follow me" style of captaincy is really beneficial in these sort of games. Kaino had a very quite first half, but burst to life in the second making a number of telling runs and tackles. Isaac Ross again showed some beautiful ball skills for the Chiefs, and even hit a ruck during the game - this actually forced a turnover, as the Blues weren't expecting him to be anywhere near a ruck.... Messem and Scott Waldrom both had strong games in the loose, while Toby Smith made a huge impact when he came on the field - before he came the the Chiefs scrum was getting destroyed, but after he came on the Chiefs had the dominant scrum. [/QUOTE]

Verification