Super 15: Blues - Highlanders @ Eden Park, Auckland (17-06-2011, 08:35 GMT)

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Eden Park, Auckland (17-06-2011, 08:35 GMT)

The last time these two teams met it was in Dunedin this year and the Blues won 10-15 but this Super Rugby match is in Auckland so the Blues have home advantage.

The Blues lost the lead in the New Zealand Super Rugby conference but could take it back if they win and the Crusaders lose this weekend. They can't control the Crusaders fate so they just have to go out and win this match. The Highlanders cannot qualify for the play offs any longer.

On paper the Blues shouldn't struggle too much as on average they score 27 points against the Highlanders who only score 19 points against the Blues on average.

In Auckland they have a better average as they score 34 points on average and the Highlander still score 19 points.

The Blues and the Highlanders have played each other 8 times in Auckland and the Highlanders have won just once and that was almost ten years ago as it was in 2002 when they won 13-20.

Overall the Blues have played the Highlanders 17 times and they have won 12 times and lost five times.

When these teams met the last time around Luke McAlister kicked five penalties and Highlanders back Robbie Robinson scored 10 points through a try, conversion and a penalty.

Like the Higlanders in the Super Rugby play off race Robinson has faded but has been named on the bench for this week's match and Luke McAlister is at 12 for the Blues.

The match itself last time was a tough armwrestle and the Blues ground out a victory based largely on defence. With a place in the play offs the Blues may be tempted to play a less risky or similar game.

In team selections the Blues have named Alby Mathewson on the bench and Rene Ranger is out for the Super Rugby season. Jared Payne is at fullback and Benson Stanley alongside McAlister in the centres.

Jimmy Cowan has earned a recall for the Highlanders and former All Black Tom Donnelly has been given a last chance to impress the All Black selectors.

(Source: superxv.com)

Last five results:
Fri, 29 Apr 2011 Blues v Highlanders 15-10 Dunedin
19 Feb 2010 Blues v Highlanders 19-15 Dunedin
17 Apr 2009 Blues v Highlanders 26-6 Auckland
10 May 2008 Blues v Highlanders 40-15 Dunedin
02 Mar 2007 Blues v Highlanders 28-9 Auckland

Blues overall record against the Highlanders
Played 17 , Wins 12, Losses 5, Draws 0

Match Officials:
Referee: Bryce Lawrence
Assistant referees: Vinny Munro, Nick Briant
Television match official: Glen Jackson

Teams

Blues: 1. Charlie Faumuina , 2. Keven Mealamu (c) , 3. John Afoa , 4. Anthony Boric , 5 Ali Williams , 6 Jerome Kaino , 7 Luke Braid , 8 Peter Saili , 9 Chris Smylie , 10 Stephen Brett , 11 Lachie Munro , 12 Luke McAlister , 13 Benson Stanley , 14 Joe Rokocoko , 15 Jared Payne ,

Replacements 16. Tom McCartney, 17. Tevita Mailau, 18. Chris Lowrey, 19. Sean Polwart, 20. Alby Mathewson, 21. Winston Stanley, 22. Sherwin Stowers

Highlanders: 1. Jamie Mackintosh (C), 2. Jason Rutledge, 3. Chris King, 4. Jarrad Hoeata, 5. Tom Donnelly, 6. Adam Thomson, 7. Alando Soakai, 8. Nasi Manu, 9. Jimmy Cowan, 10. Tony Brown, 11. Siale Piutau, 12. Shaun Treeby , 13. Kendrick Lynn, 14. Matt Saunders, 15. Ben Smith.

