Blues vs Rebels, North Harbour Stadium - 2011R10

[James Buchanan]

Team List:

1 Rodney Blake
2 Ged Robinson
3 Greg Somerville
4 Alister Campbell
5 Hugh Pyle
6 Jarrod Saffy
7 Michael Lipman
8 Gareth Delve (vc)
9 Nick Phipps
10 Danny Cipriani
11 Cooper Vuna
12 Stirling Mortlock (c)
13 Mark Gerrard
14 Lachlan Mitchell
15 Julian Huxley
16 Heath Tessmann
17 Laurie Weeks
18 Hoani Macdonald
19 Tim Davidson
20 Richard Kingi
21 James Hilgendorf
22 Luke Rooney

 

[mech4bg]

Good lineup, but if we're even going to be competitive we'd better have remembered how to tackle since last week.

 

[Gnostic]

Why not drop Gerrard back to 15 and put Hux in 12 as before. Gerrard is not a 13 and his biggest strength, his boot is wasted at 13. Hux 12 and Morty 13 exceeded my expectations as a defensive unit previously.

I would aso have liked to see Mitchell dropped to the bench and Kingi retained on the wing. I really do not rate Mitchell at all, said it at the start of the season and have seen nothing to change my mind.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

With you on that Gnostic. Gerard has been great at fullback this season and Huxley not bad at inside centre. And Morts is not a 12.

 

[Dunnman]

How on Earth does Cooper Vuna stay in the starting line up?

That was one of the most appalling defensive displays I've ever seen last week.

 

[Hawko]

Why not drop Gerrard back to 15 and put Hux in 12 as before. Gerrard is not a 13 and his biggest strength, his boot is wasted at 13. Hux 12 and Morty 13 exceeded my expectations as a defensive unit previously.

I would aso have liked to see Mitchell dropped to the bench and Kingi retained on the wing. I really do not rate Mitchell at all, said it at the start of the season and have seen nothing to change my mind.

Last week the Tahs murdered any chance of winning by picking Hangers at 12. I reckon Hux was a worse defender than Hangers before his injury. Since Vuna turned out not to be so good, the Rebels have had real problems at 12, they seem to have no one good except Morty and he should be playing 13. Its left field but I would try supersub Kingi at 12 as a stopgap, he's fast and can tackle, though small. Morty to 13, Gerard to 15 and Hux to the bench. If Mitchell's no good then what to say about turnstile Vuna? He was not good last week. On last week I would have given Rooney another crack, though he's hardly set the world on fire. Unless they buy more good players, Kurtley's going to be wasted at the Rebels.

With Rocks and Ranger on either end I fear for the Rebels this week!

 

[Gooch]

BLUES: 1.Tony Woodcock, 2.Keven Mealamu [c], 3.John Afoa, 4.Anthony Boric, 5.Ali Williams, 6.Jerome Kaino, 7.Luke Braid, 8.Peter Saili, 9.Alby Mathewson, 10.Stephen Brett, 11.Rene Ranger, 12.Benson Stanley, 13.Jared Payne, 14.Joe Rokocoko, 15.Isaia Toeava. Res: 16.Tom McCartney, 17.Tevita Mailau, 18.Filo Paulo, 19.Chris Lowrey, 20.Toby Morland, 21.Luke McAlister, 22.Lachie Munro

 

[Dumbledore]

This is going to get very, very ugly.

 

[Gnostic]

Last week the Tahs murdered any chance of winning by picking Hangers at 12. I reckon Hux was a worse defender than Hangers before his injury. Since Vuna turned out not to be so good, the Rebels have had real problems at 12, they seem to have no one good except Morty and he should be playing 13. Its left field but I would try supersub Kingi at 12 as a stopgap, he's fast and can tackle, though small. Morty to 13, Gerard to 15 and Hux to the bench. If Mitchell's no good then what to say about turnstile Vuna? He was not good last week. On last week I would have given Rooney another crack, though he's hardly set the world on fire. Unless they buy more good players, Kurtley's going to be wasted at the Rebels.

With Rocks and Ranger on either end I fear for the Rebels this week!

Vuna is lazy. No problem with him when he applies himself. On attack he is a far far better option than Mitchell who is so easy to contain. He is like Lachie Turner without the leg drive in contact or the defensive ability. Kingi at 12 could work I suppose. I agree I am not a fan of Hux but he far exceeded what I thought that combo with Morty could achieve.

 

[Slim 293]

BLUES: 1.Tony Woodcock, 2.Keven Mealamu [c], 3.John Afoa, 4.Anthony Boric, 5.Ali Williams, 6.Jerome Kaino, 7.Luke Braid, 8.Peter Saili, 9.Alby Mathewson, 10.Stephen Brett, 11.Rene Ranger, 12.Benson Stanley, 13.Jared Payne, 14.Joe Rokocoko, 15.Isaia Toeava. Res: 16.Tom McCartney, 17.Tevita Mailau, 18.Filo Paulo, 19.Chris Lowrey, 20.Toby Morland, 21.Luke McAlister, 22.Lachie Munro

Resting McAlister?

That's confidence...

 

[Gooch]

Yeah, seemed a bit strange to me too. Mind you, Stanley seems to be pretty solid from what I've seen, not much of a play maker but quite a good centre. Also noted Ali Williams back this week.

