Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

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#2676875 19-Mar-2021 09:15

Wow, I hadn’t seen any other views of his foot in touch. So it really wasn’t a try. Oh well I guess they’ll need to replay the game from that point and put Brad Webber in credit for one yellow card as well ;-)

Or maybe they could give the Chiefs a 14 point lead (a try and a penalty try) and the Crusaders start with 14 players when they meet in Hamilton? Same thing for the Blues/Highlanders with a 7 point lead for the Blues at the beginning of the game in Dunedin. (For those who take everything literally, I am joking).

My initial gripe was more to do with the mistakes that were immediately obvious (Webber’s knock back that wasn’t and Ioane’s forward pass that wasn’t) and what followed.

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#2676877 19-Mar-2021 09:19

Dingbatt:

My initial gripe was more to do with the mistakes that were immediately obvious (Webber’s knock back that wasn’t and Ioane’s forward pass that wasn’t) and what followed.

I agree, they are pretty basic errors. To be fair though, Brad Weber was *so* offside, he probably deserved 2 yellow cards :)

I do think backwards out of the hand is a bit of a weird one, I understand the reasoning for it, but often it's pretty marginal to tell.

Having said that, last year during SRA, I think I counted maybe 8-9 seriously obvious forward passes in close that were never even picked up at all.

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#2677027 19-Mar-2021 10:09

Handle9:

The TMO didn't look at all the angles so yeah it was a bad decision. There have been photographs since that show it was not a try.

His comments around being lucky to have had green boots were similar.

I don't believe this photo has clear evidence his foot is touching the ground....its as inconclusive as the video evidence and people are seeing contact between foot and ground because that's what they want to see.

His comment was also largely tongue in cheek. Knowing that his foot scraped the ground in the micro second before he put the ball down? Come on....

A good decision by the TMO and ref, to award the benefit of the doubt to the attacking team. No clear evidence the try was not scored.

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#2677503 20-Mar-2021 09:15

The Warratahs look just awful, it's just sad to see them in that state. Another spanking last night, this time at the Rebels, playing at home for the first time in over a year.

The first try by the Rebels was a stunner and both tries by the Warratahs were nicely done bits of team work with lots of hands keeping the ball in play.

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#2678044 21-Mar-2021 18:54

Took my daughter to her first Eden Park rugby game today! She loved it! Pitty blues didnt get up but she was screaming for them the whole game!!!

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#2678063 21-Mar-2021 19:41

It had the potential to be a classic. Much was said about what the Blues were expected to bring from the forwards, but ultimately, I think the Crusaders forwards were fairly comfortably ahead for most of the game.

For me that first Blues try was clearly forward. The angle that showed it the best was one of the angles that the TMO didn't review (that's 3 in 2 weeks now).

Richie Mo'unga rightlyfully, again, man of the match. 31 points? He had an absoloute screamer off the tee.

The Crusaders were just too clinical most the game, but the Blues have come a massive way from 2-3 seasons ago. I think most Blues fans would be encouraged by the past 12 months of matches. They have a much more cohesive feel about them I think.

For Chiefs v Hurricanes, that was some comeback by them. Most people, including me, had written them off by half time I think, though Luke Jacobsens (?) unpenalized illegal entry at the ruck directly prior to the try the Chiefs scored last, was a big miss. Hopefully, with the monkey off their back (maybe?) the Chiefs can start to rebuild.

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#2678067 21-Mar-2021 20:00

France Wales was absolutely bonkers. The Six nations will now come down to France Scotland on Friday night.

The Six Nations really is the best tournament almost every year. The rugby is different to southern hemisphere rugby but the competition is of a far more consistent standard than the Rugby Championship. Five of the six teams are competitive every week and could win every game. That hasn't been the case in the Rugby Championship for some time.

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#2678068 21-Mar-2021 20:02

It's also very very noticeable that games officiated by Luke Pearce or Wayne Barnes are consistently excellent. They are probably number 1 and number 2 in the world at the moment. If England don't make the RWC in 2023 Pearce will probably get the final.

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#2678099 21-Mar-2021 23:18

Man the press are not being kind to the Blues. I didn't think they were bad per se. They made mistakes and decision making was pretty questionable at times, but overall, they scored 27 (20) points against the Crusaders, which isn't exactly insignificant. I felt their forwards were pretty reasonable. There were some very good phases where they made the advantage line at will.

I do wonder if Tu'ungafasi will be cited as I think his tackle primary made contact with the face.

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#2678128 22-Mar-2021 08:01

I know the NZ Rugby press are a bunch on sychophants but Phil Gifford must have put on his over sized red and black eye patch this week. Apparently Codie Taylor now ranks with the greats of the game.

Taylor is a very good player and has been good at the top level but for goodness sake. A great of the game? Please.

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#2678167 22-Mar-2021 08:39

networkn:

For Chiefs v Hurricanes, that was some comeback by them. Most people, including me, had written them off by half time I think, though Luke Jacobsens (?) unpenalized illegal entry at the ruck directly prior to the try the Chiefs scored last, was a big miss. Hopefully, with the monkey off their back (maybe?) the Chiefs can start to rebuild.

