“Doesn’t hurt the loose forwards too when you’ve got guys like Heem and Clarke, and also Plummer, not scared to carry hard into contact.”
Agreed Geoff and let’s not forget Lamb and Telea – Lamb is also playing really well when he comes on or gets a game and IMO has come out of the shadow of Talea and Clerke to stamp his own mark on the game. But Clarke has lost some kilos but not his power and just might be half a yard quicker than he was of the mark. This is he best organised and drilled Blues side in a very long time and you have to give Cotter his dues on that score as the playing group has not changed all that much really but players are thriving under his style of game.

Hi Geoff barring a semi-upset by the Chiefs, one feels we will have Blues v Hurricanes final. But the Rebels and Brumbies just don’t have the cattle or coaches to beat either of those sides come final time IMO.
If Sotutu is not the best 8 in comp I don’t know who is Geoff – maybe you can tell me? Man has his game gone forward and he has put on several kilos. He is not alone – that entire back row is sheer power, and speed and it is wonderful to see Akira finally being confined to a powerhouse roll in the tight with Sotutu ranging out wide on occasion. It has changed Akira’s game, and he is getting much lower in the tackle and making some huge hits. DP has transformed his game as well and arguably – maybe not even arguably – the best carrying 7 in the comp.
Wings for the AB’s in the starting lineup will be interesting with Reece one of the only real shining lights for the Crusaders this season – who are very poorly coached IMO with days numbered I would think – while other wingers have fallen away a bit this season. The other thing is, the top Australian sides don’t have is a bench like the Canes – Blues and Chiefs IMO.
But the Blues play the Reds this weekend at Suncorp – I am going – but I expect the Blues will be far too powerful for the Reds and no one seems to know how to tame that backline of the Blues either as they are getting phenomenal front foot ball by their pack and back row. A win for the Reds would be a game changer for both them and the Wallaby as well in many ways.
Vern Cotter has come in and lifted the level of many players in the side IMO. Reiko is playing the best defensive game in any season, and it is clear he sees himself as a more classical centre now with that X-facter only when he needs it to open up space. His passing game to his flanks has improved as well.
The Blues are my pick Geoff – They now have the best defensive record and the best metres gained in the carry of any side including the Hurricanes. They made some real finds at lock as well. I hope Razor does not base his picks of Crusader favourites as there is not much there to crow about.
Blackadder needs more game time but he and Grace have been decent at best but not exceptional and certainly not game changers for the Crusaders who were well beaten by an above average Force side – who were comprehensively thrashed and monstered by the Blues backrow the week before just like Brumbies. Love to be a fly on the wall at the Reds camp this week eh Geoff…Looking forward to going to that game.

Blues below the Reds and Brumbies you have to be kidding me…..yes I know this was done before last weekends goes but that hammering from the Blues showed the gap between the sides. Reds will be up against this weekend.

Well said PK.. and it is hard to know why they are? Beats the hell out of me

Telling comment at the end by the Blues captain when asked he was surprised by their dominance and the score line. And – not arrogantly but just truthfully and there is nothing wrong that – but he basically said , no they knew if they worked on this and that and with their physicality and looking at the Brumbies that they could dominate them – I mean that is pretty much what he said. The utter dominance of the Blues pack whose physicality was just test level immense just destroyed the Brumbies pack – I mean seriously – considering the raps on their pack – they were totally humiliated and their bench completely outplayed by the Blues bench which has to be the best in comp now. The Brumbies lost badly to the Chiefs as well early in the season.

The real question that must seriously be asked is ” are the Australian franchises really closing the gap or are they doing what has not been that unusual in recent seasons – beating the weakest of NZ sides the Highlanders – and now beating a poorly coached and woefully out of character Crusaders?”

