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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.
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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.
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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
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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
Results probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to comments