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

@kiwimurph My 6/2 bench pick with Perofeta covering fullback paid off.

Nick Mallett on the game:

Full credit to the Blues. They made 938m against 547 for the Lions. The Lions had to make 177 tackles and 86 for the Blues. The Lions missed 32 tackles against 12 for the Blues. The Blues made 208 passes to 110 for the Lions, so nearly twice as many, and they enjoyed 63% territory as opposed to 37%. Those are really dominant statistics in terms of metres made, forcing the opposition to tackle more and, in the end, it was the better team that won.

Collins really does need to work hard on that speed/agility. He gets in great positions but just needs that explosiveness to be able to exploit them better.

@tim

Which is part of the reason why Blues fans should be a little wary. We were dominating the stats throughout the game, yet somehow we were down by 18 points at the the 63min mark?? Until that final quarter it looked like a continuation of the Chiefs match.

There's loads of positives from this match, but you still have to look at how much of a hole the Blues got themselves into.

@duluth

It's a good point, but I think you might have to buckle up and let that happen, because a few of those points came about from the way the Blues play - pushing passes and trying to take advantage of space can lead to turnovers (e.g., SBW dropped offload) and intercepts (e.g., Ruru) that lead to points. They are a risky team, but can really punish sides when it comes off.

I thought this game was similar to the same match from a couple of years ago.

I just looked it up, back in 2014 it was a slightly different result. Instead of winning 38-35 the comeback fell short and we lost 36-39. At the 64min the Blues were down by 15

@gt12

Good point. Then we might as well go all out attack - Duffie to fullback and Clarke on the wing. Try to win games 55-50

@tim said in Lions v Blues:

Nick Mallett on the game:

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Full credit to the Blues. They made 938m against 547 for the Lions. The Lions had to make 177 tackles and 86 for the Blues. The Lions missed 32 tackles against 12 for the Blues. The Blues made 208 passes to 110 for the Lions, so nearly twice as many, and they enjoyed 63% territory as opposed to 37%. Those are really dominant statistics in terms of metres made, forcing the opposition to tackle more and, in the end, it was the better team that won.

We were meant to end this game with no legs, but it was the Lions who ended up gassing because of how many tackles they had to make.

Although our bench did well, I'm wary of expecting them to repeat that feat, as they were given a pretty favourable situation to come into.