@african-monkey Agree, they were equally as dumb, but the Blues had so many chances in the Lions' 22 and turned the ball over with unnecessary offloads. The Lions should have won it at the end but I feel the Blues were only trailing due to their own ineptitude. The Lions were nowhere near their best and the Blues almost stuffed it up imo.

The Lions really need to find a balance between their all out attacking game plan and a more pragmatic one when closing out games. They never should have lost that in the last few minutes.

@african-monkey said in Lions v Blues:

@akan004 The Lions also showed how not to close a game out. It's as if they can only play at a high tempo pace. Great heart shown from the boys despite our obvious flaws.

Then the French outdid both and gave the ultimate 'not closing' lesson

These Blues threads are a lot less interesting when the team wins.

@Crucial not many on here are able to watch the games played in the middle of the night.

That's a good effort from the Blues, winning in SA is still pretty tough despite the lack of quality in the SA conference. I took them by 1-8 in the tipping, as I think they are a better side than most give them credit for. The NZ conference is once again brutal as fuck, with most of the NZ derbies evenly matched.

@no-quarter I had them 1-8 and by 4 in another tipping comp.

I think if it was played in NZ time zone would make it busier.

Wey hey. Well done the Bluesers!

Just finished watching the recording.

Felt sorry for the Blues as most of the Lions' tries came from errors.

A win in Africa, at altitude, after travel delays, v Lions.

Maybe T is doing a good job...

@stargazer said in Lions v Blues:

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?)

Pronunciation seems to be optional and quite random for the Saffer comms. (And I'll throw the Aussie comms under the bus with them.)

Annoys me as NZ at least make the effort:

• The Lions' halfback is Cron-yay not Cron-gee.
• Du Plessis is Du Pless-see not Du Pless-siss.
• Mapoe is Ma-pooh not Ma-po-eh etc.

FYI driving yesterday arvo heard ABC loigue commentators saying they will be trying to pronounce some PI players' names properly as a result of learnings from the RLWC. This is good. However they sounded almost apologetic though, explaining that's how the players want it pronounced, kind of as if they shouldn't...

@stargazer said in Lions v Blues:

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.

Yeah. Felt the Lions were flattered by that lead.

@stargazer said in Lions v Blues:

SBW is pretty disappointing though.

I'll white knight him.

Thought he was good apart from that horrendous early dropped ball.

@crucial said in Lions v Blues:

Sack the coach!

de Bruin?

@crucial said in Lions v Blues:

@steven-harris said in Lions v Blues:

@stargazer your not wrong about the names

Tamma-rye

Kiwikiwi was who he subbed ...

@crucial said in Lions v Blues:

@rebound said in Lions v Blues:

@crucial
What about his charge down, it was always going to be a charge down. He and Nanai are the most frustrating, always do something crap mixed with the good they do

With Ruru he may have just edged on the right side of the ledger, but only just.

Do you mean Nye-nye?

Nan-eye

Loosehead prop Alex Hodgman suffered a suspected broken arm.

Brilliant result.

Perofeta won that game. The game changed when he came on at 10. He attacked the line but he also has great passing skills. He is some talent.

After Perofeta came on the 10-12-13 channel started to really flourish.

Credit to the bench forwards too - the decision to pick 6 forwards on the bench paid off. Ross Wright was a huge improvement over Apasai.

Akira Ioane wow. There he was at the end to drive Taramai over for the winning try.

Im not sure what this means for the season but a great win - credit where it is due - well done Tana and the coaching team.

Very good finish by us, not sure how we won that one. Good to get the win though, especially against a decent team away at altitude.

Perofeta looked silky out there, almost Cruden-like in that 2nd half. Is he the one we've been waiting for? I hope so. He should definitely start next week.

The bench actually added something to the game, which is a rare thing for us.

Akira is on fire at the moment. The Lions were struggling to contain him all game.

I like that we added more wrinkles to our attack for this game. It still looks like a work in progress though, but it's promising to see some creativity for once.

Although we got the win, we still looked very Blues-like for a lot of the game. If this were a derby game, we'd probably lose. You can't go down in the 22 so many times and come away with nothing. Hopefully the win gives us confidence, but we can't be totally satisfied with that performance.

@stargazer said in Lions v Blues:

SBW is pretty disappointing though.

I've just watched the replay and SBW was poor in the 1st half especially, and only marginally better in the 2nd half. Rieko looked a bit lost at centre in the 1st half too.

Akira I-O-Nee was a beast and deserved MOTM.

The Blues decision to go with a 6-2 bench ended up being the right call as the forward subs all made an impact.

@dice said in Lions v Blues:

Although we got the win, we still looked very Blues-like for a lot of the game. If this were a derby game, we'd probably lose. You can't go down in the 22 so many times and come away with nothing. Hopefully the win gives us confidence, but we can't be totally satisfied with that performance.

Yes, the first 60 mins was the same old shit, a poorly organised team of individuals. Akira and a handful of others were keeping us in touch and nothing more.

Ruru had 2 or 3 big errors early on but still showed enough to be given an extended run in the starting XV alongside Perofeta.
Parsons demands selection and led the side well. A big test fo Umaga will be what he does when Pulu returns. In 2016 & 2017 he stuck by his favourites for way too long.

Perofeta living up to the hype so far. Now hopefully he can back it up.

What that last 20 mins showed is that this squad has more than enough talent to finish in the top 8 of a 15 team competition

@bovidae said in Lions v Blues:

I've just watched the replay and SBW was poor in the 1st half especially, and only marginally better in the 2nd half. Rieko looked a bit lost at centre in the 1st half too.

Yeah, not for the first time in a Blues jersey SBW looked a bit shit. Also, I'm not convinced by Rieko's defence in the midfield.
I suspect they'll stick with this pair because of the result though. Maybe things click for SBW if Perofeta starts the match.

@steven-harris said in Lions v Blues:

Gonna throw this out there,Jerome Kaino has been a great player no question,but I suspect he’s a bit off the pace and looking a shadow of himself given he’s heading off shore,do you invest more in a younger more dynamic loose forward mix..?

I'm hoping its the usual Kaino taking a while to build into form and not old age..

A younger more dynamic option? Do you have anyone in mind? Papali'i when he gets back, but he's probably needed at 7 initially. Not sure Tupou adds anything that Kaino doesn't even on current form.

@duluth

My comment was related to Rieko rushing out of the defensive line a few times and missing his man. On the wing he has a roving role which makes him more dangerous, particularly from broken play. His 2nd try was a good example of how dangerous he is.

@tim said in Lions v Blues:

Loosehead prop Alex Hodgman suffered a suspected broken arm.

Isaac Salmon onto the bench I guess? He isn't listed as injured

Hopefully Ofa doesn't have to cover LH

@duluth Ross Wright is a looshead too...which is what he was signed as I believe, not as a hooker?

@taniwharugby

Cool, then we can have Apisai on the bench again!

Good option, but I really hope he stays where he is too

@duluth haha good point.

@KiwiMurph maybe it's time to bring back Sam Prattley?

Really liked the injection of Ross Wright and Perofeta, they made a helluva difference. Nice touches from the eyeownee bros and SBW plus nye-nye (when they finally got their shit together)
The perofeta/ruru combo worked well. Blues need a steady hand on the tiller, and not the flaky-headedness of Gatland. Hopefully a turning point for T's men.

@african-monkey said in Lions v Blues:

@KiwiMurph maybe it's time to bring back Sam Prattley?

Haha fml. They really should keep Wright at hooker and fly over an actual loosehead.

I think people are being harsh on the midfield combo. They got better as the game went on and both stood out in the second half.

Rieko put Nanai into a gap in the second half with a beautiful pass.

Realistically who the heck else are the Blues going to have in midfield - Faiane has yet to show anything at this level.

Don't get cute - keep SBW and Rieko together and let them build a combo.

What was the first scrum penalty for?

@tim

I think that the one Hodgeman went to ground briefly before coming back up and dominating the rest of the scrum?

Ruru made a couple of big mistakes, but he gets to the ball and clears it. Looking forward to his combo with Perofeta. Think we looked better without Pulu.

SBW was very good in the 2nd half. That midfield combo will do some damage when it settles in.

Scrafton and other bench forwards went well. Ofa T was good today.

Great to see Ioane driving a player over the line at the end.

Need to tighten up a bit - less pushed passes in the first half, and tighter defence all round.

@booboo said in Lions v Blues:

Wey hey. Well done the Bluesers!

Just finished watching the recording.

Felt sorry for the Blues as most of the Lions' tries came from errors.

A win in Africa, at altitude, after travel delays, v Lions.

Maybe T is doing a good job...

What would the odds have been on both the Blues and Warriors winning away in the same weekend/night?

@virgil dunno but wouldn't have minded $5 on it

@booboo said in Lions v Blues:

@virgil dunno but wouldn't have minded $5 on it

We'd all like to retire on a $5 bet

@nepia this woulda been a good start...

Just incase people didn't know, I think Hamish Bidwell hates the Blues

@african-monkey said in Lions v Blues:

Just incase people didn't know, I think Hamish Bidwell hates the Blues

Fark, that's bitter.

@nzzp said in Lions v Blues:

@african-monkey said in Lions v Blues:

Just incase people didn't know, I think Hamish Bidwell hates the Blues

Fark, that's bitter.

Is it fair though? The Blues lost to a very weak Chiefs side that they should have been able to put away. To me it does say more about the Lions

@hooroo we put the boot into the Blues on most occasions,but on this occasion to fly into Joburg a day late and beat a Lions team that has been easily been the best team in the republic in the last few seasons and at various stages of the game your down 0-21 & 10-28 and you finish the stronger against the home team at altitude,to me that’s a more than solid effort
Personally I think the Blues were very poor against the chiefs,I believe they dropped their standards from the Landers game.

@steven-harris the Blues also had better selection v the Lions than they had v Chiefs - Rieko at centre, Wright as the bench hooker, Perofeta as the replacement 10 etc.

@steven-harris said in Lions v Blues:

@hooroo we put the boot into the Blues on most occasions,but on this occasion to fly into Joburg a day late and beat a Lions team that has been easily been the best team in the republic in the last few seasons and at various stages of the game your down 0-21 & 10-28 and you finish the stronger against the home team at altitude,to me that’s a more than solid effort
Personally I think the Blues were very poor against the chiefs,I believe they dropped their standards from the Landers game.

Fair enough. I guess time will tell regarding the effectiveness of the Lions. It is always good to go and win away in SA