Super Rugby: Blues vs. Bulls in Auckland (10/03/2013)

[austingtir]

Man they need to offer ranger whatever to stick around... ranger and savea in the same team would be devastating.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Waking up at 5 am was worth it!!!

Flukeartist eating some humble pie: PRICELESS!!!

 

[Darwin]

Looks like it is game over. Well deserved win for the Bulls, though the Blues came back well in the 2nd half.

 

[austingtir]

Bulls deserved this win though was a great first half and did enough in the second to just hold them.

Spies is looking to actually give Read a run for best 8 getting around this year aswell he had a really good game.

 

[Sam Owen]

Good win from the Bulls theyre still such a quality side. Fantastic stuff from them.

As heiny pointed out they used their maul more than most and it served them well 90% of the time.

 

[tenpm]

Argh. This has been a frustrating week... 0/3 for inter-conference games to NZ teams. A pattern I noticed was that Chiefs/Highlanders/Blues (and Crusaders) would score a try to get back into the game... Only to let the opposition in a couple minutes later and find themselves chasing the game again.

I think team selection was one of the problems for this game - this was the kind of a game where experience would really have been useful, and not having them on field nor on the bench was a bad decision IMO.

 

[Gena_ZA]

Brilliant performance from the Bulls, against what most thought, goodie

 

[Amobokoboko]

Pity the Blues lost today. Black weekend for NZ teams playing SA teams

 

[admartian]

**** Kirwan and his stupid effing rotation policy a week before a bye week. Jesus H christ completely unnecessary. It's not like they were about to play the Lions or Rebels. Effing hell. They lost all momentum from replacing 6+ players.

Rookie move numbnut John.

Bulls played well. But Blues were out of sorts. THey looked like a team that hadn't been playing with each other - too many dum**** mistakes by running into the sidelines and mroe dumb knock ons... Oh I wonder why??? Dick.

 

[cyclone101]

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by the bulls game, they played a great running game and it showed. I would like to see more of the same this season from them. But boy, Ranger is some centre!! As quick as a winger and as strong as a flanker, what player! I thought that making seven changes in the bulls was questionable, but it worked better than I would have thought. The blues looked a bit un-cohesive and why take off your fly-half when he had such a brilliant game and swap him for a rookie under immense pressure? weird.

Lovely game to watch though.

 

[aucklandblues]

Where to start? Juat like everyone else, i don't understand why JK made that much changes to a team building in confidence and building momentum. It was obvious in the first half that the team just wasn't clicking. And Waisake Naholo was a big mistake he reminds me of David Raikuna, he's terrible under high ball. George Moala or even Albert Nikoro would of done better in his place Also Liaki Moli needs to be given the boot I've seen enough of him last year to know that he is ill disciplined and error prone plus he lacks the height of a lock at this level standing at 1.94m. The Bulls played very well and deserved the win their game plan was so predictable (e.g. mauls, forwards punching up the line and high kicks to put back 3 under pressure) and their execution was spot on.

Pleased to see Naholo get a shot - think if he ca gain any kind of consistency then he could become a lethal winger. I think he actually has more promise than Halai and Moala (who I tend to think is actually a little slow for winger and a better centre, though naturally Darwin will disagree).

Kerr for Noakes is not a big deal. I think Kerr actually has a lot more potential.

You were obviously dead wrong Naholo had a shocker of a game. Poor under high ball and poor missed tackle which lead to a Bulls try. Naholo won't be getting a starting spot back for a while with that performance.

 

[Darwin]

You were obviously dead wrong Naholo had a shocker of a game. Poor under high ball and poor missed tackle which lead to a Bulls try. Naholo won't be getting a starting spot back for a while with that performance.

I wouldn't say he was wrong at all in his assessment of Naholo. I tend to agree with him actually - if he can gain some consistency he could be a lethal winger at Super Rugby level. When Naholo is hot he is almost unstoppable. The problem is when he isn't hot he can be pretty dire (like in this match). I don't expect to see him back in a Blues jersey for some time after this performance, but I do think he has the potential to be a quality wing at this level...

