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‘Can get the job done: Multiple All Blacks set to miss Blues’ trip to Brisbane
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is back in the matchday 23 for the Blues as they prepare to take on the Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Friday night.
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But the Blues are missing a number of key players, with four All Blacks set to miss the round 13 clash due to the national teams resting policy.
Halfback Finlay Christie, winger Caleb Clarke, centre Rieko Ioane and prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi will all miss the trans-Tasman derby.
Captain Dalton Papali’i has also been ruled out of the match due to suspension. In his absence, veteran Patrick Tuipulotu will lead a reshuffled Blues side this week.
Jordan Lay, Cameron Suafoa and Akira Ioane have all been named in the run-on side this week, while there are another three changes in the backline.
Sam Nock will start at halfback, while Bryce Heem and AJ Lam also take their place in a new-look Blues backline.
The equation is quite simple for the Blues this week: they need to win. The race for the top four is heating up, so every game is going to be crucial at the business end of the regular season.
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“The likes of Beauden and Harry have been developing their combination well over recent weeks and it’s good to have two big talkers and game drivers out there on the park directing us around,” coach Leon MacDonald said.
“These next three games are crucial, we’re sitting just outside that top four so if we want to be playing at home in the playoffs we need to go on a little run of wins, starting with the Reds on Friday night.
“Dalts is obviously a big loss for us, he’s a big game player and a leader in the team.
“We are lucky to have a battery of excellent loose forward to call on to help ease the disruption and in Patty we have an experienced campaigner who’s no stranger to the captaincy.”
The Reds shocked the rugby world last Friday when they defeated the previously unbeaten Chiefs in New Plymouth.
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Queensland will be eager to record their second consecutive win over New Zealand opposition when they host the Auckland-based Blues in their final home game of the 2023 season.
Captain Patrick Tuipulotu is well aware of the threat the Reds pose, as he spoke about the importance of shutting them down at the set-piece.
“We saw just last week how good they can be by knocking over the Chiefs at home,” Tuipulotu said.
“This is going to be a stern test for the boys, but I feel we have the team who can get the job done on Friday.
“It’s a quick turnaround for us so it will be good to get over to Brisbane, get settled, and get a training in before we look to inject some momentum into our campaign before two games at Eden Park to round out our regular season.
“Cam and I have been chatting this week and working out where we think we can attack the ball.
“The stats show they have the strongest lineout in the competition, and it will no doubt be an area they’ll look to utilise. For us it’s about being precise, disciplined and clear in what we want to achieve at lineout time.”
This match is set to kick-off at 9.35pm NZST at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
Blues team to take on the Reds
- Jordan Lay
- Ricky Riccitelli
- Marcel Renata
- Patrick Tuipulotu (c)
- Cameron Suafoa
- Akira Ioane
- Adrian Choat
- Hoskins Sotutu
- Sam Nock
- Beauden Barrett
- AJ Lam
- Harry Plummer
- Bryce Heem
- Mark Telea
- Zarn Sullivan
Replacements:
- Kurt Eklund
- Joshua Fusitu’a
- Nepo Laulala/James Lay
- James Tucker
- Anton Segner
- Taufa Funaki
- Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
- Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens
Players not considered: Finlay Christie, Caleb Clarke, Sam Darry, Alex Hodgman, Rieko Ioane, Dalton Papali’i, Tanielu Telea, Ofa Tu’ungafasi
Comments on RugbyPass
Who's Jarrad Hohepa?
1 Go to commentsSo let me get this straight. Say you have the dominant scrum. You are 99% sure you can go for a scrum pushover try on the line to win the game. The opposition knows it too. They give away a silly tap kick instead. You are now not allowed to scrum. This is ridiculous! *%@ing the game up as usual! The fact that the attacking teams are not allowed to scrum from a held up over the line is just as ridiculous. Really world rugby? Careful people might start a rebel league called True Rugby or Real Rugby.
72 Go to comments12 subs during a game? How has that been allowed to happen NB? I hate when the game goes in this monopolistic direction closing up shop, it just becomes non sport. Btw have you seen anything of how Liam Coltman was tracking for Lyon? He has just signed to return to Otago though we have a couple of young hookers developing here. He was a popular gentle natured character down here and I’m glad to see him back but maybe he will be a mentor primarily?
