Super Rugby: Blues vs. Stormers in Albany (03/05/2013)

[Darwin]

North Harbour Stadium, Albany

​

 

[Gena_ZA]

A bout of flu is causing havoc with the Blues' preparations for the match against the Stormers this weekend. In form fullback Charles Piutau and flank Steven Luatua are both down with flu while Rene Ranger is in hospital with an infection.
Further to the above, James Parsons is also waiting to see how serious the neck injury is he sustained against the Reds, all of which have caused John Kirwan to delay naming his team.
Kirwan commented that he is proud of the maturity showed by his team, but that they have to go out and complete matches instead of playing for short intense periods. Kirwan is wary of the Stormers threat, telling his charges to match the physicality expected from them.

 

[admartian]

This should be a good game. I expect this to be close - Stormers by 2 or 4 points.

Also, this is probably the best crowd for the Stormers to get support form based on where it is being played (North Shore) - probably 60% SA/Stormers fans.

 

[FlukeArtist]

true Admartian... Nth Harbour Stadium is just a hop,skip and a jump away from BrownsBayfontain/JohannesBay

This will seem like an away game for the Blues, with the amount of Saffas that will turn out for this one.

This is a must win for the Blues. And I think they will rise to the occasion. Not going to be easy, but IMO, The Blues are a better team than the Reds result would indicate.
If The Blues can negate the Stormers forward game, then the backs should be able to take care of the rest.

BTW: Luatua, Piutau and Ranger are all expected to be named to start.

 

[Gena_ZA]

This should be a good game. I expect this to be close - Stormers by 2 or 4 points.

Also, this is probably the best crowd for the Stormers to get support form based on where it is being played (North Shore) - probably 60% SA/Stormers fans.

Why is that, read it on a few sites today, not the percentage but in general?

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Who knows? It's just where they all happen to end up... The North Shore is arguably the nicest place in the whole country, quite an expensive place to live (particularly in the Bays).

 

[FlukeArtist]

Who knows? It's just where they all happen to end up... The North Shore is arguably the nicest place in the whole country, quite an expensive place to live (particularly in the Bays).

WHoa, whoa, whoa.... it's not even the nicest place in Auckland!

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Where do you think is better?

I don't just mean the most expensive houses.

End of the day though, to each their own.

 

[FlukeArtist]

Piha is pretty mean, as are Kare Kare, Bethells etc
Closer to the city, I prefer the suburbs of Te Atatu, Freeman's Bay, Devonport, and Mission Bay.

The main problem with the Shore is that it's full of Shore boy Douche Bags.... Shore girls are another matter altogether... Shore Girl = Sure Thing!

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Piha is pretty mean, as are Kare Kare, Bethells etc
Closer to the city, I prefer the suburbs of Te Atatu, Freeman's Bay, Devonport, and Mission Bay.

The main problem with the Shore is that it's full of Shore boy Douche Bags.... Shore girls are another matter altogether... Shore Girl = Sure Thing!

Piha and the like are great if you're a surfer, and are fantastic holiday spots, but I can't imagine living there full time. Devonport's fine if you don't mind spending your whole time in Devonport. You CAN ferry across to the city, but it's not cheap (indeed it'd be cheaper to bus into Takapuna and then into the city), and if you want to head anywhere from Devonport on the roads you have to contend with super traffic for most hours of the day (assuming you have work etc. during the day). That being said, Devonport is part of the North Shore It's actually where the North Shore rugby club is based.

Mission Bay isn't bad, a bit small for my liking. Can't comment on Freeman's Bay, or Te Atatu.

 

[FlukeArtist]

That is true about Devo, but it is slightly different from the rest of the Shore.
Correction - it used to be (I used to live there) but now it is full of well-to-do poms, and not the Navy families it used to be made up of.

That being said; North Shore Rugby Club is probably the best rugby club in NZ, if not the the world (in my limited experience)

 

[admartian]

Piha is pretty mean, as are Kare Kare, Bethells etc
Closer to the city, I prefer the suburbs of Te Atatu, Freeman's Bay, Devonport, and Mission Bay.

The main problem with the Shore is that it's full of Shore boy Douche Bags.... Shore girls are another matter altogether... Shore Girl = Sure Thing!

Perhaps I'm a bit biased gorwing up out west, but I prefer the ***irangi/Green Bay/New Lynn/Blockhouse Bay areas - quiet, not flashy but it's quite good.

As I've grown up though places like Mt.Eden and Mission Bay/St. Heliers have become more appealing to live in especially in the summer. Though that's if you can keep up with the rent/mortgage (and certainly not this current AUckland climate but that is another thread or two altogether! ).


