BB too slow to catch up with his tap for an attempted intercept is a lovely summary of where he's at.
Blues
Match thread
Drua
Nice finish by Clarke.
Impressive performance by the Blues loose forwards. Not so much the locks.
Also unimpressed by Spencer's debut at fullback too. Especially his donkey effort that lead to the Drua's second try.
@antipodean yeah he was pretty meh to start, but grew into it I thought and ended up at least at the same level as Forbes. Worth persevering.
Second half was very impressive. Humidity clearly making the ball slippery, lot of unusual drops.
Two howlers from Spencer, but plenty of positives and after my complaints last week about passing quality in NZ, he had two try assists with a perfect spiral pass in front of the player. One left, one right. Seriously quick too.
@antipodean said in Blues v Drua:
Nice finish by Clarke.
Impressive performance by the Blues loose forwards. Not so much the locks.
Also unimpressed by Spencer's debut at fullback too. Especially his donkey effort that lead to the Drua's second try.
Akhi, Segner, Darry, Beehre and Wrampling led the defence against a pretty brutal attack. We scored some over those classic maul tries that the Drua struggle against. What about the locks didn't you like?
@brodean said in Blues v Drua:
@antipodean said in Blues v Drua:
Nice finish by Clarke.
Impressive performance by the Blues loose forwards. Not so much the locks.
Also unimpressed by Spencer's debut at fullback too. Especially his donkey effort that lead to the Drua's second try.
Akhi, Segner, Darry, Beehre and Wrampling led the defence against a pretty brutal attack. We scored some over those classic maul tries that the Drua struggle against. What about the locks didn't you like?
The amount of ball they dropped or lost with inaccurate carries.
@Bones said in Blues v Drua:
@antipodean yeah he was pretty meh to start, but grew into it I thought and ended up at least at the same level as Forbes. Worth persevering.
Agree he's worth persevering with, but Forbes is a low bar these days.
@antipodean said in Blues v Drua:
@brodean said in Blues v Drua:
@antipodean said in Blues v Drua:
Nice finish by Clarke.
Impressive performance by the Blues loose forwards. Not so much the locks.
Also unimpressed by Spencer's debut at fullback too. Especially his donkey effort that lead to the Drua's second try.
Akhi, Segner, Darry, Beehre and Wrampling led the defence against a pretty brutal attack. We scored some over those classic maul tries that the Drua struggle against. What about the locks didn't you like?
The amount of ball they dropped or lost with inaccurate carries.
That was happening with both teams in all positions. Ball was slippery. It’s uncomfortable humidity in Auckland at the moment
@antipodean said in Blues v Drua:
@Bones said in Blues v Drua:
@antipodean yeah he was pretty meh to start, but grew into it I thought and ended up at least at the same level as Forbes. Worth persevering.
Agree he's worth persevering with, but Forbes is a low bar these days.
Can't say I've ever been very impressed with Forbes, so yeah faint praise but worth it for the blues.
@Frank said in Blues v Drua:
What is Segner's best position should he able to make the step up to the ABs?
7?
Seemed to complement Barnes as part of a trio but just didn't strike me as nuggety enough for an openside. Wasn't watching all that closely though.
Much improved this year. Huge work rate, hardly misses tackles and makes a lot of them. Has started making turnovers and is one of main line out targets.
I’ve not seen much of a running game or even a passing game. Doesn’t lose it much hitting the ball up, and hits a lot of rucks.
Super valuable bench option when everyone is fit.
Interesting about Payton Spencer. I haven't been overly convinced by him, but he showed some nice touches towards the end. I think a full NPC campaign will do him good.
And yeah, Segner so far, has improved massively. I wasn't overly impressed by him in previous seasons, but this season, his all round game has gone from strength to strength.
This was a really useful game for the squad.. similar to last week against the Tahs
The team tried to win easy and pretty. Too loose in attack and the defence line was passive. Cotter corrected that at halftime and the team goes back to basic 2024 Blues rugby. The pretty tries come late in the game anyway
Some inexperienced players got some lessons about standards and ultimately responded well. Much more useful than if the opposition had been passive
@Duluth said in Blues v Drua:
This was a really useful game for the squad.. similar to last week against the Tahs
The team tried to win easy and pretty. Too loose in attack and the defence line was passive. Cotter corrected that at halftime and the team goes back to basic 2024 Blues rugby. The pretty tries come late in the game anyway
Some inexperienced players got some lessons about standards and ultimately responded well. Much more useful than if the opposition had been passive
Yeah, you learn more from victories from being in tough moments, and despite the scores looking comfortable in the last 2 weeks, we've had to come from behind in both of them, which I don't mind. The young fellas have stepped up to the plate when asked so far.
