@KiwiMurph said in Jaguares vs Blues:
@Hooroo I wouldn't call the Brumbies rubbish. They almost made the playoffs last year and they look a better side this year.
Almost made the playoffs? 6 of 15 teams ban make the play offs and all you have to do is win the weak Aussie conference. That makes them rubbish to me.
@KiwiMurph yeah on paper, the Rebels look handy this year. (which is why I tipped them in week 1 
)
And the Chiefs in week 1 lost to the Highlanders who in week 2 scraped by, at home, to the Reds, who will easily be the worst Aussie side.
For most kiwi teams this year, the trans-tasman games are going to be a shitfight.
Also, for those in Auckland a bit of a plug for the Jaguares Blues watching party at Waitakere on Sunday morning.
Should be a good morning out - get out with some fellow die hard supporters. @DrivingMaul @Steven-Harris will be there, and interviewing an AB.
@antipodean and?
@KiwiMurph said in Jaguares vs Blues:
@antipodean and?
It's a civil service notifying people that an article is written by that moron. I don't require thanks.
@KiwiMurph said in Jaguares vs Blues:
Hinton's article in Stuff indicated they would fly over a replacement for Clarke. However, I think most likely Blues are stuck with Collins at 15 one more week.
They said it was Matt Duffie on one of the sky shows. Throw him straight in the starting side
No Collins which is a positive, even if it means Nanai moving to fullback.
Poor selecting from MacDonald in the centres thus far. All three guys have an established body of work and Rangi should have a strong opinion on how the centre combination fits together.
Playing Faiane-Nonu round one, the switching it up to Nonu-Faiane round three is just sloppy selecting and an indication he has no fundamental game plan he is working off.
I would prefer TJ and Nonu the other way around. It went ok in week one and TJ did not defend well at 13 last week
No specialist outside back reserve. I guess Black moves to fullback if anyone gets injured. That's surprising because they are meant to sub Rieko after 47mins.
@Duluth said in Jaguares vs Blues:
I would prefer TJ and Nonu the other way around. It went ok in week one and TJ did not defend well at 13 last week
No specialist outside back reserve. I guess Black moves to fullback if anyone gets injured. That's surprising because they are meant to sub Rieko after 47mins.
Black to fullback and Nanai back to his preferred wing position.
TJ can probably cover wing in an emergency also.
Nonu looked a little out at sea at 13 also. He could probably use TJ better when he’s at 12 than the other way round.
@KiwiMurph said in Jaguares vs Blues:
@Duluth I wonder if the Blues have been given a bit of leeway on Rieko given that they are on tour + Clarke's injury + theyve got the Sunwolves next week.
I hope so
The bye after the Sunwolves helps that argument too
@ACT-Crusader said in Jaguares vs Blues:
Nonu looked a little out at sea at 13 also. He could probably use TJ better when he’s at 12 than the other way round.
TJ has struggled with defence at this level and he gets beaten easily when there's a bit of room. I prefer him defending in narrower channels
Last week he made 3 tackles and missed 5
@KiwiMurph I'd say the 180 mins in 3 rounds is a 'guide' so Rieko likely to come off after 55/60 mins.
Similarly with BBBR supposedly needing to come off before the half, I would say he'll do a full half, maybe even a few on the other side.
190 mins aint gonna be a big deal (unless they are unlucky enough to get injured in the last couple of mins...)
Confirmation that Rieko and Tuipulotu will have to sub early
The Blues have made three of their four personnel changes in the backs, handing a first start to impressive rookie Tanielu Tele'a on the right wing, moving Melani Nanai back to fullback with Michael Collins dropping out of the 23 altogether and bringing back Ma'a Nonu to start at second five-eighths
Holy shit - it's almost as if the coaches read the Fern too. How long has it taken to have Collins dumped?
@antipodean They dropped Collins out of the 23 last week but Caleb Clarke got injured in the final training run so Collins ended up starting.
Wouldve preferred Tele'a to either bench again given his impact off it - or given a go in the midfield but probably the only option given the squad they have at the moment. So when Rieko goes to the bench , TJ goes to the wing and SBW 12? Telea has decent speed but probably not Super rugby wingers pace....Jaguares may look to expose/target this?
@KiwiMurph said in Jaguares vs Blues:
@Nogusta When Rieko goes off - Otere to 15, Plummer to 10, Nanai to wing is another option. SBW to replace Nonu i'd say.
I’d rather SBW and Nonu keep swapping like that. You can’t play them together any more. Too slow.
Juan Cruz Mallia, Bautista Delguy, Matias Moroni, Matias Orlando, Ramiro Moyano, Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, Tomas Cubelli, Javier Ortega Desio, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera (c), Tomas Lavanini, Guido Petti, Santiago Medrano, Agustin Creevy, Mayco Vivas
Reserves: Julian Montoya, Juan Pablo Zeiss, Enrique Piertto, Matias Alemanni, Rodrigo Bruni, Martin Landajo, Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, Joaquin Tuculet
@Nogusta said in Jaguares vs Blues:
Wouldve preferred Tele'a to either bench again given his impact off it - or given a go in the midfield
I hope he starts at 13 vs the Sunwolves. If he goes well, it solves a few problems.
Exactly.. and we're better off finding out soon if he's ready to start in the midfield. No point waiting until the last round
Interesting comment from Parsons:
"The mindset for us is exactly that; it's all about us," veteran hooker James Parsons said. "We maybe looked at the Sharks too deeply and got away from our game. As [coach] Tana [Umaga] alluded to, it's on us to be confident and stick to our game plan."
That would explain (aside from inexperience) why the team looked nervous and failed to execute a gameplan in the 1st half.
Strange feeling going into this game. I'm still shocked with Michael Tamoaieta's passing tbh to the point where I don't really seem to care about tomorrow's result.