 

[aucklandblues]

I wouldn't say he was wrong at all in his assessment of Naholo. I tend to agree with him actually - if he can gain some consistency he could be a lethal winger at Super Rugby level. When Naholo is hot he is almost unstoppable. The problem is when he isn't hot he can be pretty dire (like in this match). I don't expect to see him back in a Blues jersey for some time after this performance, but I do think he has the potential to be a quality wing at this level...

I disagree. I almost expected him to make the amount of errors he made. I say Moala has more potential he has improved since last year and can only get better (he was also in the top 10 for metres gained in Super Rugby at the end of the round last week with 182m in 2 games). I didn't really rate Naholo at Itm Cup level and i would've preferred Sherwin Stowers over him in the Blues squad. But thats just my opinion.

 

[nickdnz]

You were obviously dead wrong Naholo had a shocker of a game. Poor under high ball and poor missed tackle which lead to a Bulls try. Naholo won't be getting a starting spot back for a while with that performance.

I disagree. I almost expected him to make the amount of errors he made. I say Moala has more potential he has improved since last year and can only get better (he was also in the top 10 for metres gained in Super Rugby at the end of the round last week with 182m in 2 games). I didn't really rate Naholo at Itm Cup level and i would've preferred Sherwin Stowers over him in the Blues squad. But thats just my opinion.

You obviously didn't read my post very carefully. I said ''if he can gain any kind of consistency then he could be a lethal winger" and that I thought he had a lot of potential. As Darwin pointed out - that game he certainly didn't have any kind of consistency. I'm actually a big fan of Sherwin Stowers myself and was suprised no one wanted him, but I think you're very hard on Naholo, who I've seen play in quite a few club games and 7's tournaments and he's certainly got a lot of x-factor, he just needs to fix some of the problems in his games.

In terms of Moala, I agree he's been impressive so far - was still pleased to see Naholo get a game as he could have done well - in this instance he didn't.

 

[FlukeArtist]

Waking up at 5 am was worth it!!!

Flukeartist eating some humble pie: PRICELESS!!!

HAHAHA whatever buddy.
I'm not eating anything.
Same way I wouldn't expect you to, if your pick for the game didn't go your way.
You support your team, I support mine.

I will say this though, the Blues were poor.

They lacked intensity, and cohesion. Even the defence was down on the previous weeks. Some of this might be due to the 7 changes, who knows.

BUT MOSTLY they were MADE to look poor by the Bulls, and lost to a better team on the day.

I was at the game, and the Bulls tactic to kick bombs directly into the sunlight in the first half worked perfectly.
Naholo couldn't catch a cold in the first 40mins.

Bulls played their typical style, but also threw in a strong running game, and the Blues defence was far too lax on too many occasions - especially out wide.
I think Sir Graham will have a thing or two for the Blues to work on over the coming 2 weeks.

Blues certainly didn't deserve to win this game. They looked like half the team that played the first two rounds.

The Bulls on the other hand played complete rugby - strong forward play complimented (suprinsingly) by enterprising back line play.

 

[donmcdazzle]

Moli has to go. I never understood the hype he recieved in the first place (unlike Luatua who played very well at ITM cup). He lacks accuracy in almost every facet of play, the sooner Boric is ok the better for the Blues.

This sort of performance was coming for the Blues, and the $4 offered by the TAB on the bulls was free money.

 

[Larksea]

went to Eden park for this one.

I thought the blues were the better team in many parts of the game but lost it due to some really bad work under the high ball and switching off after they had scored.

Making all the changes did turn out to be a bad idea. Kerr had some ok patches but also made some bad mistakes. Barrett didn't impress me and I thought Luatua had a bad game at #8 though it's hard to pick players out watching at the stadium.

ranger and Braid looked fantastic again. Though Ranger made one really bad gaff on defense, let a lock dummy him and run straight past - a try resulted. Actually seeign the game live gave me new respect for Braid. Man he covered a lot of ground and when he needed to he was very fast.