I missed that infringement, but did see Barrett prevent a try with a high tackle in the corner just before McKenzie’s disallowed try. I also saw Laumape dive on McKenzie when he was on the ground (without the ball) which led to the Hurricanes’ third try. So I guess it’s swings and roundabouts.

The Blues were simply outclassed by the Crusaders. While the Crusaders pack did the hard graft I was impressed by Jordan, and Mo’unga is just a magician.

I was amazed the Blues No16 managed to stay on the field for flipping Reece after the fact. Reece’s infringement of taking the man in the air was at the low end of things, what he did in retribution wasn’t.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

GV27

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#2678172 22-Mar-2021 08:43

networkn:

Man the press are not being kind to the Blues. I didn't think they were bad per se. They made mistakes and decision making was pretty questionable at times, but overall, they scored 27 (20) points against the Crusaders, which isn't exactly insignificant. I felt their forwards were pretty reasonable. There were some very good phases where they made the advantage line at will.

I do wonder if Tu'ungafasi will be cited as I think his tackle primary made contact with the face.

I didn't see it make primary contact with the face on any of the camera angles, but he should be benched anyway for giving away a needless penalty. If you're having to clear out players on the ground with their hands on the ball like Barrett, then real issue is you've let him get his hands on the ball while standing over it in the first place.

The Blues, for the most part, have gone from being 80% off to 80% of the way there. They are capable of some great rugby but there is clearly some culture issues at play within the squad. You shouldn't be giving away that many penalties against a team like the Crusaders, nor should you be conceding yellows with less than 10 to go. There's also a few selection head-scratchers; Ruru is perhaps better as an impact player but he doesn't have the kicking game to make territory and he persisted with the shallow box kick in our own territory for far too long - I can't see him starting the next game. Likewise we didn't seem to be winning many turnovers at ruck time and it seemed pretty easy for Canterbury to stand over tackled players and draw a penalty. We clearly have mobile loose forwards but the support drops away after a few quick phases - who is organising that on-field, and why isn't it working?

Meanwhile, the suplex (another bench-job, for sure) and the clearing out of a player on the ground (always risky) are just total momentum-changers and cost us any chance at that game, when we clearly had the wheels and the ability to get a win. A great spectacle, but not a great game.

GV27

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#2678175 22-Mar-2021 08:47

Dingbatt:

I was amazed the Blues No16 managed to stay on the field for flipping Reece after the fact. Reece’s infringement of taking the man in the air was at the low end of things, what he did in retribution wasn’t.

It wasn't a neck roll, he didn't land on his head and it was just a penalty for going over the 180. Intent here should probably matter more than outcomes, seems like a bit of a hole in how that 'dangerous play' is worked through. The fact the throw was so clean ended up working in his favour, which is nuts.

Having said that, Reece seems to give away at least one penalty for a dangerous challenge in the air every week. No excuses for just flying into the contest area at full speed, the outcomes are only ever going to be dangerous. Again, another situation where outcomes shouldn't get you off the hook for blatantly reckless play.

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#2678178 22-Mar-2021 09:10

Dingbatt:

The Blues were simply outclassed by the Crusaders. While the Crusaders pack did the hard graft I was impressed by Jordan, and Mo’unga is just a magician.

I was amazed the Blues No16 managed to stay on the field for flipping Reece after the fact. Reece’s infringement of taking the man in the air was at the low end of things, what he did in retribution wasn’t.

Reece deserved a penalty, he did actually try and catch him a bit on his way down once he realized what he did.

Yeah, there is a lot of inconsistency around cards. I agree with the Ekland neck roll it was pretty grim.

The thing with Jordan is just how fast he is. I'd love to see Mo'unga do better at test level, I expected he would shine honestly, he seems to handle pressure pretty well. He was one of the best for the AB's last year, but they were fairly mixed the whole season, so that's not saying too much.

I am not sure if the dual playmaker thing is his cup of tea, or Barretts either. It has massive potential but isn't really clicking. There have been some brilliant moments, but far too few of them.

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#2678181 22-Mar-2021 09:15

GV27:

Dingbatt:

I was amazed the Blues No16 managed to stay on the field for flipping Reece after the fact. Reece’s infringement of taking the man in the air was at the low end of things, what he did in retribution wasn’t.

It wasn't a neck roll, he didn't land on his head and it was just a penalty for going over the 180. Intent here should probably matter more than outcomes, seems like a bit of a hole in how that 'dangerous play' is worked through. The fact the throw was so clean ended up working in his favour, which is nuts.

Having said that, Reece seems to give away at least one penalty for a dangerous challenge in the air every week. No excuses for just flying into the contest area at full speed, the outcomes are only ever going to be dangerous. Again, another situation where outcomes shouldn't get you off the hook for blatantly reckless play.

I think that's inaccurate and harsh. I think the intent is less important than outcomes at at least should be relative. Even if you didn't mean to break someone's neck, they are still injured. Reece is allowed to challenge in the air, he had eyes only for the ball. I think there have been some great contests in the air, and some great tries scored from those, however, it's a massive risk and everytime I see the ball go high I cringe at what's coming.

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