Super Rugby Aotearoa: Blues player ratings vs Chiefs
The Hurricanes’ victory over the Crusaders the night before was the perfect tonic to add spice to this match. If the Blues could garner a bonus point victory they could sit just a point behind the Crusaders team with three rounds to play in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
The Blues moved from three to one playmakers with Beauden Barrett at 10 and Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, Blake Gibson, Matt Duffie and TJ Faiane getting their chances in the starting lineup.
The Blues started with a bang but had to hold on as the determined Chiefs came back, final score 21-17, no bonus point but a hard earned victory. Here’re the Blues player ratings.
1. Alex Hodgman – 6.5
Good round the park, helped his captain crash over the line and some carries and tackles. Scrum wasn’t smooth on his shift so he will be under pressure from a resurgent Tu’inukuafe.
2. Kurt Eklund – 8
Try saving tackle 26 minute on Alaimalo. Has been solid on the set piece and energetic round the paddock. Played the full 80 so has gained full trust from the coaching team.
3. Ofa Tuungafasi – 7.5
Was good to see the two best tightheads in the country showing not only their scrumming prowess but their finer skills as well. 12th minute put a great shot on O’Neill. Powerful break led to Christie try. 7 carries and even a clearance from the base of the ruck. Off at 63.
4. Patrick Tuipulotu (c) – 7.5
Good to see big Patrick getting the ball in his hands as well as executing his core role. Some powerful running and a fine try.
5. Gerard Cowley-Tuioti – 8
Looks like he’s returning to hot form. Good work lifting either side of halftime with big tackles, line out steals and carries. Enviable headaches for selectors with him and Goodhue firing as other teams flag.
It's difficult to fault the Chiefs too harshly, despite the fact the Waikato franchise have sunk to their seventh consecutive loss.https://t.co/6QMMr810dB
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 26, 2020
6. Dalton Papalii – 7
Made the switch to blindside, kept Boshier quiet at the tackle. Had some adjustment issues at the scrum with Weber running down the blind gaining yards, leading him to lose his bind the next scrum where Hodgman conceded penalty without his weight.
7. Blake Gibson – 7.5
Had a strong outing in his 50th for the Blues. Top tackler with 16 and didn’t give up. Good example of that was at 27 minutes when he got run around by DMac but tracked back and seconds later flew like Superman to drag down Weber.
8. Akira Ioane – 7
Good defence out wide on players like Lienert-Brown and and Wainui. Twelve meaty tackles but conceded 4 penalties at breakdown. Nice little grubber to get Blues on attack for Christie’s try. The best thing about Akira this season, can anyone remember when he was involved in pushing and shoving after the whistle? He has matured immeasurably.
9. Finlay Christie – 7
Canny display from the halfback. Low and hard snipe for important try at 55 minutes. Off at 63.
10. Beauden Barrett – 7.5
It was priceless to see him in the 10 jersey again. Great first kickoff finding grass, a 50 metre clearing kick off his left foot. Brilliant touches on attack in the lead up to Tuipulotu try in the 16th minute. Interesting to see him move to the backfield with 15 to play.
Heartbreaking for the Chiefs. Should Josh Goodhue have been the one getting penalised? 🤔 #BLUvCHI #SuperRugbyAotearoa https://t.co/OfXjQ2Ypog
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 26, 2020
11. Caleb Clarke – 7
Always muscular with ball in hand.
12. TJ Faiane – 7
Love the urgency of his defence. Good foil for his outsides.
13. Rieko Ioane – 7.5
Anyone who doubts Rieko has the subtlety to be a world class centre can watch the no look pass to Duffie for his first try. Love seeing him smash over the advantage line and have the patience to go to ground and recycle if there’s nothing on.
14. Mark Telea – 7
Goes looking for work and doesn’t shirk defensively. Only black mark was in the 43rd minute where he lost the ball on attack.
15. Matt Duffie – 7
Ran a fantastic line for the first try. Off at 65.
SUBS
16. Luteru Tolai – N/A
17. Karl Tu’inukuafe – 8
On at 48. Very good bid for a starting role next week. Beefed up the scrum and gave the tiring Laulala a torrid time.
18. Sione Mafileo – 7.5
On at 63 minutes and earned penalties in his first two scrums.
19. Josh Goodhue – 8
On at 63 and relished having the fresh legs as everyone else felt fatigue. Two big carries straight up, a good attempt at maul turnover and then the last gasp penalty win at the breakdown in the 80th minute.
20. Tony Lamborn – N/A
On at 65
21. Sam Nock – 7
On at 63 and added some zip.
22. Otere Black – N/A
On at 65
23. Harry Plummer – N/A
On at 72 yellow carded after 78
Comments on RugbyPass
Big 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
1 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 commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to comments