4 Go to commentsGreat breakdown and the global politics always confuses me a little. The southern hemisphere seems to be left out a bit but I wouldn’t even know where to start with fixing it. Club challenge could be a step in the right direction
4 Go to commentsSince he coached Free state, from that time onwards, I maintained he was the coach for the Boks. A nice, no nonsense guy with an excellent brain, who gets results.
11 Go to commentswell - they only played against 14 men and had the TMO team on their side - and still should have lost… so actually that makes sense.
32 Go to commentsSouthern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
5 Go to commentsReally poorly written rambling piece ..
4 Go to commentsIt was so boring
2 Go to commentspersonally I’d go with : 1. France 2. NZ 3. England 4. Ireland 5. Scotland
32 Go to commentsAndy everything becomes easier with experience therefor counting etc straight after a match becomes easier when you have 100+ caps vs 17 which is the experience you speak from.
160 Go to commentsGetting rid of the Dupont Law is a good thing and ought to have been done months ago! Officially getting rid of the croc roll is a good thing. The law about no scrums from a short arm is well intended in terms of speeding the game up but it’s an overreaction to a clever yet calculated gamble that could have blow up in South Africa’s face if they conceded a penalty from the scrum that was set after Willemse took claimed the mark in the World Cup QF.
72 Go to commentsRassie The GOAT
11 Go to commentsOf their 5 big matches in RWC Scotland and NZ were the easiest. They took a 12-3 lead against NZ and after the red decided it was best to hold the lead and take chances that came. None came and it was tight but they dug a lot deeper in the other two knock out matches. They had trounced NZ in Twickenham in a fixture that NZ must now regret. Psychology was clearly with SA in the final as a result.
32 Go to commentsMy favourite line/exchanges from Chasing the Sun 2. News headline: “SA. The last hurdle in ABs World Cup glory”. Something like that. “You’re all just a hurdle. A hop, skip and a jump”. Coming from Rassie and Jacque. Basically - nobody thinks you’re going to win. You’re just a pushover team. Nobody respects you. When the camera shows the players faces, you can see the effect. You can see the rev meters (die moer metertjies) firing up. Mitchell said he felt it prior to the 19 final. He said to Eddie watching the teams warming up that it was going to be a tough day at the office. Wave a red flag in front of South African, and you can expect a reaction. This is not unique - many teams rev themselves. And Bok teams in particular. With horrific consequences (discipline, poor thinking under pressure) because that’s the drawback to using emotion right? But what this Bok team does better than many since 2007 is channel the emotion and stay on task. Despite the emotion. Why, because while Rassie might play mind games - he talks about creating a safe environment. Listen to his recent honorary doctorate acceptance speech. While he uses psychology he creates psychological safety. He’s a damn fine coach. Can’t wait for Pretoria. It’s going to be a hummer.
11 Go to commentsWhat Rassie does for SA is big. It has helped people to unite and see we can win with the right people in place.
11 Go to commentsTerrible conditions for young players to express themselves just enjoy it guys. As a saffa great to see Ausie youth looking good. Wow SA have some great talent also.
2 Go to commentsYes, another example of French tv directors ensuring that incidents like this are swiftly glossed over for the benefit of their teams…
5 Go to commentsThe prospect of the club match ups across hemispheres is surely appetising for everyone. The reality however, may prove to be slightly different. There are currently two significant driving forces that have delivered to same teams consistently to the latter champions cup stages for years now. The first of those is the yawning gap in finances, albeit delivered by different routes. In France it’s wealthy private owners operating with a higher salary cap by some distance compared to England. In Ireland it’s led by a combination of state tax relief support, private Leinster academy funding and IRFU control - the provincial budgets are not equal! This picture is not going to change anytime soon. The second factor is the EPCR competition rules. You don’t need a PhD. in advanced statistical analysis from oxbridge to see the massive advantage bestowed upon the home team through every ko round of the tournament. The SA teams will gain the opportunity for home ko ties in due course but that could actually polarise the issue even further, just look at their difficulties playing these ties in Europe and then reverse them for the opposition travelling to SA. Other than that, the picture here is unlikely to change either, with heavyweight vested interests controlling the agenda. So what does all this point to for the club world championship? Well the financial differential between the nh and sh teams is pretty clear. And the travel issues and sporting challenge for away teams are significantly exacerbated beyond those already seen in the EPCR tournaments. So while the prospect of those match ups may whet our rugby appetites, I’m very much still to be convinced the reality will live up to expectations…
4 Go to comments