I said that the real answer would come when the top Australian sides played the top NZ sides and especially in NZ. Next week the Brumbies face the Hurricanes in Canberra – their 3rd real big test after the Chiefs and the Blues. Yes the Tahs just beat the Blues but….. If the gap is truly closing then surely it is discovered when the best Australian sides play the best kiwi sides – and as you get closer to the business end like we are now – and you have to wonder which players in the Brumbies have put a huge dent in their test selection chances. They will need to redeem themselves against the Hurricanes that is for sure if they are not dropped.

After big losses to Chiefs and now the Blues is SL really as good a coach for the Brumbies as some claim? Some even suggesting at times that e could be the Wallaby Coach…….hmmm He sure as hell needs a better forwards coach because that was forward destruction by the Blues.

I am going to Blues V Reds at Suncorp this week/ next week I fear for that pack the way the Blues are playing – the Blues have the most dominant carries of any side in the comp and best defensive stats as well….The Reds will need to be on total fire to have any chance IMO and even then it may not been enough against this Blues machine. The Blues also have the best coach in comp and by some distance IMO in former Scotland coach in Vern Cotter. I think only the Canes can really challenge them – at this point anyway.

The Reds neither have cattle in their pack, backs or bench to match the Blues – that does not mean they don’t some very good players – and especially with key players out as well – they will need to be tactically brilliant and execute it well most of the game to even get close IMO or they could be on the end of hiding like the Brumbies. How they stop that backline is a task in itself and especially when the Blues pack – – lead by their huge and very quick back 3 feeds them world class go forward ball all the time. Can’t wait to see what the Reds do tactically…

I have always called him that Muzzo – taken from article I read and in NZ when he was coaching Ireland – I liked it as it said “…he may be a kiwi and one of us but after beating the All Blacks perhaps we should all call him Irish Joe now”. So that’s what I call him.

Sorry Ben that’s not enough after years of being bullied and beaten by NZ sides with the exception of the Brumbies in their best recent years obviously.
They need wins- but unfortunately it will be a tough road in NZ against any of their sides – even the Highlanders at home won’t be easy. The Blues pack are playing like demons with real nous and power – they are a monstrous outfit full of ABs and have a very strong bench and their D is superb right now and no one seems to have figured out how to contain that ridiculously explosive backline and they are my favourites for the championship followed by the Canes.
The real key will be how the Brumbies fair as they are best of the Australian side IMO – even this year. The good news is that with Irish Joe and Cron the Wallabies will be the best they have been in years – he is another level to anyone they have had in the last ten years and Cron is one of the very best in the business at what he does. But…do Australia have the cattle and experience in a match day 23? Wales will not be a true barometer as they were pretty ordinary in the 6 nations and many big name stars have left the party so they will be trying out things as well. Georgia forwards will be a test but they lack world class firepower across their backs. But I think the Wallabies will be a better coached outfit this year and IMO by some distance.

Looks like you are the last of the originals writing regularly Geoff…My own view of Super rugby so far is that it is clear it is pretty much the same as always….the final this year will again be two kiwi sides IMO with – as usual – the Brumbies being the best of the Australian sides. The Rebels are travelling but if Cairns was the final, the car will break down at Rockhampton. Due to the stupidity of the 8 team finals format – the Crusaders will make the top 8 and then who will seriously want to play them in a semi?
The Blues under Cotter are a different beast and Hoskins and Akira look much better players under his watch as he has stopped Akira constantly ranging out wide so his physicality and off-load game is more beneficial in the tight. And Reiko is now a very good defensive and creative centre. Perafeta is challenging DMac as well as the AB 10. Hurricanes are humming as well. The most telling game will be the Brumbies ( who are playing well but….) v Blues in Auckland – then Hurricanes also away for the Brumbies. IMO Auckland pack will monster them the way they are playing at the moment ( Bell looks out for a while as well) and the Blues arguably have the strongest bench in the comp when all are fully fit. But sadly it is starting to become pretty predictable even if some don’t like hearing it. The pacific sides are languishing as well with Fiji Drua resorting to Viking raider tactics in their last game but should – I say should – make the top 8 – by a whisker. My god Geoff half the side could have been yellow carded in that last game and that could hurt them going forward if it continues from individual players.
One positive is the Wallabies have the best coaching team they have had in a very very long time IMO with some promising young players coming through as well. Time will tell how that plays out come the the international season but lets hope is very positive. Roigard is an astonishing talent and just gets better and better – pity about his injury.

No of course not Ben – I meant the Competition will just drag on with more team in it – many of whom will be nothing more than cannon fodder for the big guns.

How long and tedious to you want to be for goodness sake Ben?

No Tony “The Start of the World C 😛 up”

I with you to a point Brett. It was exciting because of how close it was and that it looked like for a long time England would pull it off, but the game was blighted somewhat by never ending farcical and deliberate time wasting where O’Keefe had to issue a warning to both sides and their support staff. He should have done it far sooner IMO.

I agree Brett but I doubt even you want to see 25 plus penalties in game- one every 3.5 minutes or even worse and I doubt you like seeing the TMO constantly jumping in all the time either like they are insecure they won’t get noticed and especially for some of the mindless callbacks. In AB semi final – the TMO stopped the game showed the footage he thought showed an infringement then when the ref said “I see nothing much in that at all how do you see it” and the bloody TMO goes “Yes I agree”. What the ? Then why friggen stop the game you wannabe 5 minutes of fame in big knockout game clown. Thank god he is not in the final.

Condition look good for the game – as of now anyway

I think you make some strong points as always Brett. Rassey has already commented that they will be looking at the Poms tactics and how to counter them but as you say dealing with it under pressure against an AB side with far more pace and precision across their backline is another. My issue with England is they never really looked scoring a try even though they were in the Boks 22m zone more often. So, they nullified the Boks game but perhaps nullified their own attacking game out wide in the process and the AB’s will not have any part of a tactic that does that so I suspect it will be a reproduced AB version of the tactic but not a remake. I suspect we will see a few chips in behind by the AB’s as well and a little more back play from the Boks. Discipline from both sides might be the key and Barnes stopping the deliberate time wasting by the Boks and their support staff which is now farcical. Key man – Irish Joe who some X-Irish players said last week on UK TV analyses each individual player in the opposition and the plays and their D, searching very meticulously for any weakness then plots way to exploit that weakness. The players were saying they have never seen any coach who dissects an opposition side like JS so it will be interesting what he might spot and how the AB’s exploit it. the move that Mounga did to set up Jordan against Ireland was exactly that from Joe apparently.

Agreed Geoff – a proper fix indeed – but then it needs to be properly policed by ALL refs and therein lies a huge problem in the refreeing of test matches.

Actually it you who show your bias CheetahBok. The fact the ref had to speak to Boks support staff and give them and England a warning says it all and it is not the 1st time the Boks support staff have had warnings for endlessly coming on in tests to slow it down. England are the worst at set piece to be fair but watch out for the endless Boks time wasting and support staff coming on in the final mate. I hope Barnes put a stop to it.

They have got right so far Muzzo even if you personaly disagree with some selection the proof is in the pudding and they have made the final so I have no concerns at all as we pretty much know who will start. But I suspect we may have a 5-2 split on the bench this time round.

I am deeply concerned Geoff for the weather after a report that 3 polar bears have made camp at the ground and enjoying the weather!!! Furthermore, there will be a turf issue as all the ground staff have gone strangly missing!

Yeah agreed WEST and yes someone tallied time wasting over and above other stoppages and is was about 20 minutes or some thing ridiculous.

Great read as always Geoff and you made some excellent points reagarding the AB’s and Boks making the final. I worry the the Boks will turn the final into a dour affair of cynical time wasting as both they, and the English did in the semi. So bad the ref – and way too late – t had to tell both staff to stop coming on every stoppage ( and sometimes he had to ask them 3 time to get off) and the fake injuries are now becoming farcical.

