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Beauden Barrett absent from Blues team to face Melbourne Rebels
Star first-five Beauden Barrett won’t feature for the Blues in this weekend’s Super Rugby Pacific clash against the Melbourne Rebels at Eden Park in Auckland.
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Barrett has been rested as part of his All Blacks rest duties as the Blues target a 10th straight win this season, with young playmaker Stephen Perofeta coming into the starting side in his absence.
The addition of Perofeta to the starting team is one of six changes made by Blues head coach Leon MacDonald, who also welcomes back All Blacks duo Rieko Ioane and Hoskins Sotutu after they missed their side’s win over the Force last week.
Ioane and Sotutu replace Bryce Heem and Anton Segner at centre and No 8, respectively, while versatile utility forward Tom Robinson slots into the second row alongside James Tucker to form a new lock combo.
The selection of both players means former World Cup-winning All Black Luke Romano and youngster Sam Darry both drop out of the side, with the inclusion of Robinson enables All Blacks flanker Akira Ioane to remain at No 6.
Up front, Manu Samoa international Jordan Lay takes the place of All Blacks loosehead prop Alex Hodgman, while Mark Telea comes back into the starting team at right wing after AJ Lam’s run in the No 14 jersey in Perth.
Lam, Darry and Heem all drop to the bench where they are joined by fellow newbies Soane Vikena, Nepo Laulala and Sam Nock.
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Despite having kept their winning run alive last weekend, MacDonald implored his side to make an improved effort against the Rebels on Friday as they look to stay atop of the Super Rugby Pacific standings.
“We will definitely take the two wins, and there were aspects of both games that were really good. But we need a consistent 80-minute performance. We need to be more accurate, more disciplined and more patient,” MacDonald said via a statement.
“We were never under any illusion about the capability of the Australian teams and they have shown that they are very competitive. The Rebels are no different and we will need to execute with more precision if we want to earn a positive outcome.
“The team is excited to be back home for this game and looking to produce a display that our fans can be proud of, and we hope they will make it a sea of blue at Eden Park.”
Kick-off for Friday’s match is scheduled for 7:05pm NZT.
Blues team to face Melbourne Rebels
1. Jordan Lay
2. Kurt Eklund
3. Ofa Tu’ungafasi
4. James Tucker
5. Tom Robinson
6. Akira Ioane
7. Dalton Papalii (c)
8. Hoskins Sotutu
9. Finlay Christie
10. Stephen Perofeta
11. Caleb Clarke
12. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
13. Rieko Ioane
14. Mark Telea
15. Zarn Sullivan
Reserves:
16. Soane Vikena
17. Karl Tu’inukuafe
18. Nepo Laulala
19. Sam Darry
20. Adrian Choat
21. Sam Nock
22. Bryce Heem
23. AJ Lam
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
27 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
27 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
27 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments