Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

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Networkn
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#2906600 25-Apr-2022 21:07

I find it kind of amusing that the Crusaders get absolutely eviscerated here for defensive penalties, and negative defensive play, but this season the Blues have been as bad and in my view, at times, considerably worse, and it's crickets. They are offside frequently, slowing the ball down cynically and nothing...

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#2906671 26-Apr-2022 08:51

A particularly interesting thing over the weekend, was how often the Drua made the gain line. Pretty much every time they carried they went forward. That isn't a criticism of the Blues per se, but I did find it interesting, that even when backs when into forwards, they made the advantage line most of the time.

It seems to be a combination of power and hitting between tacklers and other stuff. I think we need to find better ways to get go forward, I often feel NZ teams are static in contact these days, unless it's a clean break etc.

I think the Drua played better than the score indicated.

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#2906698 26-Apr-2022 09:56

networkn:

I find it kind of amusing that the Crusaders get absolutely eviscerated here for defensive penalties, and negative defensive play, but this season the Blues have been as bad and in my view, at times, considerably worse, and it's crickets. They are offside frequently, slowing the ball down cynically and nothing...

They also actually get penalised for it 😉

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#2906780 26-Apr-2022 11:22

GV27:

networkn:

I find it kind of amusing that the Crusaders get absolutely eviscerated here for defensive penalties, and negative defensive play, but this season the Blues have been as bad and in my view, at times, considerably worse, and it's crickets. They are offside frequently, slowing the ball down cynically and nothing...

They also actually get penalised for it 😉

So do the Crusaders, and there is plenty of me complaining about Crusaders' ill-discipline (and AB's) and high penalty counts in recent years. Doesn't stop the comments about it, and the Blues are now employing the same negative tactics and should be called out on it.

Against the Drua they could easily have had a second guy in the bin almost immediately for repeatedly being offside in defence, but it wasn't picked up anywhere near as often as it was happening.

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#2906786 26-Apr-2022 11:37

networkn:

Against the Drua they could easily have had a second guy in the bin almost immediately for repeatedly being offside in defence, but it wasn't picked up anywhere near as often as it was happening.

Yea TBH I've found the play in a lot of NZ Super Rugby games very cynical for the most part. It amuses me when we show up to a Northern Hemisphere tour and just get whistled off the park and everyone acts shocked, like "How did this thing we just ignored locally suddenly become a problem?".

It used to be quite provincial in nature (You could count on Moody/Franksseses for a few penalties for thuggery, maybe a NI player for a reckless tackle/shoulder) but now it's just becoming instant offsides in the 22m area for a lot of teams by default.

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#2907814 28-Apr-2022 09:53

Wow Joe Moody has been ruled out for all of 2022! That is horrendous news.

I can't find the article I recently read on the analysis of our props in NZ, but it was actually great reading and broke down the strengths and weaknesses of our props in NZ and what they each needed to improve etc.

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#2908931 1-May-2022 10:55

Angus Gardiner should be sidelined for a couple of weeks at least for his performance refereeing the Blues v Force.

I am not certain the exact number of penalties the Blues gave away in the second half of that match, but 100% enough for at *least* 2 yellow cards, that doesn't count the ridiculous number of times they weren't penalized for being offside. Add to that the failed intercept which should have been yellow, 2 high shots which would have been at the very least 2 more penalties. He basically gifted the Blues a win they totally didn't deserve.

The only positive from that, was that they were surprisingly disciplined defending their own line in that last stanza of play.

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#2908932 1-May-2022 10:57

The Crusaders look very un Crusader-like right now. That was a very tough watch as a fan. They didn't deserve to win so in some ways I am glad they didn't. Two consecutive weeks looking they can't even do the basics and their attack looked awful for 70 minutes.

It's pretty concerning. The Warratahs look better than they did last year, but I'd still have expected a bonus-point win out of that match under normal circumstances.

It was awful. I hope they figure out what's wrong soon!

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#2908937 1-May-2022 11:17

The Warratahs were pretty much all over the Crusaders in the first half. But in usual fashion, the Crusaders appeared to come back in the second half. But Dalzell kind of sealed their fate by not taking the hint where his head contact avoided sanction to do an even higher shot a couple of minutes later and getting red carded.

I did believe they were going to achieve a 13 man miracle in the dying minutes because, well, that’s just what the Crusaders do. However that wouldn’t have been just in the context of the game. But no-one says sport has to be just.

The Highlanders proved patience can outlast passion in Fiji as well. Not quite the spectacle of the previous week’s Blues/Drua game though.

The Chiefs seem to muddle their way past the Reds. They certainly miss their marquee players being out with injury.

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#2908940 1-May-2022 11:41

Dingbatt:

The Warratahs were pretty much all over the Crusaders in the first half. But in usual fashion, the Crusaders appeared to come back in the second half. But Dalzell kind of sealed their fate by not taking the hint where his head contact avoided sanction to do an even higher shot a couple of minutes later and getting red carded.

I did believe they were going to achieve a 13 man miracle in the dying minutes because, well, that’s just what the Crusaders do. However that wouldn’t have been just in the context of the game. But no-one says sport has to be just.

The Highlanders proved patience can outlast passion in Fiji as well. Not quite the spectacle of the previous week’s Blues/Drua game though.

I am pretty happy with the way the red cards are being handed out. I like the new onfield framework, I think it produces fairer outcomes. Dalziel totally deserved Red the second time and I thought the decision the first time was fine as well.

The Crusaders looked better with 13 men by some margin than they did with 15, but I am not sure if it was the replacements and having more 'sync' between the players as a result of that, that was the biggest difference.

Re the Drua, I felt they could easily have upset the Highlanders, but as you say, grinding will often beat flare, though that one try down the sideline was a total screamer and defines the saying 'there is no substitute for speed'.

The Highlanders are a mess though right now, they have lost most of their structure, and their basic game is in tatters. Fans will be hoping that Brown has a longer term plan that is due to come together soon, or he may be looking for a few job.

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#2908942 1-May-2022 11:44

On the topic of red cards, something needs to change. We are getting as many if not more cards now than when the framework to try and reduce them was introduced (seems like, I haven't seen the stats).

I think the idea of fining players has some merit. It was discussed on the breakdown last week and initially, I scoffed, but I think we need additional something to get it working the way it needs to. Some of the head contact is sickening and as a few people have said, if you are a mother watching those games, are you going to be encouraging your son/daughter to play Rugby?

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#2908950 1-May-2022 12:54

Another thing that might be worth a try is sanctioning the coaches: "if your team gets more than X red cards or Y yellow cards in four games, or more than 1.5X reds or 1.5Y yellows in eight games, the coach is not allowed in the game day venue for four games, is not permitted to communicate with any team member from 2 hours before kick-off until after the final whistle, and is fined 50% of a month's salary"

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#2909017 1-May-2022 20:58

So, Australia have turned around the results in SRP, effectively 'beating' 3 of the 4 Kiwi teams (Yes, the Blues lost!).

The Brumbies looked pretty good, though I thought the Hurricanes were the best I'd seen them, at least for the first 40 minutes this season, they looked like the 'canes of a couple of seasons ago. I think Sangster will be able to consider himself very fortunate if he isn't pulled in front of the sanctions committee, that yellow looked pretty red to me.

I do think the Kiwis had an uncharacteristically bad week, and perhaps they will turn it around next week, but there seems to have been some progress across the ditch this year, though hard to know yet how that will play out during test season.

Ikitau is back to his destructive best after that horrible injury, he could be a real game-changer for the Wallabies, though I don't really feel AU have a first-class 10 right now. O'Conner is probably their most consistent. Tate McDermott and Jake Gordon would be my first two choice 9's.

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#2909242 2-May-2022 11:45

Indeed, its so great to see aussie rugby competitive again.

If NZ can mange to win the upcoming series vs Ireland then the Bledisloe and Rugby Championship look a lot harder. I personally feel that the AB's are on the slide

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#2909260 2-May-2022 12:49

It really feels like most of the NZ teams are fatigued and off the pace, compared to the first half of last year. It pretty much feels like the end of year tour (this was touched on in the Breakdown but I felt it the past 3-4 weeks particularly.

So many handling errors in the past couple of weeks since Australia. Unforced errors many of them.

Perhaps I am being a bit unfair, but I feel like we should still be blowing Australia off the park. They are showing some signs of improvement, I'd agree, but I don't think if this improvement was shown last year, we still would have won almost all games comfortably.

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