Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

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#3502898 14-Jun-2026 17:46

I didn't have a campaign against Foster. Totally did against Robertson though. He hadn't earned his stripes and was foisted upon us AB fans by a rabid and one eyed fanbase.

Speaking of dirty, the Crusaders had 11 yellow cards this season, and should have had two more on Friday night but the ref obviously felt sorry for them. That's 4 more cards than the next kiwi side.

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#3502951 14-Jun-2026 20:12

tukapa1:

I didn't have a campaign against Foster. Totally did against Robertson though. He hadn't earned his stripes and was foisted upon us AB fans by a rabid and one eyed fanbase.

So the AB's Coaches get picked by the FANS? How did Foster get in then? He had almost no fans ? Do you think you might need to check that chip on your shoulder a little?

If you think Cantabrians were the only ones who wanted Robertson as coach, I have a bridge to sell you. I mean really?!

Regardless, you don't get to lecture on vitirol.

Speaking of dirty, the Crusaders had 11 yellow cards this season, and should have had two more on Friday night but the ref obviously felt sorry for them. That's 4 more cards than the next kiwi side.

Who has complained the most about discipline of their team the most in this forum? Me.

On the plus side, with Rennie as coach, this probably means that Roigard will be captain and based on the most yellow cards, the the entire rest of the team will be Crusaders. The reserves will come from the Blues, since they were the most penalised.

Sorry Canes and Chiefs fans.

Are we done with this nonsense yet!?

ROFL.

GV27

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#3502981 14-Jun-2026 20:47

networkn:

The Blues put up a much better fight than I expected, but ultimately, the Canes ran away with it. It felt inevitable.

The Blues were really, really badly hurt by the HIAs for Clark and Lam. Having said that, the Hurricanes running off the shoulder in midfield is way above any other team in Super Rugby and the Blues had nothing for it. Christie was also mighty on defence, he's the first point of contact in the close-quarters stuff and it blows my mind how often the small numbers are just standing there watching him do it.

Should make for an interesting final; a very forwards-dominated Waikato operation that plays a game a phase or two away from the ruck 90% of the time vs. a team that will run five players in close quarters at a backline and always seems to have one more player than you have defending.

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#3503609 16-Jun-2026 21:20

I know this will go down like a cup of cold sick for many here, but my view on the Blues is that they only really got good, once they found a coach (ex crusaders) who understood how to instill culture and unity and a will to play for each other. IMO Leon Macdonald was the reason the Blues won their only super rugby title in quite a few years, more as a carry over from his prior years.

People credited Cotter, and he will have played a part esp around the consistent steel in the forwards, but MacDonald did what so many tried before and failed at, and that was making the Blues play like a team rather than 15 players as a group called the Blues. The Blues rubbish end to their season (which should have stopped at the QF's), in my opinion, was because they stopped playing like the Blues and went back to their bad old habits of relying on one or two players to change a game. IE the MacDonald effect has faded over time with no-one to reinforce it.

I could be wrong.. I was just reflecting on how different the Blues have felt over time once LM left, and how much they improved, esp consistency, over his tenure.

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#3503634 17-Jun-2026 07:57

I was at the super final vs chiefs. It was a masterclass of powerful wet weather forward play from the Blues. You see glimpses of it this season but they don't seem to be able to string it together for more than 20 min periods.

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#3503888 18-Jun-2026 09:14

lachlanw:

I was at the super final vs chiefs. It was a masterclass of powerful wet weather forward play from the Blues. You see glimpses of it this season but they don't seem to be able to string it together for more than 20 min periods.

Ok, I mean I watched it, but not at the game. I felt the Chiefs just turned up and weren't in the match. I didn't think the Blues so much won it as the Chiefs didn't even really compete for it.

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#3503891 18-Jun-2026 09:25

The teams for this weekends final have been posted. It's a pretty compelling list of players for both sides. They seem to be mostly both fairly injury free. It looks pretty even overall.

I suspect that the Canes will likely ice this one, home advantage being the main diffference. On Neutral ground i wouldn't give odds.

I wonder if it's going to be an ultra defensive effort, and fairly low scoring. The Chiefs have nothing to lose, if I was them I'd throw everything into attack.

I hope the referee doesn't end up having to be too involved.

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#3503892 18-Jun-2026 09:29

I thnk it will be a cracking game.... Chiefs have lost the last 3 finals I think, so will this be their year?

Hurricanes will be hard to beat at home though, and they will be hungry to break their 10 year title drought

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#3503894 18-Jun-2026 09:34

OnceBitten:

I thnk it will be a cracking game.... Chiefs have lost the last 3 finals I think, so will this be their year?

Hurricanes will be hard to beat at home though, and they will be hungry to break their 10 year title drought

If they can stand up the way they did against the Crusaders, perhaps, though there is a risk they played their final last week. They couldn't sustain that though, they lost the second half. Could have gone scoreless in the second half easily.

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#3503896 18-Jun-2026 09:39

networkn:

The teams for this weekends final have been posted. It's a pretty compelling list of players for both sides. They seem to be mostly both fairly injury free. It looks pretty even overall.

I'm not sure where you get the injury free bit. The Chiefs are without a lot of players, mostly outside backs and including a couple of All Blacks. i.e. Sititi, Narawa, Rona, Hutchison, Foketi, Nanai-Seturo.

It was a daunting enough prospect facing this Canes team in Welly already. These absentees make it even harder. That's just sport though. Dealing with injuries within a squad is all part of the game. The Saders, Blues and Landers all had a lot this year. By comparison, the Canes seem to have just been very lucky this year with lack of injuries.

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#3503898 18-Jun-2026 09:49

networkn:

If they can stand up the way they did against the Crusaders, perhaps, though there is a risk they played their final last week. They couldn't sustain that though, they lost the second half. Could have gone scoreless in the second half easily.

Not that it really matters, but again that's actually factually incorrect. Being GZ and all, facts and figures do seem to matter. The second half was 7-7.

Also, IMO I wouldn't really say the Chiefs 'couldn't sustain it'. They had the game well and truly won near the end and took Carter off and voluntarily played with 14 payers, with Ratima on the wing etc. Having said that, the injury toll of that effort could prove decisive this week.

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OnceBitten

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#3503904 18-Jun-2026 10:15

networkn:

If they can stand up the way they did against the Crusaders, perhaps, though there is a risk they played their final last week. They couldn't sustain that though, they lost the second half. Could have gone scoreless in the second half easily.

if the Chiefs play like they did in the 1st half against the Crusaders, it might be bye bye Hurricanes.... Chief's played the first half at a frenetic pace

but in saying that I wouldn't write the Canes off..... they've been pretty dominant all season

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#3503908 18-Jun-2026 10:21

Earbanean:

Not that it really matters, but again that's actually factually incorrect. Being GZ and all, facts and figures do seem to matter. The second half was 7-7.

Also, IMO I wouldn't really say the Chiefs 'couldn't sustain it'. They had the game well and truly won near the end and took Carter off and voluntarily played with 14 payers, with Ratima on the wing etc. Having said that, the injury toll of that effort could prove decisive this week.

Factually, my comment was accurate, the Crusders had the better of the Chiefs for the majority of the second half. They didn't convert that into points, but they blew a *lot* of opportunities and had some bad luck (bounce of the ball etc, which went the way for the Chiefs). Factually, the the Chiefs could have gone the second half scoreless pretty easily. They didn't really look like scoring until there was a pretty major error on the part of the Crusaders.

Clearly, also accurate that they couldn't sustain it, otherwise the scoreline would have been 60+ to the Chiefs. Yes they took someone off in the last few minutes, when it was statistically impossible for them to lose, but that's good management, the Crusaders have done similar in the past too.

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#3503910 18-Jun-2026 10:30

networkn:

Factually, my comment was accurate, the Crusders had the better of the Chiefs for the majority of the second half. They didn't convert that into points, but they blew a *lot* of opportunities and had some bad luck (bounce of the ball etc, which went the way for the Chiefs). Factually, the the Chiefs could have gone the second half scoreless pretty easily. They didn't really look like scoring until there was a pretty major error on the part of the Crusaders.

Clearly, also accurate that they couldn't sustain it, otherwise the scoreline would have been 60+ to the Chiefs. Yes they took someone off in the last few minutes, when it was statistically impossible for them to lose, but that's good management, the Crusaders have done similar in the past too.

This is silly, but yes your comment was factually incorrect. You said the Chiefs "lost" the second half. The score in the second half was 7-7. That means that objectively, factually, observably, the Chiefs did NOT lose the second half. Whether one team 'had the better of the other' or 'could have gone scoreless' is a completely different thing than the score - and is subjective.

You made a mistake, I clarified it. Move on. Why is it so hard for you to just say "Oops yeah, you're right. The second half was in fact a draw"?

Edit: 2 x typos

MikeAqua

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#3503924 18-Jun-2026 11:10

MikeAqua:

Based on the weekend performances ...

Hurricanes should easily clean up the Blues.

The other semi is harder for me to pic.

Crusaders were fantastic on attack, but let far too many tries in against the Blues.

Chiefs were clinical in patches but unconvincing in others. They're usually a strong defensive team. Their +/- is 90 ahead of the Crusaders and second only to the Canes.

If the Crusaders are sloppy on D again, or if they get a strict ref, I think they'll lose.

On balance ... I'm guessing a Canes-Chiefs final.

Called it.

Mike

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