And that last part - yep - that's pretty much well known. I wouldn't be surprised if Shore Girls contributed to the reason that NZ ranks in teen pregnancies... :lol:

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

I'd imagine the girls out West and South would contribute more to that statistic

 

[Darwin]

Blues: Charles Piutau, Frank Halai, Francis Saili, Jackson Willison, Rene Ranger, Chris Noakes, Piri Weepu, Peter Saili, Luke Braid, Steve Luatua, Ali Williams ©, Culum Retallick, Angus Ta'avao, Keven Mealamu, Tom McCartney.
Reserves: Quentin MacDonald, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Anthony Boric, Brendon O'Connor, Jamison Gibson-Park, Baden Kerr, Lolagi Visinia.

A couple of changes for the Blues, with Mealamu (finally!) and Francis Saili into the starting lineup. I'm not sure about the decision to shift Ranger back to the wing, as he has been extremely effective at centre this season. Willison has impressed at 12 though, so he probably deserves another start. It is interesting that the Blues have opted for Lolagi Visinia on the bench rather than George Moala (who is apparently available this week) or Albert Nikoro.

 

[FlukeArtist]

I have to admit (as an Auckland man, and NOT a Harbour one) that I am disappointed Parsons isn't playing.
That guy, Luatua, and Noakes have been revelations so far this season.
I was even disappointed when parsons went off last week.

Excited to see Lolangi Visinia getting a chance from the bench this week.
He's a guy from my club (Suburbs) in Auckland. Still eligible for the under 20s, and playing for the Blues... exciting stuff for Suburbs Rugby

 

[Darwin]

I have to admit (as an Auckland man, and NOT a Harbour one) that I am disappointed Parsons isn't playing.
That guy, Luatua, and Noakes have been revelations so far this season.
I was even disappointed when parsons went off last week.

Excited to see Lolangi Visinia getting a chance from the bench this week.
He's a guy from my club (Suburbs) in Auckland. Still eligible for the under 20s, and playing for the Blues... exciting stuff for Suburbs Rugby

Parsons has a neck injury, so will miss the next few weeks (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10880912). I agree though, he has been impressive so far this season. It hasn't surprised me that much though, as I thought he made an excellent impact for the Blues when he was drafted in at the end of last season.

I'm quite looking forward to seeing Visinia too. He is a big tall guy (which is a bit unusual for New Zealand fullbacks) so certainly stands out on the pitch....

 

[Gena_ZA]

Stormers
15. Joe Pietersen , 14. Gio Aplon , 13. Juan de Jongh , 12. Jean de Villiers (captain) , 11. Bryan Habana , 10. Gary van Aswegen , 9. Dewaldt Duvenage , 8. Duane Vermeulen (vice-captain) , 7. Rynhardt Elstadt , 6. Siya Kolisi , 5. Andries Bekker , 4. De Kock Steenkamp , 3. Frans Malherbe , 2. Deon Fourie , 1. Steven Kitshoff
Reserves: , 16. Scarra Ntubeni , 17. Pat Cilliers , 18. Eben Etzebeth , 19. Nizaam Carr , 20. Louis Schreuder , 21. Elton Jantjies , 22. Damian de Allende

Etzeberh back, now that is great news, hope he can contain himself, he is like a supernova by now

 

[Darwin]

Stormers
15. Joe Pietersen , 14. Gio Aplon , 13. Juan de Jongh , 12. Jean de Villiers (captain) , 11. Bryan Habana , 10. Gary van Aswegen , 9. Dewaldt Duvenage , 8. Duane Vermeulen (vice-captain) , 7. Rynhardt Elstadt , 6. Siya Kolisi , 5. Andries Bekker , 4. De Kock Steenkamp , 3. Frans Malherbe , 2. Deon Fourie , 1. Steven Kitshoff
Reserves: , 16. Scarra Ntubeni , 17. Pat Cilliers , 18. Eben Etzebeth , 19. Nizaam Carr , 20. Louis Schreuder , 21. Elton Jantjies , 22. Damian de Allende

Etzeberh back, now that is great news, hope he can contain himself, he is like a supernova by now

A very good looking side, the only slight weakness if perhaps van Aswegen at 10, and that fact they still have a centre playing in the 2 jersey

 

[SomeOke]

Should be a tough game for both teams, don't really even want to make a call as I feel it will be tight. I actually quite like van Aswegan, not because he's an incredible player, but I feel like he does what he needs to do, as opposed to Jantjies who can cost an entire game with a few blunders. Fourie has been looking "better" in the set piece, but it's still definitely a weakness to be exploited by an exceptionally strong line-out (which I'm not convinced the Blues have but perhaps).

Otherwise the team looks fairly strong, contrary to popular belief I actually think our centre pairing hasn't been bad at all this year, I feel like our lack of try scoring has always been due to "tactics" and not due to the fact that we have no flair, Allistair just likes old school 2007 percentage rugby, outdated but hey he doesn't look like changing anytime soon.

If we can win this game we could be looking at a clean sweep on tour which would be great, no offence to Aussie teams but they seem to struggle to beat the Stormers, I feel like the Stormers play too tight for them.

 

[sifplay]

They are not playing at Eden Park? We played some of our best games away to the Blues. My best memory was the 2004 slaughter of them when Stormers ran riot