Luatua and Barrett Need to double their training simple as that. Spies absolutely burned them

 

[Darwin]

I disagree. I almost expected him to make the amount of errors he made. I say Moala has more potential he has improved since last year and can only get better (he was also in the top 10 for metres gained in Super Rugby at the end of the round last week with 182m in 2 games). I didn't really rate Naholo at Itm Cup level and i would've preferred Sherwin Stowers over him in the Blues squad. But thats just my opinion.

Naholo had some outstanding games for Taranaki during the ITM Cup - anyone who can score tries like that obviously has some potential! He reminds me of Sivivatu in many ways, as he looks like he can beat players without even trying. He obviously has a lot of work to do on his game, but I still think he could develop into a top class Super Rugby player in future.

I rate George Moala highly, and it has been great to see him get a good chance for the Blues this season (I felt he deserved more starts for them last season). I actually rate him much more highly than I do Halai (who seems to be getting all the plaudits). Moala himself had a few issues under the high ball last season - he hasn't really been tested this season, but hopefully he has been putting a lot of work into this area. I'm surprised Stowers wasn't included in the Blues squad (or any Super Rugby squad...) - based on ITM Cup form I agree he was probably better than Naholo (as he was far more consistent), but in my opinion Naholo has more potential.

Moli has to go. I never understood the hype he recieved in the first place (unlike Luatua who played very well at ITM cup). He lacks accuracy in almost every facet of play, the sooner Boric is ok the better for the Blues.

This sort of performance was coming for the Blues, and the $4 offered by the TAB on the bulls was free money.

Moli has been a massive disappointment for me. I remember watching him in the Under 20's, and he looked like a man among boys. He dominated the lineouts, flew into the breakdown, knocked players back on defense, but what really impressed was his ball running. Almost every time he ran the ball he would go well beyond the advantage line, often with 2-3 opposition players hanging off him. To me he looked like the new (and improved!) Brad Thorn. However he has looked like a shadow of that player in Super Rugby. Physically he was so superior to everyone else at Under 20's level, but against professional players this no longer seems to be the case. Without this advantage his lack of basic rugby skills are quite apparent. I don't really want to write him off this early (he is only 23), but I wouldn't have him in my Blues 22 when Boric returns. Incidentally I think Cullum Retallick has been impressive for the Blues - I thought he was criminally under-used by the Highlanders...

went to Eden park for this one.

I thought the blues were the better team in many parts of the game but lost it due to some really bad work under the high ball and switching off after they had scored.

Making all the changes did turn out to be a bad idea. Kerr had some ok patches but also made some bad mistakes. Barrett didn't impress me and I thought Luatua had a bad game at #8 though it's hard to pick players out watching at the stadium.

ranger and Braid looked fantastic again. Though Ranger made one really bad gaff on defense, let a lock dummy him and run straight past - a try resulted. Actually seeign the game live gave me new respect for Braid. Man he covered a lot of ground and when he needed to he was very fast.

Luatua and Barrett Need to double their training simple as that. Spies absolutely burned them

I agree that Braid and Ranger both had strong games, while Piutau was pretty good from the back too. I'm glad you are becoming a member of the Luke Braid fan-club - I was getting a bit lonely being the only member

In all honesty I don't think it will matter how much sprint training Luatua and Barrett do, they will never be close to matching Spies for pace (as he is a freak). Barrett should focus on getting off he scrum a bit quicker though!

 

[RyotoTheDragon]

Spies would likely burn most backs haha hes an incredible athlete.

 

[Larksea]

I really hope Boric is back soon this game should see Retalick cemented ahead of Moli.

I hope luatua had a really good look at Spies as he dragged him off, he's a very talented player but I don't think he's much of an athlete. Not like Spies, Messam, Vito or even Kaino. I recon to take his game to the next level he needs to up his game in terms of his athletic ability.