A new time wasting technique is constant rechecking and quzzing the ref about things he has already gone through or just getting constantly in his ear. I thought that was the job of the captain only. The governing body must do something about this nonsense like ban pow wows before set peices totally and set time limits for team forming lineouts and scrums. I hope Wayne Barnes comes down on this in the final but I won’t hold my breathe. IMO Foster needs to say something about it at the prematch media front up. This is one of the reasons IMO the AB’s are deliberately not kicking out on the full half the time unless it is absolutely the best option. But I fear with the Boks knowing a fast game will suit the AB’s they will use every slow down peice of crap in the book and we will see Boks support staff rushing on at every break in play and fake injuries galore. It is a sad indictment on the game that this is not only not being policed properly but also seems to be encouraged by a lack of action from refs. Barnes needs to call it early before it becomes a farce in the final – and it will – if nothing is done by Barnes IMO.

Hey Harry? Boks v AB final – told you so did I not? And if you recall the reasons I gave they came true! I give the AB’s the slight edge in the final if the weather gods are kind.
But Harry I hope we don’t see the endless deliberate time wasting we saw tonight from both Engalnd and South Africa which bordered on shameful. In the end O’Keefe had to give the suppport staff a warning not mention the fake injuries, especially England. Every scrum and lineout was nothing but a time waste as was the endless getting in the refs ear from so many of the players once the support staff were told to get off. Most nothing but time wasting to slow the game down.
Unfortunately I suspect the Boks will double these efforts against the AB’s so I hope Wayne Barnes gets the final as he has less tolerance for time wasting. O’Keefe should have put a stop to it in the 1st half. The AB’s will try to have as few linouts as possible by not kicking it out unless they have to in an effort to reduce this rubbish as it is a blight on the game IMO.
New laws should come in Harry to put and end pow wows before scrums and lineouts and the number of times support staff can simply just come on should be limited unless a genuine injury occurs and if you can stand up – get off the ground and play on. Watch how miraculously they recover Harry. Bloody ridiculous how often some teams are pulling these stunts but IMO SA and England are the worst offenders with France coming in 3rd.
But the final is clash of the giant of the game Bring it on!

So what are you going to say if the win JImbob? That is was the refs fault as well?

Nice one Muzzo!

Jimbob enough already – there was a clear gulf in class between the two sides. From 1-23 the AB man for man were simply better. Every ref every game get things wrong and every time the losing side always thinks their ones that got stiffed the worst.
France were so bad – including Dupont – they barely had a seriously good word to say about the Boks except pulling out every cliche in the book to infer they weren’t totally blaming the ref – but they were. Ireland had a slight go at the ref but were far more gracious and sportsmanlike – they had to be – their lineout got exposed as it did against the Boks and Irish Joe clearly exposed some of the weaknesses in their D. The move when Mounga set up WJ was apparently JS’s idea. The Irish paper cliamed “if the try wasn’t held up different story” okay fine but some inferring it was Ireland who made the error not simply superb defence by JB and the AB’s and the AB backrow was simply superb. They whinged slightly only about the 3 scrum penalties but post game overhead fortage absolutely showed the Irish prop was burrowing in on his side – so spare me.
If there is a flaw with the inconsistncy its that some refs let sides get away with some stuff giving them a false sense of security then another ref calls them out on it – when the fault is not the ref that pulls them up on it but the one that does not do so in the 1st place. The ref that calls them out is ALWAYS the big bad ref for doing his damn job more professionally.
The scoreline tells you that the Pumas were never going to win this match and great credit to Cheika who showed good grace in the post match not blaming the ref but heaping prasie on AB’s. But the French and Ireland were hyped to the max before the cup – deserved? Yes but perhaps just wee bit too much at times -where fans started to believe all the hype and when that happens on most occassions, they always need someone to blame when things go pearshaped. Refs are flawed because they are human and these days the game is refereed by the main ref – two assistants and a TMO – who can – and do – have their say just as they have in all the finals so far at various times.