@Tim series of penalties in the red zone..

Player losses:

Trainor
Nanai
Umaga
Fukofuka
Papalii
Seu
Olmsted
Scrafton
Fatialofa
Lemalu

That's a lot at NPC level.

Has it been raining? Scrappy game.

@Tim still 50 minutes to go , bit early to pull the injury and unavailable list don’t you think...still think Auckland will win this game...Counties Manukau from what I believe have several unavailable including Sam Henwood the skipper who is massive loss for CM.
Very scrappy niggly game..!

@Tim said in Counties vs Auckland:

Has it been raining? Scrappy game.

It was raining. Think it stopped around kickoff

@Steven-Harris Just pointing out that there are some reasons for worse performances than last year.

@Tim ok, my apologies..

Ref is struggling to maintain control out there. Seems unsure of himself, so the players (from both sides) are trying everything.

With the conditions and that has made for a messy game.

Auckland defence has been excellent.

Interesting to hear the ref ask the teams to stop shouting at the lineout, and use the term from the commentary.

Did Goldie have a word? Not sure that’s cool.

Nice try, Auckland hold the ball for a few mins and split them open.

Blues are going to miss Caleb Clarke next year.

More good play in 4mins of this half than the previous 40

Good to see a quality kick from TJ in the lead up to that try. Kicking from hand was a feature of last season, it’s been poor so far this year

Ffs, another yellow.

Dumb ass play.

@Tim yeah, why even do that?

Auckland culture this year seems all over the shop.

Mouthy, dumb offloads, foul play

Silly from Manu

This is where I think judging on the outcome is wrong. If the player hadn’t put his arm out it would have been a red.
That’s not a good incentive.

Comedy hour from Counties there. Bombed a certain try

Faiane held by the jersey.

Perfect game for Ruru.