Super Rugby: Hurricanes vs. Crusaders in Wellington (08/03/2013)

[Darwin]

Westpac Stadium, Wellington

 

[admartian]

Probably the most intriguing Super Rugby matchup for me. Love to see how either side responds. I honestly think at this stage, the Canes are the more talented team as a whole. But you never know when you have Read and DC in your side.

 

[Larksea]

critical game for two desperate sides, losing three games in a row is going to make it very hard for the Canes to improve on last year and make the finals. Similar situation for the crusaders who wont be used to sitting this far down the table at any point in the season. Considering how close the NZ conference is Both Teams will be very desperate.

 

[Dizzy]

The Canes were,... poor last week and I felt the Crusaders were quite hard done by against the Blues. Canes don't have a good track record at home and the Crusaders will be well on top of their game this week...

Hate to say it, But I don't think we'll win this match.

 

[Larksea]

Hurricanes: Andre Taylor, Alapati Leiua, Conrad Smith (c), Tim Bateman, Julian Savea, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara, Victor Vito, Karl Lowe, Brad Shields, Jason Eaton, Jeremy Thrush, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Dane Coles, Ben Franks. Reserves: Motu Matu'u/Ash Dixon, Ben May, James Broadhurst, Faifili Levave, Chris Smylie, James Marshall, Reynold Lee-Lo

for me sanity finally reins with regards to Vito. IMO he's clearly a better 8 than a 6 I personally think while he's quite fast for his size he isn't great laterally. Sure because of Kieran Read the best chance he has of becoming an All Blacks starter is at 6 but he will bring better balance to any side he is in playing 8

Good side on paper, will se how they are on grass. on name that's missing is Jack Lam, they could use him starting in a game like this. If you are desperate he is a guy you can slap on the back and send out for 50-60min and you are at least giving yourself a good shot to win

 

[Dizzy]

Any idea why Motu has been bracketed with Dixon?

 

[Darwin]

Hurricanes: Andre Taylor, Alapati Leiua, Conrad Smith (c), Tim Bateman, Julian Savea, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara, Victor Vito, Karl Lowe, Brad Shields, Jason Eaton, Jeremy Thrush, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Dane Coles, Ben Franks. Reserves: Motu Matu'u/Ash Dixon, Ben May, James Broadhurst, Faifili Levave, Chris Smylie, James Marshall, Reynold Lee-Lo

for me sanity finally reins with regards to Vito. IMO he's clearly a better 8 than a 6 I personally think while he's quite fast for his size he isn't great laterally. Sure because of Kieran Read the best chance he has of becoming an All Blacks starter is at 6 but he will bring better balance to any side he is in playing 8

Good side on paper, will se how they are on grass. on name that's missing is Jack Lam, they could use him starting in a game like this. If you are desperate he is a guy you can slap on the back and send out for 50-60min and you are at least giving yourself a good shot to win

A very predictable Canes lineup. I agree it is great to see Vito and Shields in their correct jerseys this week! I'm hoping to see Shields concentrate on playing a much tighter game this week, which he should be able to do at 6.

Jack Lam is still out with a knee injury, but is expected back soon. When he gets back to full fitness I expect he will be given a start in the Canes 7 jersey - Lowe is solid, but I think Lam offers a bit more.

Any idea why Motu has been bracketed with Dixon?

I would assume Matu'u is in doubt due to injury. He missed the first Canes game due to a pectoral injury, so perhaps this isn't 100% healed?

 

[ABs2011]

This could be the season defining game for the Canes. If they don't get a win here I'm not sure they can come back from 0 and 3 i this tough NZ conference. The Crusaders will definately improve on last week, the "old" heads in the team, Read, Carter, Whitelocks etc, and I think they will win this one. The Canes have really looked pretty bad these first two games and I didn't see any improvement from week 1 to week 2, hence I'm not expecting any significant improvement for this weekend either. If that's the case I think they don't have a show. I'm just wondering how much they are missing Jack Lam. He was fantastic last year and without him the Canes seem to be getting dominated at ruck time.

Interested to hear what you all think, but reluctantly (as a Canes supporter) I just can't see us ending this week anything but 0 and 3.

 

[Darwin]

Crusaders: 1-Wyatt Crockett, 2-Corey Flynn, 3-Owen Franks, 4-Sam Whitelock, 5-Dominic Bird, 6-George Whitelock, 7-Matt Todd, 8-Keiran Read (capt), 9-Andy Ellis, 10-Dan Carter, 11-Johnn McNicholl, 12-Ryan Crotty, 13-Robbie Fruean, 14-Tom Marshall, 15-Israel Dagg
Bench: 16-Ben Funnell, 17-Joe Moody, 18-Tom Donnelly, 19-Luke Whitelock, 20-Willie Heinz, 21-Tom Taylor, 22-Adam Whitelock

Only a couple of changes to the Crusaders side, but I have to say these changes make them look far more dangerous. Bird replaces the injured Romano (with Donnelly coming onto the bench). The big changes are out wide though, with McNicholl and Marshall replacing Taylor and Whitelock, and Dagg shifting to his rightful position of fullback. I think this will make a big difference to the Crusaders this week. They actually created a bit of space out wide last week, but didn't have the speed to finish - bringing in Marshall and particularly McNicholl will provide that pace. Playing Dagg in his rightful position will also help. He is a confidence player, and looked completely lost on the wing versus the Blues. I'm expecting to see quite a few tries out of this Crusaders side on Friday.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

After seeing the teams, the Crusaders definitely look like favourites to me.