@African-Monkey said in Blues v Drua:
we've had to come from behind in both of them, which I don't mind. The young fellas have stepped up to the plate when asked so far.
This year and next are transition years. We have a punchers chance of winning the tournament but we probably lack the depth to arrive at the finals in good shape
Still, the new players are going better than I expected. Yes young players will make more errors but it's been really fun to watch the progress. I don't understand how anyone could watch the Vai try and complain about the celebration haha
@Duluth said in Blues v Drua:
@African-Monkey said in Blues v Drua:
we've had to come from behind in both of them, which I don't mind. The young fellas have stepped up to the plate when asked so far.
This year and next are transition years. We have a punchers chance of winning the tournament but we probably lack the depth to arrive at the finals in good shape
Still, the new players are going better than I expected. Yes young players will make more errors but it's been really fun to watch the progress. I don't understand how anyone could watch the Vai try and complain about the celebration haha
Yeah I've said the same too about a rebuild. It won't last as long as previous ones. The title? I wasn't even thinking about it for the next couple of seasons at least, but with no one really standing out (will put the Canes as favourites if they smoke the bigger sides), then maybe we're an outside shot?
We have a very good style for wet weather and finals style football. If we can keep the injuries down we'll be hard to beat.
Spencer gets 'only there for his name' and 'might be worth persevering with' when I reckon he played better than Barrett...?
Gotta say I find it pretty weird that our most capped current AB can put in an error ridden shit performance like that and it be so commonplace that it hardly rates a comment, while an all but debutant at super level is getting a hard time.
@reprobate thought he looked a very similar player to Reihana, but with express pace.
@reprobate needs to show a lot more in the "under pressure dribbled pass behind an unexpectant support player" and "cross kick to the opposition or stands on the full" departments.
Not sure what you guys are watching but BB is playing well. Much more physical this year (a genuine concern last year where he looked like he was avoiding contact), defending often up in the line, looks quick, is kicking long and is setting up his outside backs great.
Highlight was the 90m try he set up a few games ago in the final minutes, again with his pace, creating space, drawing the defence.
He gets a lot of shit for the up and unders, but he's clearly what Vern wants him to do. Vern describes them after the game as a type of linebreak.
@Kirwan said in Blues v Drua:
Much more physical this year (a genuine concern last year where he looked like he was avoiding contact)
That's a bit misleading - he is still avoiding contact ball in hand - big time. There are times when he should run (and he would run earlier in his career) and he simply won't. I dont think that's going to change for the rest of his career.
I have been impressed by his willingness to use his body in defence and at the breakdown as well however.
I think he's playing good rugby considering his age and stage of his career.
Arguably he's playing the best rugby he has played since moving to the Blues.
He's not a great punter in terms of exiting from deep in his own half but otherwise his field kicking has definitely been improved this year.
For the Blues he should continue to start at 10
He should not be given carte blanche at 10 for the ABs though.
Beauden vs Love in 10 days or so should be fascinating
@Kirwan said in Blues v Drua:
Not sure what you guys are watching but BB is playing well. Much more physical this year (a genuine concern last year where he looked like he was avoiding contact), defending often up in the line, looks quick, is kicking long and is setting up his outside backs great.
Highlight was the 90m try he set up a few games ago in the final minutes, again with his pace, creating space, drawing the defence.
He gets a lot of shit for the up and unders, but he's clearly what Vern wants him to do. Vern describes them after the game as a type of linebreak.
This is the blues-drua thread, so I was just talking about this game. Specifically in the first 10 mins throwing the ball to noone while looking to avoid contact, and kicking turnover ball out on the full (as per Bones) are mistakes which other players would be crucified for. To make up for those bad errors, I didn't see him creating very much.
I don't have a problem with his defence generally, but he was defending on the wing a lot of the game.
Calling it a shit performance in isolation may be a bit harsh, but I think we should have high standards for massively capped senior ABs - and the contrast is particularly glaring vs the reaction to a couple of errors from a kid (who also did some good things) i.e. statements suggesting that he doesn't even deserve to be there?
I thought both played well. There is a tendency to count mistakes and ignore positives.
