Western Force 22 - Auckland Blues 22

[Ostrayian]

http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/super-rugby/force-v-blues/story-e6frf4qu-1226020456677

Shattered.i wasnt too upset by the sealing off penalty at the end....u could see it coming a mile away and i remember the ref pinging the blues a couple times.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Ow that's a pity, Blues seemed to be on a roll last week.

 

[Sam Owen]

Dissapointing.

 

[nickdnz]

I think Blues fans can actually feel pretty upbeat about the result. They didn't win, but they drew, and in honesty they probably didn't have much right to considering how the Force were dominating most of the game. They really stole a victory from the Force, and I think the Blues showed a lot of guts to come back. Ten points down with three minutes to go, and Cpt.Awsome (Mealamu) did what he does best and scored a try from 3m out. Also, I was even more suprised when Brett managed to kick two vital and reasonably hard kicks, which is something to be optimistic about considering he's useless.

 

[The big Kangaroo]

good game of rugby

 

[TNT88]

It would of been great to watch from a neutral point of view. Another tough break for the Force, trying to run down the clock in our own half wasn't a wise option in the last minute. But we now know for next time (We seem to get caught in these situations quite a lot).

Ripia isn't too far off returning. When he does it will vastly improve our attacking options.

 

[ranger]

It would of been great to watch from a neutral point of view. Another tough break for the Force, trying to run down the clock in our own half wasn't a wise option in the last minute. But we now know for next time (We seem to get caught in these situations quite a lot).

Ripia isn't too far off returning. When he does it will vastly improve our attacking options.

I wouldnt be too sure about that.. Ripia is one of the worst attackers to come out of NZ in some time. He can kick, but thats about it.

 

[Larksea]

shame not to see the blues put this one away. McAlister missing a couple early kicks you would expect him to get being the deciding factor in the end. JOC being the x-factor for the Force, also got good value from their test #8

Gutted to see Ali Williams go down early, hope he's not out long.

 

[donmcdazzle]

Blues had a nightmare in this one. Had far more class but the force just wanted it more. Draw was a fair result I guess since the Blues made most of the play but the Force were great on defence.

 

[nickdnz]

Ali Williams fout for four weeks. Doesn't do his Ab chances any good, but at least he'll be back for most of the comp.

 

[Muzzy]

it could be the long tour too, they were the first nz team to travel to south africa, played 3 times over there and now had to travel to western australia, i only caught the first half, wasn't too impressed and have to remember the blues win the week before was against the Lions who are one of the weaker teams so just because they beat the Lions doesn't mean they're on some huge roll. hopefully they'll be better when they get some home games, sometimes seasons can be determined just by where the games are played

 

[Sam Owen]

Yeah bro, Blues seem to do good at home. Inconsistenty is our problem has been for a long awhile now.

 

[Ostrayian]

Blues had a nightmare in this one. Had far more class but the force just wanted it more. Draw was a fair result I guess since the Blues made most of the play but the Force were great on defence.

dunno bout that.in the first half Mustve been 3 or 4 penalties the blues gave away inside their own 22 and just before halftime gave away another 3 infringements inside their 22 last one being a force scrum right in front of the post when the canes scrum half blatantly infringes. In my mind he should have been given a yellow card. In that instance I feel the force should have kept the pressure on the blues with another scrum or lineout. instead joc took the penalty and then on the restart dunning/cowen got pinged for obstruction even though they were lifting sharpey??? Charity penalty and a slap in the face at halftime.

 

[FlukeArtist]

Simply not good enough by the Blues

Until Lam selects teh same guys week in, week out, The Blues will continue to have this problem.

I was once a Lam fan. But now he has to go.

Useless

 

[donmcdazzle]

dunno bout that.in the first half Mustve been 3 or 4 penalties the blues gave away inside their own 22 and just before halftime gave away another 3 infringements inside their 22 last one being a force scrum right in front of the post when the canes scrum half blatantly infringes. In my mind he should have been given a yellow card. In that instance I feel the force should have kept the pressure on the blues with another scrum or lineout. instead joc took the penalty and then on the restart dunning/cowen got pinged for obstruction even though they were lifting sharpey??? Charity penalty and a slap in the face at halftime.

im a neutral observer in this one; i just meant if you look at the team sheets the Blues have the better line up when i said they have more class. The blues had more of the ball and tried a bit more, made a lot of errors. I feel like the Blues inefficiencies and the Force's committed defence were the factors that kept it close. I don't think the Force were particularly enterprising or clinical with the ball, and I don't think they ever really will be given their personnel so a game like this suited them.

The penalty on the halfback was an interesting one, by the letter of the law if the number 8's shoulders come off then he is ruled to be detached from the scrum (I think) so i'd like to see a replay showing if they were or not. To the fans it looks blatant cause he was still hanging onto the locks with both hands so it looked like he purposely infringed but he probably thought the 8 had detached.

 

[TNT88]

I wouldnt be too sure about that.. Ripia is one of the worst attackers to come out of NZ in some time. He can kick, but thats about it.

What it will do is enable O'Conner to move out a few places. He is so much more effective (in terms of attack) at 2nd reciever. In the last 2 weeks the Force have been getting Fairbanks to move into first receiver whenever possible to give O'Conner more space.