 

[ChargerWA]

This could be an ambush. Blues are notoriously unpredictable and the Rebels have the game to beat them if they apply themselves.

I still tipped the Blues, but i'm not without hope for the Rebs.

 

[Nusadan]

Good to see Rodzilla getting a chance to play a second game in a row...

 

[Ham]

The Waratahs defensive organisation had a close resemblence to the Rebels in the first half last week. I hope I'm wrong but I think Rene Ranger and co will be smelling blood.

 

[Dumbledore]

Bro Ranger running at Mitchell is nothing short of terrifying.

 

[DPK]

Rebels by 5 (Just looking for an unlikely "I told you so", don't mind me.)

 

[Ash]

Rebels by 100 now I am stacking my Fantasy rugby team with Blues players.

 

[Bullrush]

From Pat Lam's desk:


Firstly it’s just fantastic news for us as a team that Keven Mealamu has re-signed with the Blues and the New Zealand Rugby Union for two more years. To have your captain, the leader of the team and the guy who drives your standards commit for another two years is great. He’s such a professional and is respected by everybody, not only in our team but throughout the franchise and around the country.

Kevie plays a big part in what we’re currently trying to do within the team to get the Blues franchise back to where everyone wants it to be, and to know he’ll be around to drive that for the next couple of years is awesome. I know for a fact there were some big offers around for him and Kevie has shown how much emphasis he places on his family and living in New Zealand.*

He does a lot of work in the community, he has numerous charities that he supports and he’s also heading into a new business venture opening up his own Nando’s in Takanini shortly. All of that played a big part in him realising that it’s the lifestyle versus the potential money and his choice to stick around epitomises the sort of person he is.

As far as last week’s game goes, you know you’re growing when you come away from a game against the Waratahs with five points and you’re not satisfied. A win would have been great but to get a bonus point and front up at the review on Monday morning and see everyone pretty grumpy about what happened in the second half says something. We had quite a detailed session on what happened, what our learnings are and how we can prevent that from happening again, and coaches Bryce, Liam and myself commented to each other afterwards that we’ve certainly come a long way when we get the result that we need but are not satisfied and it’s a good sign of things to come.

What happened in that second half? It’s no secret that we lost the intensity. Our game plan in the first half was based around quality set piece ball, playing territory and possession down in their half and really applying pressure. But our body language changed in the second half and we spent a lot of time defending. It’s not easy being ahead but for us to grow we need to be able to put the foot on the throat and ram it home.*

With that in mind everyone’s pretty determined to front up against the Rebels on Friday night. It’s a game where everyone expects us to win and those are the things that we have been working on - concentrating on what we bring to the table week-in week-out and worrying about our own performance rather than the opposition’s.

We’re at the half way stage of the competition and have eight more games in the round robin to play. We’ve only lost once and when we reflect back we’re making good progress but every game from hereon out is crucial and it’s important after a short turnaround we go out to North Harbour Stadium ready to get back into it.

The Rebels are a very well coached team. They’ve got a World Cup winning coach in Rod Macqueen and I was fortunate to have him as my coach in my last three games when I was captain of the British Barbarians. I got a first hand taste of what he is like as a person and a coach and there is quality in all that he does.*

If you look at some of the individuals in their team there’s quality there too and when you come together as a franchise for the first time there’s obviously a learning period but there’s no doubt when you look at the signings they’ve made with Kurtley Beale recently and possibly others that they’re going to be a real force to be reckoned with. They’ve shown with the three wins they’ve had that if you take them lightly they’ll punish you and that’s because of the quality they have so it’s important that we’re right on the job this week.*

As usual the guys are out and about in the community this week. The injured Daniel Braid and Charlie Faumuina jumped aboard a boat with Bluebeard and heaps of kids and their families for a cruise around the Hauraki Gulf this morning thanks to MORE FM and Fullers. Some of the guys have also been helping out with Ministry of Social Development holiday programme this week which is good to see.

If you’re around the North Shore this afternoon I’d encourage everyone to get the kids out and come and watch us train at North Harbour Stadium from 3-4pm. You can also meet the team afterwards, get a poster autographed and have your photo taken so it should be a fun day for the family.

Friday night’s match against the Rebels at North Harbour Stadium is our last home game for a while before we’re on the road for three weeks to Dunedin (v Highlanders), Wellington (v Hurricanes) and Brisbane (v Reds) so we hope to get a good crowd. We’re one point off the top of the table and we’ve got to keep the pressure on the Crusaders and the other teams so it’s important that we perform well and there’s nothing like good support to spur us on. The boys are really noticing all the flags being waved at the game and it makes a massive difference for us - it’s starting to feel and look a lot more like what the Bulls get in Pretoria which creates a fabulous atmosphere.

I just want to wish everyone a happy Easter. Come to the game and enjoy it but also enjoy Easter and the holidays. And to all the kids out there too, have a great break, be good to mum and dad.

Until next week,
Pat Lam

 

[Groucho]

Mortlock and Gerrard are good defenders but too slow to stop the Blues doing what they did to Hangers and Cross last week. You can't crunch someone in a blockbusting tackle if you can't get near them.

 

[fatprop]

Also concerned about the Rebels approach, they usually kick shit out of the ball and with Huxley at 15 they won't do less.

Ice, Rok and Ranger ain't units you want to kick to