SBW almost knocking out the ref there

The more I watch Nanai, the bigger the loss when he leaves NZ rugby.

@antipodean Potential but he is not consistent enough. Although maybe if he played outside of the Auckland his potential may be realized.

Blues > Chiefs.

@Bones outer Mongolian ladies paper aeroplane painting club second fifteen > Chiefs

FFS we should be out of sight by now.

WTF was Pulu doing there??

@Machpants said in Blues v Sunwolves:

@Bones outer Mongolian ladies paper aeroplane painting club second fifteen > Chiefs

That's harsh, they disbanded 3 years ago.

Another J Goodhue spares SBW's blushes there

The right call to start Plummer. Stick with it I say. Attack just seems very stunted with Black.

@Bones Flattermand straighter. Now if we had a decent halfback ...

Hard to see how the Blues were moving forward there

@Tim said in Blues v Sunwolves:

@Bones Flattermand straighter. Now if we had a decent halfback ...

DMac might be looking for a new team next year...

It would be so Blues to lose this.

Massive hit.

I've noticed that none of these commentator fluffybunnies know the law regarding kick catches and mauls!

@siam this is the C team of commentators.

@No-Quarter Yeah, nice timing and drive.

Take the points

Nah fuck it I'd go for the scrum

Nock knows he's halfback, right?

And then comes the shit play....

Wait a minute. You have 2 captains and sub them both? That seems a bit absurd.

@Tim Why does he just stand there and do fuck all for?

Knock knock Nock, do you know it's your job to clear the ball?

Whose this kid at 8, seems to have some great skills. We are so lucky we have such depth at 8 we don't need him.

Sunwolves a little hard done by at the ruck. Blues players not supporting weight and still allowed to play at it.

I don't know if it's the opposition, but the Blues showed some structural promise tonight.

@antipodean said in Blues v Sunwolves:

I don't know if it's the opposition, but the Blues showed some structural promise tonight.

Plummer at 10 I think was key.

Ioane brothers brilliant tonight.

SBW good shift.

Considering the travel very happy with that result. Good job.

I thought Cowley-Tuioti was poor in the 1st half but his defence has been outstanding in the 2nd. Akira was fantastic on attack and defence (as usual), Rieko had a great game out wide and it's great to see Melani Nanai at the back who looks a hell of a lot better than that bloody Michael Collins (as we all knew already apart from Tana and Tony Hanks). He's easily been our best back this season so far. Halfback remains a massive problem for us however. Pulu makes a hell of a lot of errors and Nock still looks a bit scared out there.

A bit scrappy but hey, a wins a win without Tuipulotu, Hodgman and Tu'ungafasi as well.

@African-Monkey said in Blues v Sunwolves:

Cowley-Tuioti

Yeah, a lot better in the 2nd half. Thought Robinson was better in the 2nd too.

match report: Thank fark we won

Stadium report: while I'm a one eyed aucklander, NH stadium is one of the top three in the country to watch rugby. From a pure watching point of view, arguably the best - the stand is steep and high, and it reminded me of the old Mallard stand in Welly. That said, the queues for food were embarassing, particularly given how many staff were on (like the Blues: lots of effort, but not a lot of result).

Ioane (R) Outstanding. Serious gas. Quiet otherwise - but give him a sniff and he'll be gone. All Blacks should get the best out of him

Akira - still runs very upright. Ridiculous strength.

Ref - inconsistent. As always. Light policing of offside sometimes. The 'try' absolutely bemused us at the ground - looked like the carrier wrapped the defender... so why the heck is that allowed to play on? Video referees are just all over the place

All in all, a good night out, and everyone enjoyed it (except the poor bastard near us who took teh Sunwolves on a multi :D)

The forwards worked really hard tonight and Blues should have won by more. Still too many poor options and mistakes by players who should be better.

@nzzp said in Blues v Sunwolves:

match report: Thank fark we won

Stadium report: while I'm a one eyed aucklander, NH stadium is one of the top three in the country to watch rugby. From a pure watching point of view, arguably the best - the stand is steep and high, and it reminded me of the old Mallard stand in Welly. That said, the queues for food were embarassing, particularly given how many staff were on (like the Blues: lots of effort, but not a lot of result).

Ioane (R) Outstanding. Serious gas. Quiet otherwise - but give him a sniff and he'll be gone. All Blacks should get the best out of him

Akira - still runs very upright. Ridiculous strength.

Ref - inconsistent. As always. Light policing of offside sometimes. The 'try' absolutely bemused us at the ground - looked like the carrier wrapped the defender... so why the heck is that allowed to play on? Video referees are just all over the place

All in all, a good night out, and everyone enjoyed it (except the poor bastard near us who took teh Sunwolves on a multi :D)

Yeah we were in the top part of the stand, pretty much in the middle and had a great view.

Thought the Sunwolves were very cynical at times, and with a better ref would have more than two yellow cards.

Backline looked much better with Plummer at ten, and we don’t have to hide our ten on defence with him there. Black came on and it was back to the last few weeks for the final 15mins.

Goal kicking needs to improve though.

@nzzp Has to be said Wolves were razor sharp at the beginning. Beautiful crisp handling backs, and some serious gas, in particular Booth. Noticeable how they lost their mojo once Blues softened them up with their physicality.

Still in it till late on.

Good for rugby.

Parsons is a Trier but amazes me they continue to use him as a ball runner when he rarely ever gets to the gain line let alone over.

The use of the bench is interesting too.

Decent outing though, a win will do thier confidence a world of good

He was bizarrely one of the five players of the season in the almanac

@pakman said in Blues v Sunwolves:

@nzzp Has to be said Wolves were razor sharp at the beginning. Beautiful crisp handling backs, and some serious gas, in particular Booth. Noticeably how they lost their mojo once Blues softened them up with their physicality.

Both they and the Jaguares are starting to justify the expansion. It's what we want to see - teams improing and being competitive

@nzzp just in time for them to be kicked out, if rumors are true. Problem is with the wolves, not exactly a Japanese team. Almost as many blues region players as the blues! Doesn't apply to jags

@Machpants said in Blues v Sunwolves:

@nzzp just in time for them to be kicked out, if rumors are true. Problem is with the wolves, not exactly a Japanese team. Almost as many blues region players as the blues! Doesn't apply to jags

It's frustrating - disrupt a good comp to expand, do it badly, and then abandon it just as it's starting to show fruit. Needed the support of the clubs I suspect, to make it worthwhile and offer a decent pathway.

Looks like around 11 of 29 are SE Asian descent in the team list below.