Match thread

Tim

@Duluth Mafileo and Lay are a big step up in the scrum from their previous squad.

Have to say I am surprised by the lack of card there

Some very average kicks so far

Tim

Some aimless kicking there.

Tim

Good try, weak tackle.

Bones

Oh fuck off pickerel, that guy might as well have been doing a handstand

Tim

@Bones Made up for not penalising Kneepkins for crawling along the ground.

Fakatava showing glimpse of his hungus already

Tim

Kneepkins good, Patchell not.

Pickerill looks uncertain.. too often

Landers are going to have to be a lot better than this - to contest against the NZ franchises

Duluth

Renton is playing well

African Monkey

MP are in this are also very inaccurate off first phase.

African Monkey

Woohoo! Get in Ah Wong!

Tim

@Duluth said in Highlanders v Moana Pasifika:

Renton is playing well

Highlanders loose forwards can look good, but do they lack pace? They seem to get beaten to the ruck too often, and aren't so prominent on cover defence.

Duluth

Patchell wound up marking no one. Nicely taken try

Bovidae

MP having a scrum and lineout that functions makes a big difference. Savea looks past it.

Tim

And that will be the last time I pick the Highlanders to score the most points or win by 17+.

Too easy for MP on that last try

I'm a landers tragic , this 40mins has shown me all i need to see .. pre-season results meaningless (obviously ).. and looks like another rinse and repeat season of lackluster, inconsistent performances ahead of us.

Discipline is woeful, clean outs non-existent at ruck time and I have very little faith in our halves..... Fakatava will go from the sublime to the ridiculous as we have come to expect .. and Patchell will shovel the pill, kick aimlessly and be invisible on defense -- hope I am wrong

Patchell will be targeted by a lot of teams I'd say.