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Blues anticipate 'epic' contest with team named to visit unbeaten Chiefs
Blues talisman lock, Patrick Tuipulotu, returns to the 23 this weekend along with a host of All Black talent as the Blues travel down State Highway One to face the table-topping Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday night.
Tuipulotu has been on the sidelines since he injured his knee in Round Three against the Hurricanes and Blues Head Coach, Leon MacDonald, said it’s great to have his size and leadership back in blue.
“He brings an edge, an experienced player who can shift bodies and hit hard. We’re very happy to have him back on the bench for this weekend’s match,” said MacDonald.
Fans can expect to see All Black matchups across the park, with mouth-watering head-to-heads likely in the back row, at first-five and in the midfield with a chance for players to push their case for national selection.
“A few boys stood up last week and took their chance against the Force. We welcome a lot of our core group back to the fold for the Chiefs and know we have a hard task on our hands come Saturday night.”
The Blues have had the wood over the Chiefs in recent years, winning five of their last six Super Rugby games against their neighbours. However, the Chiefs are on a five-game winning streak in 2023 and currently sit atop the Super Rugby Pacific table.
Blues Captain Dalton Papalii is eager to get on the bus to Hamilton after a week away from rugby.
“Nothing beats the Battle of the Bombays! We’ve had some epic matches over the years and I’m sure this will be no different. Bragging rights are on the line,” said Papalii.
“The Chiefs have been the form side so far this season, they’re unbeaten and playing some good code, but there’s a focus and intensity to what we’ve been doing this week, we’re ready to head down the road and take the game to them.
Saturday’s match promises to be a free-flowing match with the Chiefs and Blues sitting first and second respectively in the ‘defenders beaten’ stat line this season. The Chiefs have beaten 31 defenders per game with the Blues beating 30 defenders, sitting just one behind.
Papalii expects more of the same at FMG Stadium on Saturday night.
“You can’t go into a big game and stop playing, we’ve been building nicely over recent weeks and the boys are pumped to put on a show this weekend,” said Papalii.
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1. Jordan Lay
2. Ricky Riccitelli
3. Nepo Laulala
4. Cameron Suafoa
5. Sam Darry
6. Anton Segner
7. Dalton Papalii (c)
8. Hoskins Sotutu
9. Finlay Christie
10. Beauden Barrett
11. Caleb Clarke
12. Harry Plummer
13. Rieko Ioane
14. AJ Lam
15. Stephen Perofeta
Reserves:
16. Kurt Eklund
17. Ofa Tuungafasi
18. James Lay
19. Patrick Tuipulotu
20. Tom Robinson
21. Sam Nock
22. Corey Evans
23. Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens
Via Press Release/Blues
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments