Blues team to take on the Lions:

1 Alex Hodgman, 2. James Parsons , 3. Ofa Tuungafasi, 4. Patrick Tuipulotu, 5. Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 6. Jerome Kaino, 7. Antonio Kiri Kiri, 8. Akira Ioane;
9 Sam Nock, 10. Bryn Gatland, 11. Melani Nanai, 12. Sonny Bill Williams, 13. Rieko Ioane, 14. Matt Duffie,15. Michael Collins.

Reserves: 16. Ross Wright, 17. Pauliasi Manu, 18. Michael Tamoaieta, 19. Scott Scrafton, 20 Jimmy Tupou, 21. Murphy Taramai, 22. Jonathan Ruru, 23. Stephen Perofeta.

Players not considered because of injury: Otere Black (knee), Blake Gibson (shoulder), Glenn Preston (calf), Matt Moulds (knee), Dalton Papalii (hand), Augustine Pulu (foot), Kara Pryor (leg).

No Moala?

@jk he isnt in the injured list either.

No idea why Nock is starting over Ruru.

7 still a real problem with Gibson, Papalii and Pryor still injured.

Good to see a different bench hooker.

Pleased that Wright’s form has been rewarded.

That leaves Apisai on the outer, not listed as injured and a non squad member promoted ahead of him. Moulds still to return too. What a dud selection.

6/2 split is risky given our injury luck. Also this will delay any tactical subbing on of Perofeta.

@kiwimurph I expect the sole reason is Nock is, erm, more experienced!

Time for him to step up and show he is up to it, sadly not confident, his talent has only been seen in rare moments to date.

Stoked for Ross Wright!!

Good to see the best wing in the world at centre!

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Cyle Brink, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen

Reserves: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Ashlon Davids, 23 Harold Vorster

Blues by 2 tries

Nock was awful last week. Missing at rucks and there was zero continuity. Can't see the Blues getting many W's with him on the field

@kiwimurph wow, in other news, the sun will set in the west.

@paekakboyz Nock also had the ball clean ripped off him twice like candy from a baby.

@taniwharugby I think this is the first time SBW and Rieko have played together in the midfield? Blues need to stick with this combo for a while (if SBW can stay on the field).

12. Sonny Bill Williams, 13. Rieko Ioane

That's pretty exciting, otherwise its a very average team.

@jk said in Lions v Blues:

No Moala?

Too much weights not enough Rugby skills work.

@kiwimurph Yeah I know, but pretty much all the Blues game plans simply must revolve around Rieko, whether as a ball carrier or decoy, add the threat of SBW, if those 2 gel, they could be very destructive.

Yep, has to be last chance saloon for Nock and can probably consider himself lucky to get the start!

@MN5 like passing?

@taniwharugby said in Lions v Blues:

@kiwimurph Yeah I know, but pretty much all the Blues game plans simply must revolve around Rieko, whether as a ball carrier or decoy, add the threat of SBW, if those 2 gel, they could be very destructive.

Yep, has to be last chance saloon for Nock and can probably consider himself lucky to get the start!

@MN5 like passing?

He never did quite become the Nonu that we hoped he would.

Excited about that midfield, but Gatland will need to help them out a bit by not standing deep and just shovelling.

A bit perplexing that our best lock is on the bench. This will be our 3rd lock pairing in 3 weeks.

I really thought they'd start Ruru. Nock looked so mentally shot after a couple of turnovers last week, he tried his best to avoid touching the ball altogether near the end of the game.

Bench looks pretty average overall and lacks impact value for the most part. Good to see Perofeta back though.

@taniwharugby said in Lions v Blues:

@kiwimurph
Yep, has to be last chance saloon for Nock and can probably consider himself lucky to get the start!

@MN5 like passing?

Nock really is playing for another contract with communication (or lack of) being one thing the Blues have told him must improve.

@dice said in Lions v Blues:

A bit perplexing that our best lock is on the bench. This will be our 3rd lock pairing in 3 weeks.

Yeah it's odd, Scrafton is clearly the best performing lock (and tight forward) in the team.

Tuipolotu should be on the bench.

@sammyc said in Lions v Blues:

@dice said in Lions v Blues:

A bit perplexing that our best lock is on the bench. This will be our 3rd lock pairing in 3 weeks.

Yeah it's odd, Scrafton is clearly the best performing lock (and tight forward) in the team.

Tuipolotu should be on the bench.

I agree, even more so with this game being played at altitude. It'd also help balance out a bench devoid of impact type players.

@nogusta ha, yeah was a maul late in the game last week when he shoulda been screaming at his forwards, but he kinda stood there waiting for something to happen, and the something that happened was the maul collapsed and the blues lost the ball.

It seems to me that they see the 3 locks as interchangeable with 1 of them rotated onto the bench - Tuipulotu was on the bench week 1, GCT in week 2 and Scrafton this week.

Maybe also they think Scrafton on the bench will help balance the second half slump the Blues have been having? Bringing on a hard worker off the pine to help the Blues battle against the altitude?

Proof will be in the pudding.

It will be interesting to see how Hodgman fares against Dreyer in the scrums. If he doesn't get dominated, then he could be an option for the All Blacks as quality LHPs are a rarity.

Finally, the Blues get over the line; excellent try from Akira Aioneee. (What's up with these commentators not being able to pronounce his name correctly?)

Half time: 21 - 10 to the Lions.

Blues are really struggling to get through the Lions' defence. Also giving away a lot of penalties. Gatland-Nock combo not working. I suspect the effect of altitude that will kick in during the 2nd half, will make it even harder for the Blues to catch up.

Nock replaced early; Ruru on in the 44th minute.

Gatland's kicking game has been terrible thus far. Not kicking into touch; inaccurate cross-kicks; now also missing an easy penalty kick. Bring on Perofeta!

Geez, and now a pass from Ruru is intercepted and the Lions are over again. 28 - 10.

They showed a stat earlier that the Blues had 62% possession and the Lions a lot of missed tackles, but that's clearly not reflected in the score.

Rieko gets the try after a great pass from Ruru.
Lots of subs have been made in the mean time, including Perofeta.

Perofeta looks good with Ruru. Was Hodgman concussed?

Wow, another try from Rieko! The subs have had a positive influence and have sped up the game considerably.
Ruru + Perofeta is miles better than Nock + Gatland.

@stargazer said in Lions v Blues:

Wow, another try from Rieko! The subs have had a positive influence and have sped up the game considerably.
Ruru + Perofeta is miles better than Nock + Gatland.

More cohesion and the Team is really moving forward.

SBW is pretty disappointing though.

@stargazer said in Lions v Blues:

SBW is pretty disappointing though.

Duffie's defence has been suspect, he still comes in and exposes his Wing.

@number9 said in Lions v Blues:

@stargazer said in Lions v Blues:

SBW is pretty disappointing though.

Duffie's defence has been suspect, he still comes in and exposes his Wing.

Not just Duffie's defence. Lions strike back immediately.

35 -24 to the Lions with 6 minutes to go.

Try Tupou. Probably the only name the commentators have pronounced right during the game.

Boys chancing their arm, bench has been strong. Lions have been strong at the breakdown. We can get the ball wide, keep the all in hand we can win this.

Hell yeah!!!! That's game!!!!

Awesome! The Blues beat the Lions with a converted try in referee's time! Geez, how much did the Blues improve after the subs came on!

Final score: Lions 35 - 38 Blues

Sack the coach!

Brilliant win against a very good lions,there were times I wanted to turn off and go to bed,delighted I stayed up..!,some great impact from the bench..,