It’s hyper critical on players like BB, and frankly just robotic at this point. He’s playing well.
It is worth noting that the Blues have been executing and winning much more easily with Barrett at 10.
Yes, he has bailed out of contact and put in a couple of crap kicks, but lately he has our backline firing. Out the back plays and quick wide shifts. He isn't taking on the line as a carrier like Plummer, but he has Aki and Lam outside him.
I'm no Barrett fan, but McKenzie has been struggling for the Chiefs since he was well outplayed in the quarter final last year.
In 2025 the Blues had an injury crisis that mostly persisted (front row) through the playoffs, but they beat the Chiefs in Hamilton and pushed the Crusaders close in Christchurch.
If you were a genuine moron you would post things like "Clarke should be dropped", "Sotutu was terrible, I can't remember him", without realising that Clarke was injured most of the year and excelled when available, and that Sotutu was injured until late in the season and then was as good as any of our forwards. That is why we beat the Chiefs in Hamilton with a makeshift frontrow.
@Kirwan said in Blues v Drua:
I thought both played well. There is a tendency to count mistakes and ignore positives.
It’s hyper critical on players like BB, and frankly just robotic at this point. He’s playing well.
Disagree, I think he gets a relatively free ride. If 23 year old Millar at the Highlanders made those two mistakes, people would be rubbishing him and saying he should leave the country because he's never going to make it.
@Tim said in Blues v Drua:
It is worth noting that the Blues have been executing and winning much more easily with Barrett at 10.
Yes, he has bailed out of contact and put in a couple of crap kicks, but lately he has our backline firing. Out the back plays and quick wide shifts. He isn't taking on the line as a carrier like Plummer, but he has Aki and Lam outside him.
I'm no Barrett fan, but McKenzie has been struggling for the Chiefs since he was well outplayed in the quarter final last year.
Conversely it is worth noting that they won the comp without him. Yes a couple of nice out the back plays over the last few games, but nothing special to balance out the errors for me really, and I can't see good defences being worried by him particularly when he still won't run himself.
As for McKenzie, he's had about a mediocre game and a half at 10 and spend the rest of his time at 15. He's been pretty crap but he's still making more big plays to balance out the errors.
@reprobate said in Blues v Drua:
@Tim said in Blues v Drua:
It is worth noting that the Blues have been executing and winning much more easily with Barrett at 10.
Yes, he has bailed out of contact and put in a couple of crap kicks, but lately he has our backline firing. Out the back plays and quick wide shifts. He isn't taking on the line as a carrier like Plummer, but he has Aki and Lam outside him.
I'm no Barrett fan, but McKenzie has been struggling for the Chiefs since he was well outplayed in the quarter final last year.
Conversely it is worth noting that they won the comp without him. Yes a couple of nice out the back plays over the last few games, but nothing special to balance out the errors for me really, and I can't see good defences being worried by him particularly when he still won't run himself.
As for McKenzie, he's had about a mediocre game and a half at 10 and spend the rest of his time at 15. He's been pretty crap but he's still making more big plays to balance out the errors.
I don't think it's a coincidence they'd lost 2 out of 3 before Barrett came back but have won every one since.
He doesn't need to be a highlight reel player, just put the team in good positions and pick the right time to put people into space, and he's doing that very very well.
@Jnr said in Blues v Drua:
@reprobate said in Blues v Drua:
@Tim said in Blues v Drua:
It is worth noting that the Blues have been executing and winning much more easily with Barrett at 10.
Yes, he has bailed out of contact and put in a couple of crap kicks, but lately he has our backline firing. Out the back plays and quick wide shifts. He isn't taking on the line as a carrier like Plummer, but he has Aki and Lam outside him.
I'm no Barrett fan, but McKenzie has been struggling for the Chiefs since he was well outplayed in the quarter final last year.
Conversely it is worth noting that they won the comp without him. Yes a couple of nice out the back plays over the last few games, but nothing special to balance out the errors for me really, and I can't see good defences being worried by him particularly when he still won't run himself.
As for McKenzie, he's had about a mediocre game and a half at 10 and spend the rest of his time at 15. He's been pretty crap but he's still making more big plays to balance out the errors.
I don't think it's a coincidence they'd lost 2 out of 3 before Barrett came back but have won every one since.
He doesn't need to be a highlight reel player, just put the team in good positions and pick the right time to put people into space, and he's doing that very very well.
Nah that is a coincidence. We were screwed by some dodgy reffing in both those games