@ACT-Crusader said in Blues vs Stormers:

@nzzp said in Blues Stormers:

Saturday night out at Eden Park coming up, and the chance for three in a row for the mighty Blues. Saw a bit of the Canes Stormers at the weekend; they looked pretty good in the first half. Going to take a bit for the Blues to get up.

How the Stormers win:
Smash the Blues physically, kick for corners, maul tries, capitalise on poor Blues kicks, win penalties from set pieces

How the Blues win:
give the ball some air, put it in the hands of Rieko and Melani, forwards go forward enough to give some quality ball to the backs.

Going to be good fun, I'm looking forward to it.

The rush defence of the Stormers was pretty effective too. If their midfield get decent ball they can be a real handful.

They are good at staying in a line, so even if they are a yard offside it is hard for the ref to pick up.

@ACT-Crusader said in Blues vs Stormers:

The rush defence of the Stormers was pretty effective too. If their midfield get decent ball they can be a real handful.

How good is the defense though. They conceded 5 tries and should've conceded more if not for horrendoes errors from the Canes

@Duluth Easy decision to make. Leon would have seen what the Tahs did to the Crusaders, so he'd be writing that fixture off and targeting the Stormers while they're vulnerable.

@antipodean said in Blues vs Stormers:

@Duluth Easy decision to make. Leon would have seen what the Tahs did to the Crusaders, so he'd be writing that fixture off and targeting the Stormers while they're vulnerable.

I agree - but because if we have to travel to face the Tahs, it's a damn sight easier than going to SA

@antipodean said in Blues vs Stormers:

@Duluth Easy decision to make. Leon would have seen what the Tahs did to the Crusaders, so he'd be writing that fixture off and targeting the Stormers while they're vulnerable.

I see what you've done there Tahs fan......

@KiwiMurph said in Blues vs Stormers:

@antipodean said in Blues vs Stormers:

@Duluth Easy decision to make. Leon would have seen what the Tahs did to the Crusaders, so he'd be writing that fixture off and targeting the Stormers while they're vulnerable.

I see what you've done there Tahs fan......

Why is it that the maul is pretty much anathema to NZ Super rugby and All Black teams.

Down there with the drop goal.

ABs have never been good at the maul.

I love a good maul, an art form, very hard to stop when done well.

@infidel said in Blues vs Stormers:

Why is it that the maul is pretty much anathema to NZ Super rugby and All Black teams.

Down there with the drop goal.

ABs have never been good at the maul.

I love a good maul, an art form, very hard to stop when done well.

Not sure I agree that the ABs have never been good at the maul. We’ve scored our fair amount of tries from it.

Doesn’t take away from the fact I fucking hate them as it goes against the principles of rugby.
Let’s just re-name it legal obstruction.

Left wing Ioane has started all five of the Blues matches this year but took a very active part in training for the Blues today which suggests he will be starting once again against a South African side who narrowly lost to the Hurricanes last weekend.

Matt Duffie's return from a severe hamstring strain could mitigate a little against this risk.

@infidel said in Blues vs Stormers:

Why is it that the maul is pretty much anathema to NZ Super rugby and All Black teams.

Down there with the drop goal.

ABs have never been good at the maul.

I love a good maul, an art form, very hard to stop when done well.

Crusaders score plenty from mauls, as did the Blues 12 years ago. Auckland through the 90s hammered teams with it.

AB teams have often been good with the Maul, Keven Melaumu scores plenty from them. Older ferners can mention teams from before the 80s as well.

@infidel said in Blues vs Stormers:

Why is it that the maul is pretty much anathema to NZ Super rugby and All Black teams.

Down there with the drop goal.

ABs have never been good at the maul.

I love a good maul, an art form, very hard to stop when done well.

Hear hear.

But the ABs have had their moments with the msul. Just less so recently.

Recall Kev Mealamu scoring a winning try v the Bokke in Dunners back in the noughties on the back of a maul for example.

Reckon we can, and should, spend more time on it.

@Gunner said in Blues vs Stormers:

@infidel said in Blues vs Stormers:

Why is it that the maul is pretty much anathema to NZ Super rugby and All Black teams.

Down there with the drop goal.

ABs have never been good at the maul.

I love a good maul, an art form, very hard to stop when done well.

Not sure I agree that the ABs have never been good at the maul. We’ve scored our fair amount of tries from it.

Doesn’t take away from the fact I fucking hate them as it goes against the principles of rugby.
Let’s just re-name it legal obstruction.

First bold: back! (said derisively with spit)

Second bold: you sound Australian. I must disagree strenuously. A maul is about strength and unity. It's about teamwork in it's purest sense. The whole forward pack is combining together to get the ball going forward. It creates space for backlines as it drags in defenders. It is the essence of the principles of rugby. As suggested if you believe that the only way of promoting the ball forward is passing and catching there is this incredibly boring game that is quite popular in North Eastern Australia ... one concept ... all the time ...

@Gunner said in Blues vs Stormers:

@infidel said in Blues vs Stormers:

Why is it that the maul is pretty much anathema to NZ Super rugby and All Black teams.

Down there with the drop goal.

ABs have never been good at the maul.

I love a good maul, an art form, very hard to stop when done well.

Not sure I agree that the ABs have never been good at the maul. We’ve scored our fair amount of tries from it.

Doesn’t take away from the fact I fucking hate them as it goes against the principles of rugby.
Let’s just re-name it legal obstruction.

I love me a good maul, but not the ones we have at the moment. Mauls used to be real risk/reward - if you took it in, you better get ground immediately, and get the ball back. Now you can fark around, form a string of players out the back who aren't bound, stop, start, go sideways and backwards, and then eventually wander up the field. Modern mauls I don't like.

You see more mauls from tacklers holding up players, which is a response to not being able to contest the ball on the ground unless you can clamp within a nanosecond of the runner hitting the deck of happen to wear a 7 on your back.

Bah, bloody humbug. Also - we can't change the laws, so get better at them. That's the solution; score a shedload of one dimensional Brumby style tries, and see whether the maul laws just get left alone.

@infidel said in Blues vs Stormers:

Why is it that the maul is pretty much anathema to NZ Super rugby and All Black teams.

Down there with the drop goal.

ABs have never been good at the maul.

I love a good maul, an art form, very hard to stop when done well.

you obviously dont watch the Crusaders play

Auckland's maul defense in the NPC was extremely good. Lemalu and Whetton shut down every maul they came up against.

No reason that those practices can't become a discipline of NZ rugby.

@Tim Except in NPC there are no big Saffas running around.

@Canes4life said in Blues vs Stormers:

Except in NPC there are no big Saffas running around.

No, there's big Kiwis running around

The big Saffa's thing is a bit of a myth. There's plenty of large Kiwis running around, they just don't play for the Canes.
Romano is a big lump, talented and experienced. Auckland had to cope with him a couple of times in the NPC.

@Tim said in Blues vs Stormers:

Auckland's maul defense in the NPC was extremely good. Lemalu and Whetton shut down every maul they came up against.

I've never seen an NZ side spend as much time on the maul during warmup (although it was mostly attacking setup)
It was clearly a focus.

@Duluth I was meaning more around the fact that they live and breath mauling. Kiwis aren't conditioned to it as much because we like to play an expansive game. As a result when we come up against Safas in Super Rugby they are very difficult to stop because they spend so much time perfecting the art.