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On locks: 1) Sam Whitelock looks to have done enough to retain a starting lock position. 2) he will almost certainly be partnered by Brodie. all kiwi fans have a lot of respect for these 2. They have given a lot for the ABs over the years, some stunning performances from the very top drawer...

Well that was a bit of an ending to a pretty shite match. Romano well done. Absolute trucker even at the tail-end of his career. Blues are a very big team. If they just keep the ball, be accurate, and disciplined, and not slack so much, they are hard to stop when they start to rumble.

And that scrum is so devastating that the Blues have decided for the next 3 scrums that they have the ascendancy 6 v 8.

What an effort from the Blues forwards. That scrum win is absolute gold. And then the defense with 2 loosies down. I mean look if you are in that 8 man scrum and your prop gets lifted... it's pretty fucking embarassing.

For the first time in a long while, every category of forwards is uncertain. Who are the props? There is almost no prop that has been convincing. First, the are-nots. I hope Lomax, Ta'avao, Bower, and Tui'inukuafe will no longer be involved in the AB set-up. I don't fancy any of them against...

-Clarke is big loss, because he offers something different, and severely lacking, in the Kiwi rugby set-up - genuine power ball-carrying, even in heavy traffic. -Anton Segner might or might not be a good player, but he isn't physically ready for rugby at this level. Like many others, Josh Lord...

This will probably be crucified, but Tupou Vai'i. What the fuck. That "Tackle" on thrush's try was abysmal. 8-year-olds at the kids' game put in more effort to tackle. He fucking just rolled over. Is it really too much to expect an AB to at least have the gumption to tackle someone hard? And the...

The quality of rugby is generally not that high for 2 of the top teams in the competition. The Blues have been poor; everything from the lineouts to Beauden Barrett's touchline kicking screams a lack of professionalism. This is an unpopular opinion, but the Brumbies were illegal in many facets...

Let's just say some inside information, Dan. A few folks have been talking about who goes into a World 23 at the moment. Here's my go. This is just on form; I think Reiko is a better 11 for example. 1. Cyrille Baille 2. Julien Marcharnd 3. Tadgh Furlong 4. Eben Etzebeth 5. Maro Itoje (who's...

The Blues' defence is still not good. Against an onslaught, they are consistently too upright, and they are just not urgent enough off the line to meet the attack. They seem to be far more enthusiastic to attack while the opposite on defence.

Perofeta is an improving player with good natural ability. But he is really ill-disciplined and cognitively sub-par - does a lot of stupid shit.

The Blues are definitely the best team in Super Rugby this year. They just have so much freaking talent everywhere. But they finally got players like Barrett and Tucker/Darry/Romano who injects industry and structure to complement the physical attributes. Just look at the guys that aren't in...

Finlay Christie credited Joe Schmidt for the Blues' recent success. We know from the Irish that Schmidt is a details person. And he is relentlessly all about rugby. (from Irish accounts in the past - It's every from head movements of the opposite centre that typically happens before he steps...

BTW, if anyone saw Leinster vs Leicester, and Munster vs Toulouse, bloody hell - I hope all of those blokes make the plane and they don't rest anyone. We are going to get one hell of a test if they are healthy.

THis is your year Pillock!:p:p

A lot of good performances for the Brumbs, but 2 fellas were particularly good: Nic White and Rob Valetini. And the contrast between White & Valetini with Ratima and Jacobsen really highlighted the difference between the 2 teams. Both White and Valetini were so much more committed...

Nice to see that almost a decade on, most of these players are still at it and still with the Wallabies.

Fair points. BTw there was also an interesting interview with Tom Taylor, the former AB flyhalf today. He talked about the loss of dominance from the ABs from a 2nd-tier angle: - Kiwi rugby, like the aussies and saffas, are losing talent, especially to the French and English leagues - as a...

There are quite a lot of impediments to AB improvements. 1) is the innate 4-year WC cycle. With the WC next year, Foz is very unlikely to get the sack. So we're stuck with him, even though 2020 was bad, and 2021 saw us lose to the truly top teams. Our record is upheld by playing the Aussies...

I hear what you guys are saying about Dalton but let's agree to disagree. I have some trauma from the disintegration of the lineout at the WC semis as Dan mentioned. Itoje is slightly "under-height" as a lock while we had 2 locks above 2.02, Barrett at 198, and Read who has always been a great...