Super Rugby: Highlanders vs. Chiefs in Dunedin (22/02/2013)

[Dizzy]

Yeah Im waiting for the Highlanders to be named before I make a decision on who I think will win.. Hope to see a great midfield combination [Nonu and Smith anyone?]

 

[Larksea]

intetresting chiefs side. I expect it will take more shape over the first two weeks in particular, not having Toby Smith or Masaga in the starting side is an interesting call. Though in Masaga's case you could start to see last year that maybe Renee & Smith are not his biggest fans, even though he scored a LOT of tries considering his limited gametime.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Highlanders Team

1. Tony Woodcock
2. Brayden Mitchell
3. Ma'afu Fia
4. Jarrad Hoeata (vc)
5. Josh Bekhuis
6. Joe Wheeler
7. John Hardie
8. Nasi Manu
9. Aaron Smith
10. Lima Sopoaga
11. Hosea Gear (c)
12. Ma'a Nonu
13. Phil Burleigh
14. Kade Poki
15. Ben Smith
Reserves
16. Liam Coltman
17. Bronson Murray
18. Elliot Dixon
19. Tim Boys
20. Fumiaki Tanaka
21. Hayden Parker
22. Buxton Popoalii


first thought is where are Mackintosh and King, first game and a wider training prop on the bench, our pack was supposed to be lethal this year...but no thorn and fifth choice prop on the bench

and the biggest problem i have with parker is he only covers first five, anyone else gets injured there will be some major chopping and changing

:huh:

 

[Darwin]

Not a bad looking side. Pity there is no Thorn though. Like you I'm surprised not to see King or Mackintosh on the bench (I can only assume they are both injured) - I know how much you love Bronson Murray though, so I'm sure you are excited Thorn is a big loss - hopefully he gets back to full fitness soon. Apart from that the forward pack is pretty predictable. I would have gone for Coltman over Mitchell at hooker, but they seem to really rate Mitchell for some reason...

The backline is very predictable; I'm a big fan of the Smith/Sopoaga combination. Burleigh gets the first shot at centre, and it will be interesting to see how he goes there. I really like his passing game, but I'm still not convinced he has the physicality (particularly on defense) to be a regular starting centre at Super Rugby level. The backs on the bench could all make a good impact - even if they are a bunch of midgets I do worry about Tanaka's and Popoali'i's defense at this level, but hopefully we will be dominating by the time they come on so there weak defense wont be exposed. Parker's defense is also a bit of a concern, but I thought he made massive improvements in this area during the ITM Cup season.

The lack of versatility on the bench is a bit of a concern as you say. If one of the midfield backs gets injured I assume we will see Popoali'i slot into fullback and Ben Smith shift into the midfield (Parker at 10, Sopoaga at 12 is another option).

I can't wait for this match!

 

[Kiwiwomble]

hoping burligh at 13 will mean he gets the ball when the backline is at full pace (so he wont slow it down) and if he can get the ball from a nonu break he could be a very good option to feed the outsides, a proper oldschool link man

 

[Larksea]

Should have made Ben Smith Captain.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Apparently Hika got a small calf injury and is being replaced by Schwalger.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

I'm actually thating to think that the draw (bye next week) and a couple of these small injuries (thorn) or suspensions (hore) might help us for a change, we will have slade, thorne and hore coming in three or four weeks into the comp. Their cover st needs to go hard for these few weeks knowing reinforcments are on their way

 

[Darwin]

Not too long till kick-off now I will have to sneak away from work early so I get home in time for the kickoff... silly Brisbane timezone....

Anyways I'm picking this will be a pretty tight match. We will certainly miss Hore up front - Mitchell is a dynamic player, but doesn't bring the same ability in the tight that Hore brings. I think the Highlanders have a slight edge in the front row, mainly through the presence of Tony Woodcock, who I'm sure will be putting a lot of pressure on Afeaki. Schwalger has the advantage over Mitchell (though is only just coming back from injury), while I think Fia has a slight edge over Manu, though it is hard to say. Fia is slowely developing into a reliable TH for the Highlanders, while Manu has been a fringe Super Rugby player for a number of seasons, but apparently is in the best shape of his career (and is starting ahead of Toby Smith). The Chiefs have the edge in the locks, with Clarke and Retallick the most consistent locking pair in the entire competition last season. Hoeata and Bekhuis are a similar pair in many ways in that they do the basics right, but Hoeata still lacks discipline. The Chiefs have a slight advantage in the loosies in my opinion. Messam is quality at Super Rugby level, and though I like Wheeler he is not in the same league. Manu is far more consistent than Fritz Lee, though Lee has apparently been in great form in the off-season, which is bad news for the Highlanders. One of the key match-ups will be Cane vs Hardie. They are quite similar players - Hardie will want to re-discover the form he showed at the start of last season before injury, as there may be a spot open in the AB's (backing up Sam Cane) while McCaw is away on sabbatical.

The Chiefs again have a clear advantage in the halves, largely due to Aaron Cruden. I quite like Sopoaga, but Cruden is in a completely different class. Smith vs Kerr-Barlow will be interesting. Kerr-Barlow dominated there last match-up, so Smith will be wanting to show why he is considered the AB's first choice 9. One area the Highlanders have a clear advantage is in the midfield. Aki is a good young player but will have his hands full containing Nonu. I'm interested to see how Burleigh goes at centre on defense - I actually think he will do a pretty good job containing Nanai-Williams, I'm just a bit worried how he will go stopping Pat Osbourne on the drift defense. Out wide Gear should cause Osbourne a lot of troubles - Osbourne has some great physical skills but he is renowned as a lazy trainer and can be a bit slow laterally on defense (It wouldn't surprise me to see Gear run around him). Poki and Tikoirotuma are pretty evenly matched in my opinon - Poki is more elusive, but Tikoirotuma has far more pace (and can pull off some big hits). It will be interesting to see how Anscombe goes at fullback, both in terms of positional play, and on defense (as he is not a strong defender, so won't stop Gear once he has run around Osbourne...). Ben Smith is a god.

Overall it is pretty hard to call, with the tight-forwards pretty even, the Chiefs with the edge in the loosies and halves, and the Highlanders with the advantage in the rest of the backline. The Chiefs have the advantage in goal-kicking too, but I'm backing the Highlanders home advantage to see them though. My prediction: Highlanders by 5.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Finally, only 20 more minutes. I'm ready.

 

[nickdnz]

Very, very excited for this.

 

[Draggs]

Here we go! Been waiting aaaaaaaaages.

 

[Adakins]

feels sooooooooo good to be watching SUPER RUGBY!!!!!!

 

[Amobokoboko]

Booyaah, Chiefs open the score

 

[dasNdanger]

Yay!! So glad to have Super Rugby back! And is that Justin I hear??

Still have to watch last weekend's matches - recorded them, but have been trying to catch up with the northern hemi and 6 Nations matches...and I am soooo far behind! But since I was awake at 1:30 am, I figured why not catch this live one. I will be absolutely worthless tomorrow.


das

 

[Adakins]

I love the look of the Chiefs uniform now I have to save to get me a shirt........

 

[Draggs]

Oh Ben, you beauty.
How did he do that?!?

 

[Amobokoboko]

Nice try Highlanders. Common boys

 

[Adakins]

If the Highlanders keep playing like this, they are going to be very exciting this year.

 

[Adakins]

Yeah boys, nice way to reply!