Chiefs v Blues, Round 7

[zer0]

Didn't watch much of the match, but this doesn't surprise me, unfortunately.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

That fucking sucks.

Wish I could hire Gary Gold to go and stand outside the lazy TMO fuck's house and scream his nuts off at him.

Boggles the fuckin mind they can fuck these up, ALL the TMO has to do is watch telly in slo-mo for a living. They should just fire these dicks once they fuck up like this and bring in some other prick. Anyone'll do, no rugby expertise required. Any fan wanker who can operate a tv remote can do the job, ffs give the job to the guy/gal who made that screenshot

Or still wallowing in the pool of Phil Kearns' tears.

The therapeutic effects are STUNNING. My skin has taken on an ethereal glow and I now walk like a cross between Madonna and James Bond.

______________________________

Blues attack not working at all c/o Hall and West. Shonky passes to a 1st 5 standing way too deep. Both great stepping snipers who now never step or snipe. Predictable ball shovel to static midfielders.

Both tries from broken counter attack jailbreak play. Tana needs to embrace the jailbreak. Trying to play like side-to side CantaBland Juniors completely ineffectual. Unofrtunately though, none of the age grade Blues galacticos superstar backs can kick for territory. They've never had to before. They just ran over fuckers en route to tryline

 

[Brumby Runner]

One of the replays of that try I thought showed a clod of dirt being kicked up off the sideline by the Chief's foot. Seemed to pass unnoticed by the officials as they didn't seem to have a second look from that angle.

Webber is fast becoming one of the top half backs in NZ (after Smith and TKB). And he is very fast. Most impressive.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Looking forward to the dynamic duo Cruden and McKenzie ripping the Blues apart to night. SWMBO and I have just arrived in Hamilton and I can report that it looks like it hasn't rained here .. yet. Might have to review my Superbru prediction, upwards.

Any pics/ thoughts/ observations worth sharing?

 

[Dan54]

I wonder where that pic at top came from, ie who's camera, because all the replays I saw on TV, I was buggered if I saw a foot on the line, and although it looked out on suspicion to me, the TMO has to actually see it without doubt doesn't he. I know we have plenty of experts on here, so was hoping maybe someone saw this view. And the pics were replayed in slow mo on tv, but perhaps we want the TMO to stop the game even longer and go through frame by frame just to make sure!!

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^^^^^^^^^^^^ exactly. TMO reviewed multiple angles multiple times & like he told Nutbrown there was no CONCLUSIVE evidence of a foot in touch. Benefit of the doubt therefore went to the attacking team, which is as it should be.

 

[qwerty51]

That pic was shown, the TMO saw it. he's just fucking incompetent. I saw his foot was on the line in real time and slow-mo.

 

[2bluesfan]

Any pics/ thoughts/ observations worth sharing?

No pics sorry. During the warmups I remember thinking that the Chiefs were "more enthusiastic" than the Blues. Perhaps I mistook the look of intense concentration on the faces of the Blues for a lack of enthusiasm. Tana had clearly done his homework and the Blues went in with a plan and, for the most part, they committed to it and executed it.

Parts of that plan were interesting to this old bloke. As noted by Dismal, the Blues backline aligned deep and went "wide to wide" without regard for the old adage that you have to earn the right to go wide by going forward first, bending the line rather than just stretching it from side to side. Not sure that we'll see this adopted more widely.

It was difficult to identify a stand-out Blues forward live at the ground (and I haven't seen a replay) and that is probably because they all just got stuck in and bloody well competed as though "this" particular contest for possession might be the one that turns the match. Love that attitude but it's best tempered with intelligent choices on when to compete.

A general observation on the crowd: 20,990 (I think), mostly Chiefs supporters but with a fair smattering of Blues fans provided a wonderful atmosphere. The kids in the crowd were catered for and visiting supporters were welcomed. It was a fun occasion matched with a fine contest.

 

[Dan54]

New

(That pic was shown, the TMO saw it. he's just fucking incompetent. I saw his foot was on the line in real time and slow-mo. )​

Of course you did qwerty , we really have to get refs of your quality​