Reserves: 16. Mo Schwalger, 17. Bronson Murray, 18. Josh Bekhuis, 19. Nick Croswell, 20. Aaron Smith, 21. Robbie Robinson, 22. Telusa Veainu



<a href="http://winbetting.at/therugbyforum?CTY=1&amp;CID=15908"><img src="http://b1.perfb.com/b1.php?ID=15908&amp;PURL=winbetting.at/therugbyforum" border="0" /></a>

*Vbookie odds supplied by BWIN*

 

[Amobokoboko]

Blues should be able to take this one. What happened with Ranger? Was out last weekend and only saw the highlights of the chiefs game

 

[Cacambo]

Blues should be able to take this one. What happened with Ranger? Was out last weekend and only saw the highlights of the chiefs game

Tore his hamstring about 10-15 minutes into the game receiving a pass.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Aw, hope he will be back soon for the Tri Nations ( if he gets selected)

 

[Darwin]

These are the sort of games I don't like, as I don't know who to support. Obviously I want to support my Highlanders team, but part of me wants the Blues to win as I support all NZ teams, and a Blues win would secure them a home playoff match next weekend (while a loss would see them either knocked out of the playoffs, or have a match in Nelson/South Africa next week).

Rene Ranger is a huge loss for the Blues, as he's been the main strike weapon for the Blues since Toeava has been out injured. Lachie Munro fills in for Ranger, but I feel he is a liability on the wing - he is doesn't have any pace, and is a very weak tackler. He does have some nice skills, but I don't think he is really a Super Rugby player (especially on the wing). Likewise Mathewson (who is dropped to the bench) is also a loss; I understand he is on the bench as he hasn't been able to train all week after a head knock. Chris Smylie gets his first start of the season at halfback; like Mathewson he is a very dangerous runner, but his passing has never been very good, and he hasn't played much at all this season. The Blues do welcome back Peter Saili, who was injured before kick-off last week.

Tom Donnelly has been given one final chance to impress the AB's selectors (though I suspect his chances of making the AB's this year are very slim), with Bekhuis dropped down to the bench. Kade Poki is out injured again, with Matt Saunders starting on the right wing. I feel the Highlanders have missed a chance to give Telusa Veainu another chance at this level on the wing, as there is not much for the Highlanders to play for apart from some pride. Also Veainu would have been up against Lachie Munro -who is hardly the most intimidating opponent - and the Highlanders could have used Veainu's pace to expose the Blues down Munro's wing. Saunders will do a solid job on the wing (as he's had plenty of Super Rugby experience on the wing), but he is far more effective in the midfield. He has the power to cause Munro some troubles, but like Munro he lacks pace; it is probably a battle between to the two slowest wings in Super Rugby!

I'm looking forward to watching Charlie Faumuina again, as he's been huge since coming back from injury. I feel the Blues have a big advantage in the tight-five, and I'd expect they will dominate at scrum time. The loose-forward battle should be interesting, but I feel the Blues have an edge here too. Kaino v Thomson is an important matchup; the play very different styles, but are both very good at what they do. Thomson really needs to show some of his early season form if the Highlanders are going to gain parity in the loose. Luke Braid will want to continue his consistently impressive form that has seen him tipped as an AB's bolter by some people.

The Highlanders may have a slight edge in the halves, though that will depend on how Stephen Brett plays. Shaun Treeby will be doing a lot of running down the 10/12 channel for the Blues, as this has been a weakness for the Blues all year. Rokocoko gets one his last chances to impressive the AB's selectors, and his matchup against Piutau should be interesting, as they are both similar players (high work-rate, powerful, though Rokocoko does have more pace... when he uses it). Ben Smith gets his last chance to show what he's got as well; I'm expecting him to have a huge game, as he did last time the Highlanders played the Blues.

Assuming the Blues play as well as they did last week (which was much better than had for a few weeks) I'd expect them to win relatively comfortably. I'm picking them to take it by 10-15 points.