Gotta love these NZ derbies.

 

[admartian]

Hey whaddaya know, the Crusaders actually place a potential playmaker at wing!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

This could be the season defining game for the Canes. If they don't get a win here I'm not sure they can come back from 0 and 3 i this tough NZ conference. The Crusaders will definately improve on last week, the "old" heads in the team, Read, Carter, Whitelocks etc, and I think they will win this one. The Canes have really looked pretty bad these first two games and I didn't see any improvement from week 1 to week 2, hence I'm not expecting any significant improvement for this weekend either. If that's the case I think they don't have a show. I'm just wondering how much they are missing Jack Lam. He was fantastic last year and without him the Canes seem to be getting dominated at ruck time.

Interested to hear what you all think, but reluctantly (as a Canes supporter) I just can't see us ending this week anything but 0 and 3.

I get the feeling that part of the reason the 'Canes aren't getting the points like last year is that they actually play differently; they don't back themselves like last year IMO and play a little more conservatively. I don't see Perenara making those darts around the fringes and Barret doesn't go for the gap like last year and the net effect is less space for the outside runners. Also Taylor has been poo so far. I almost want to say they are struggling because of their backs rather than their forwards which as a SA rugga fan is difficult to say as we tend to believe games are won up front. My 2cents for what its worth.

 

[Darwin]

Starting to really look forward to this match. There are some cracking matchups too:

- Franks vs Franks. Both should be pretty hyped for this matchup, as I'm sure they have spent a fair amount of time scrummaging against each other in the past! Owen was pretty quite last weekend, so needs to start building up a bit of form as the likes of Afeaki and Faumunia have been in good form recently.

- Read vs Vito. Read was one of the few Crusaders to standout last weekend, and I'm sure Vito will be more comfortable back in the 8 jersey.

- Ellis & Carter vs Perenara & Barrett. The Canes halves have been pretty quiet thus far, but I think it will only be a matter of time until they start to fire again.

- Dagg vs Taylor. Dagg really struggled on the wing last weekend, while Taylor has been very quiet this season. Taylor needs to start backing himself again with ball in hand, as I have barely seen him try to run the ball this season.

Overall I'm picking the Crusaders to bounce back and win this match. They were very disappointing against the Blues, but I did see a lot of potential in their backline play. They didn't score versus the Blues, but with their new attacking structures (which looked very similar to those used by the Canterbury ITM Cup side) I feel they could score a lot of tries once they start to click. They actually created quite a bit of space out wide versus the Blues, but were unable to exploit this due to their complete lack of pace out wide, and their inability to straighten the line and pass (and the Blues sliding defense was very good too).

The Crusaders look like they should have an advantage in most areas apart from the midfield, while the outside backs are pretty evenly matched in my opinion. My pick is the Crusaders by 5-10.

 

[Sam Owen]

Gonna go for the Canes tonight.

 

[187]

I get the feeling that part of the reason the 'Canes aren't getting the points like last year is that they actually play differently; they don't back themselves like last year IMO and play a little more conservatively. I don't see Perenara making those darts around the fringes and Barret doesn't go for the gap like last year and the net effect is less space for the outside runners. Also Taylor has been poo so far. I almost want to say they are struggling because of their backs rather than their forwards which as a SA rugga fan is difficult to say as we tend to believe games are won up front. My 2cents for what its worth.

Yeah the canes aren't playing their natural game. I guess this year is a little different as last year they had nothing to prove. Really want to see Savea have a big game tonight and Barrett taking it to the line like he did last year.

They definitely need to win this game or this season will be twice as hard to bring back around.


Wellington Lions | Wellington Hurricanes | All Blacks | 'Ikale Tahi & now England!

 

[Draggs]

Fruean upended by Savea, he felt that one.

 

[Sam Owen]

Karl Louw could have put someone away for a try but he did the no look pass??...whats up with the no look pass?...Jennings did it yesterday for the Roosters

 

[jordiev]

brilliant walking tank fruen posterized by savea

 

[187]

That was a nice passage of play there from the Canes. Crap hands though at the end. They look good (as do most teams) when they're running onto the ball and getting that go-forward ball.


Wellington Lions | Wellington Hurricanes | All Blacks | 'Ikale Tahi & now England!

 

[187]

Karl Louw could have put someone away for a try but he did the no look pass??...whats up with the no look pass?...Jennings did it yesterday for the Roosters

Yeah it's dumb passes like that the Canes have to cut out... A crap pass from Barrett to Smith. It's the little things.


Wellington Lions | Wellington Hurricanes | All Blacks | 'Ikale Tahi & now England!