Chiefs vs. Rebs

[Larksea]

Chiefs side named. I'm not sure I'm a fan of all the changes that have been made I think the team first and formost needs to find consistancy before you start to rotate players. But it also means we ge to have a look at Moa who can be a match winner when things go his way.

Also good to see the return of Hika Elliot & Taumalolo to the 22. Taumalolo didn't have a good season for the chiefs last year and has a lot of ground to make up, really needs to prove himself all over again IMO.

15 Mils Muliaina (capt), 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Dwayne Sweeney, 12 Tana Umaga, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard; 8 Liam Messam, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Scott Waldrom, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Nathan White, 2 Aled de Malmanche, 1 Ben May. Reserves: 16 Sona Taumalolo, 17 Hila Elliot, 18 Romana Graham, 19 Steven Setephano, 20 Taniela Moa, 21 Mike Delany, 22 Tim Nanai-Williams.

First home game of the year, though last years home record was shocking injury had a lot to do with that. Season starts this weekend for the chiefs.

 

[Shaggy]

Will be interesting to see both Umaga and Mortlock playing against each other again

 

[northharbour]

Why has Nanai-Williams been left out of the starting team again??? He was the Chiefs best player vs the Brumbies and did well against the Highlanders when he came on...

Other than that, good to see Hika and Sona back. Wont loose much (if any) when they come on.

 

[Darwin]

In contrast, the Rebels have named an unchanged starting lineup( http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/rebels-bank-on-betham-to-put-bite-into-back-line-20110302-1betm.html ):
Mark Gerrard, Lachlan Mitchell, Stirling Mortlock (capt), Julian Huxley, Cooper Vuna, Danny Cipriani, Nick Phipps, Gareth Delve, Michael Lipman, Jarrod Saffy, Kevin O'Neill, Adam Byrnes, Greg Somerville, Ged Robinson, Nic Henderson. Res: Heath Tessman, Laurie Weeks, Alister Campbell, Tom Chamberlain, Richard Kingi, Afusipa Taumoepeau, Peter Betham.

Despite losing their first two games, I think the Chiefs will probably still be favourites for this game. As others have already mentioned, it is great to see Hika Elliot back from injury on the bench - I imagine he will get his first start of the season next week. Toby Smith is a loss though, as he was very impressive against the Highlanders until he got injured. Personally I prefer the Kerr-Barlow/Delany combination in the halves, but Leonard and Donald get their chance again this week. Disappointed not to see Willison in the midfield, as he has a big future, and likewise I would have found room for Nanai-Williams...

I haven't seen the Rebels play yet, so will watch this game with interest. Overall I think the Chiefs will be too good at home, winning by 10-15 points.

 

[Larksea]

williams did make a bit of a blunder on defence when the highlanders scored the try near the end to pull out a lead. not a good look as people seem to think he has a real weakness on defence.

I hope Craig Clark is good & Fit the forwards really need him, toby smith is a loss and I hope he's not out long. Would have been good to see him against Sommerville.

What I really want to see from the chiefs is some structure in the backline and I think Donald & Tana can bring that, I want to see Messam running down that right flank he loves to prowl down because I think if he and Masanga can find their groove down that channel they can create a lot of trys only saw it a couple of times last week and it resulted in 1 try Masanga is looking in good nick and when he's on fire all the chiefs need to do is git him with a bit of space or 1 on 1 out on the edge and things happen. Really rely on mils & Sivivatu to run the show in broken play and kick return.

Little worried about nathan white, he did have a very good NPC and the scrum looks good but when the game really speeds up like last week he kinda just becomes a passenger between scrums and lineouts

 

[nickdnz]

I think Tim Nanai-Williams is a great new talent, and could become a brillaint All Black, but his position is not in the 14 jersey. He's probably quick enough, but Lelia Masaga has been one of the best 14's in New Zealand for the last 3 or so seasons, and he's more effective there than Williams. I'd be more than happy to swap the ageing and in my opinion over-rated Muliaina for a couple of game to give Nanai-Williams time at fullback ,especially in games against teams like the Rebels.

 

[Sam Owen]

I'd be more than happy to swap the ageing and in my opinion over-rated Muliaina for a couple of game to give Nanai-Williams time at fullback ,especially in games against teams like the Rebels.

I agree that Mills is over-rated, we all know hes a safe good player but thats about it. The last few weeks though he hasnt stood out (except for the 2 blunders he did against the Brumbies) in a positive way for his side.

McCabe from the Brumbies, Gerrard from the Rebels and CJ from the 'Canes have all showin strong, positive stand out performances for their sides. Like I said before there is no clear frontrunner when it comes to the best fullback in the world and Mills definately aint playing like it at the moment.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Good to see Masaga in the starting line up.

 

[Darwin]

I agree that Mills is over-rated, we all know hes a safe good player but thats about it. The last few weeks though he hasnt stood out (except for the 2 blunders he did against the Brumbies) in a positive way for his side.