 

[Larksea]

blues should have an easy win if they can build on last weeks effort, Highlanders forwards just haven't clicked in some time and I dont think that is going to turn around tonight

Picking McAlister to have a big game and make up for making 0 tackles last week, but right now the weather is soding aweful here in Auckland and that should dominate the game more than any player will.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I settled the bets and paid out 6000 to TRF_Getofmeland and 150 to Larksea

 

[Amobokoboko]

Was a good game and happy to see a try for McAlister and Payne

 

[markshaw]

Munro only there to kick goals for us. Its frustrating because good players like Sherwin Stowers and Nafi Tuitavake arent getting game time and Munro sucks. He cant tackle or do anything good on defence.

 

[Darwin]

Munro only there to kick goals for us. Its frustrating because good players like Sherwin Stowers and Nafi Tuitavake arent getting game time and Munro sucks. He cant tackle or do anything good on defence.

I agree with you that Munro should not be there; not only is his defense poor, but he is painfully slow. However he was quite valuable for the Blues in this match, as it wasn't really a day for running rugby, hence he wasn't really tested much on defense. His goal-kicking was very impressive (7/9 in very difficult conditions), and I thought McAlister actually played better this week without the pressure of goal-kicking (which has been poor for him recently). If the weather was good I definitely wouldn't have Munro there, however if it is wet his goal-kicking can be valuable. In understand Rudi Wulf has joined the squad as cover for Rene Ranger; if they can get him up to speed quickly I'd be more than happy to have him starting on the left wing.

On the match itself: A well deserved win for the Blues, I'm sure they will be happy to get back into winning ways before the playoffs next week. It was an ok match despite the conditions, and I think the final score was probably a fair reflection of the game. I can't understand at all why the Blues refused to go for the bonus point when the match was sewn up. It is probably unlikely to affect the final standings, but if the Stormers get two points from their match against the Cheetahs (from a draw, or 4 tries and a losing bonus point) they would go ahead of he Blues on the table.

Charlie Faumuina again impressed for the Blues, both in the set pieces and with the ball in hand. Mealamu looked good with the ball in hand (but had a couple on wonky lineout throws), and I thought both Boric and Williams looked strong. Likewise I was impressed with the Blues loose-trio, Kaino was strong in both attack and defence (and got a couple of charge downs), Luke Braid had a huge work-rate (a possibly AB's bolter?), and Saili looked good with the ball in hand. I think I've basically mentioned that the whole forward pack had good games, which is probably the reason the Blues dominated the game!

Smylie had a pretty good game for someone who hasn't played much rugby this year, though he made a couple of basic errors (and seemed to get away with at least two knock-ons at the base of the ruck that the ref missed..). Brett and McAlister both had solid games; both seem to play better without the pressure of kicking. I thought Rokocoko was the pick of the outside backs from either team. He didn't make any huge breaks, but he was strong with the ball in hand (he even brought out his trademark spin!), and rock solid in defence.

Jason Rutledge had a solid match for the Highlanders, but I thought Mo Schwalger made a huge impact when he came on at hooker with his strong running. The Highlanders locks were ok, but again were probably outshone by their counterparts. Nasi Manu was the pick of the loosies again for me; I've be really impressed with the way he has matured as the season has progressed.

Cowan had a mixed game; he made some good tackles in cover defense, and made some great kicks into space, but his passing was poor at times, he gave away a couple of silly penalties, and lost the plot a couple of times (including kneeing Luke Braid at one stage). The rest of the Highlanders backs were reasonably solid, Siale Piutau probably the most threatening. Matt Saunders had a pretty good game on the wing (apart from the first kick he did), taking his two try scoring opportunities very well. There seemed to be a lot of confusion at the back though when the Blues put up high kicks, with no-one getting close on several occasions. It was probably Ben Smith's quietest game of the year, and it was bit worrying to see some many of the Blues kicks bounce. Finally, I was a bit disappointed with Telusa Veainu's lack of pace when he got the intercept near the end of the match. Veainu is an intercept specialist, but he was caught quite easily by Jarred Payne, though a lot of credit also needs to go to Rokocoko who also chased back and cut off Veainu's ability to head for the corner.