Crusaders
Match thread
Waratahs
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in Crusaders Vs Waratahs:
Dom Gardiner says, don't forget about me as an AB contender. That was as fine a No.6 game as I have seen at Super Level.
Agree, he has been playing pretty well all season and has flown under the radar bit around here. He has played to this standard briefly in the past and has either gotten injured or had some brain farts, so I am still a bit cautious with him.
But as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, he has shown some real classy moments, and I suspect he will be catching the eye of the selectors.
At any rate, it's good to see him get a consistent run at 6, and the Saders seem to be trusting him enough now to keep him on for much of the game.
Gardiner was great, very much improved from the start of the season.
I thought Leicester was exactly what we needed in the forwards.. Gave us a consistent ball runner which means we didn't have to start Hannah (weak) or Bell (good ball runner but his lineout throwing consistently costs us)
I used to think the term 'looks like tarzan, plays like jane' was appropriate for Gardiner, but every time I've seen him this year, he's looked decent. Not saying he's the next ABs 6 or anything, but he has improved.
@SammyC said in Crusaders Vs Waratahs:
Gardiner was great, very much improved from the start of the season.
I thought Leicester was exactly what we needed in the forwards.. Gave us a consistent ball runner which means we didn't have to start Hannah (weak) or Bell (good ball runner but his lineout throwing consistently costs us)
100% Leicester was great for us made an impact which made a difference. Hats off to the guy to move into 7 and made a real difference not a bad debut out there.
Gardiner has really come on physical and showed some good touches.
Cahill was another one who was a physical Prescence up front. And Newell was a machine out there great at doing his core rolls and not a bad effort to bring down Jorgenson from behind.
The Hate on Leicester by some is not really balanced he is a weapon with the ball in hand sure he didn't play a traditional 7s game but neither does Savea, For what he bought last night it suited the Crusaders really well.
@SammyC said in Crusaders Vs Waratahs:
@Chris I'm a big fan of Cahill, hits rucks and tackles hard.
Yeah me too.
@Chris said in Crusaders Vs Waratahs:
For what he bought last night it suited the Crusaders really well.
No doubt - but let's be honest he played like a winger who went looking for work. If he was wearing 11 on his back he'd have heaps of praise for his attacking involvement. He was ineffective at rucks, absent off the side of the scrum and as helpful in mauls as any other back.
If the measure of his game is he plays like Ardie, then I don't consider that high praise. It may have worked for the Crusaders, in the same way playing Bill Young as a prop worked for the Wallabies - it does until it doesn't.
@Chris said in Crusaders Vs Waratahs:
For what he bought last night it suited the Crusaders really well.
No doubt - but let's be honest he played like a winger who went looking for work. If he was wearing 11 on his back he'd have heaps of praise for his attacking involvement. He was ineffective at rucks, absent off the side of the scrum and as helpful in mauls as any other back.
If the measure of his game is he plays like Ardie, then I don't consider that high praise. It may have worked for the Crusaders, in the same way playing Bill Young as a prop worked for the Wallabies - it does until it doesn't.
Good on him, guess it harks back to the days when all rugby players wanted to be a 7!
If he keeps at it, unsure if this improves his AB ambitions or not.
That said, id still be annoyed if I was another loosie in the squad, 6, 7 or 8 and was fit to play.
@antipodean said in Crusaders Vs Waratahs:
He was ineffective at rucks
That's the main thing I was keeping an eye on. To his credit he made it to a lot of rucks, he was just sloppy when he got there.
I can see the benefit of him being a bench option and then the coach can decide late in the game if its a 5/3 or 6/2
Normally a 6/2 would be putting more emphasis on the pack but this would be a decision for when the game gets loose IMO. Basically finishing up with 7.5 forwards and 7.5 backs.
This didn't lead to anything, but that pass by Teddy Wilson to his winger just before full time was insane.
I'm definitely in the 'good on him for giving it a crack' boat, and also good on the crusaders for trying something. Lots of people on here have been having a whinge about us not innovating, other teams catching up and overtaking us - then when someone tries something out of the box we're gonna have a whinge about that too?
Miserable old fluffybunnies.
None of which is to say that it was an astounding success, but it is a very interesting option with a lot of potential benefit for bench/injury/cards cover - and even just improving a back's breakdown skills rapidly. I want to see more of it.
@antipodean said in Crusaders Vs Waratahs:
@Chris said in Crusaders Vs Waratahs:
For what he bought last night it suited the Crusaders really well.
No doubt - but let's be honest he played like a winger who went looking for work. If he was wearing 11 on his back he'd have heaps of praise for his attacking involvement. He was ineffective at rucks, absent off the side of the scrum and as helpful in mauls as any other back.
If the measure of his game is he plays like Ardie, then I don't consider that high praise. It may have worked for the Crusaders, in the same way playing Bill Young as a prop worked for the Wallabies - it does until it doesn't.
This bit, a hit on Kellaway running of first phase from a scrum LF hit him and he lost the ball forward I think that is something he will get better at.
I think this will be a bench option and 20 minutes at the end of a game thing,I don't think LF will make a career out of 7,and is even looking at that option.
Wanna give Hotham big ups too, was a big part of our early pressure. Havili not a great effort though.
@Canerbry said in Crusaders Vs Waratahs:
Wanna give Hotham big ups too, was a big part of our early pressure. Havili not a great effort though.
Were you there last night? The stadium looked pretty as a picture and the crowd was up for it. Nice to see high intensity flowing rugby on a cold Christchurch winter's night