McCabe from the Brumbies, Gerrard from the Rebels and CJ from the 'Canes have all showin strong, positive stand out performances for their sides. Like I said before there is no clear frontrunner when it comes to the best fullback in the world and Mills definately aint playing like it at the moment.

In a way I agree that Mils is over-rated - many people consider him to be the best fullback in the world, when in reality he is probably only the 2nd best!

I do agree that Mils has been quiet in the first couple of Chiefs games, however he did look threatening at times against the Highlanders. I would certainly consider starting Nanai-Williams at fullback, however in that case I would have Mils at centre, as he is the key player in the Chiefs backline.

It it amazing how many fullbacks have had standout performances in the first few rounds - in addition to the three you already named, the likes Toeava, Dagg, and Ben Smith have all been standouts for their respective teams!

 

[Dizzy]

ah the King returns. I think he's rotating the players wrong though and the only way to have a decent shot at winning this competition is of course consistency. You can't change your first five and second five week in week out that's how momentum is lost. Especially with first five being a very important position. But I think he's just getting a feel from his players during the early weeks of the competition and then further in a starting team will be cemented in.

Tana's selection is interesting, I'm probably the most biased fan when it comes to Tana Umaga but even I can say that his game against the Brumbies wasn't what is expected from your second five. Don't get me wrong, On paper Tana had a great game, he made some great tackles, remained physical and was always on his feet going for the ball after he made his tackles. But he was always lurking around the sides of the rucks and I sorta felt that Tana was standing in positions he knew he wouldn't get the ball just so he could catch his breath,... alot.

As one of his biggest fans it's hard for me to say that. But in saying that, i can honestly say Sweeney and Willison haven't provided anything spectacular to deserve selection either. And it sucks for Sweeney because if you look at him hes a big bloke and if he used his size he could power through defences like Fruean and Nonu... But oh well we shall see.

 

[Dexternz]

Foster has been in charge for 8 years now..... And nothing. Truly an awful coach

 

[Muzzy]

oh sweet christ Masaga you're a ****** genius :jackoff:

 

[Teh Mite]

Umaga's still got some gas n'all.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Was a decent game. Great tries by Siva, Masaga (that 90 m run, brilliant) and Sona ( welcome back)
Great explosive footwork by Nanai-Williams. ( He should start next week with Mils on the bench as the last 3 weeks he didn't show that much)

 

[Amobokoboko]

It was nice to hear the reporter say to Messam that the young lad ( our koro) in the 12 jersey played really well.

 

[candybum]

Dang that De Malmanche is strong!

 

[Dizzy]

Umaga had a good game. Overall the Chiefs deserved the win but the ref contributed to much of it, I felt the Rebels were ripped off by a lot of calls.
But this post is about Umaga.

He proved he is still a great tackler, still has the uncanny ability to quickly get back to his feet and contest for the ball even at his age and he does better than most, there was a small glimpse there also of his dangerous ability with ball in hand.

After Masaga's try I felt Umaga's confidence boosted and when he slipped through three tackles then looked to give the offload I saw a hint of the old All Black in him.

Although I won't just banter on about his positives because he's the man in my eyes. I still feel he is hanging around rucks too much, which is expected since he's the oldest man out there, but just because of who he is I feel he is being excused. If Nonu, SBW or any other 12 did this they'd be dropped to the reserves bench.

Overall, he's still the man and I hope he improves to become one of the most dangerous players in the tournament.

 

[Sam Owen]

Umaga had a good game. Overall the Chiefs deserved the win but the ref contributed to much of it, I felt the Rebels were ripped off by a lot of calls.
But this post is about Umaga.

He proved he is still a great tackler, still has the uncanny ability to quickly get back to his feet and contest for the ball even at his age and he does better than most, there was a small glimpse there also of his dangerous ability with ball in hand.

Absolutely.

 

[nickdnz]

Umaga was very good, and not even by a "has-been" standard. He showed he's still got quite a bit to offer. No doubt he'll be feelling sore this morning. I was right that Masaga should start, he's just a freak (although did anyone else think his last try was a little too close to a double movement, considering I've seen planty of tries denied for using the arms even with momentum). Donald and Leonard I thought were both pretty average. Some of their kicking were really poor, and they were the only two who really made errors.

Tim Nanai-Williams should start ahead of Mils. He's just got too much talent to ignore this kid, and he's shown how much more he offers from playing fukllback than on the wing. After 2011, he'd be in my All Black team without a doubt.

Aled de Malmanche I thought had a good game. The lineout went fairly well, which is his biggest vice, and his all around game is one of the best of any hooker.

Sivivatu showed touches of class, and he looked like he is in better shape now, than a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure he's cemented his place in the All Blacks yet though. He scored a nice try, and was consistant, but he didn't seem to create much, and I hate it how he always jogs up to the line before putting on the pace.

 

[Amobokoboko]

On Sivivatu: he scored two tries in three games where Masaga scored three tries in three games. That's not a bad average.
If they keep this up and the team works on their defense the chiefs could have a good season.