Should be a cracker. Blues have been named

The team is: Pauliasi Manu, Matt Moulds, Sione Mafileo, Jimmy Tupou (C), Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, Steven Luatua, Blake Gibson, Akira Ioane; Augustine Pulu, Ihaia West, Melani Nanai, Piers Francis, Rieko Ioane, Matt Duffie, Michael Collins.

Reserves: Hame Faiva, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Charlie Faumuina, Patrick Tuipulotu, Jerome Kaino, Billy Guyton, George Moala, Rene Ranger.

Hell of a bench!

More ABs on the pine than starting ...

That bench , wow !!!

That bench is taking the piss.

You'll be hard pressed to find a better bench all season, ABs games excluded of course

@Gunner said in Chiefs v Blues:

You'll be hard pressed to find a better bench all season, ABs games excluded of course

Nah, Ofa drags the average quality down considerably

@Stockcar86 yea nah, maybe 12 months ago, he came a long way last year

@mariner4life plus 'usually' when he comes on, scrums aren't as competitive so makes up for it round the park.

@taniwharugby My memory isn't great, but i thought he scrummaged adequately in his AB tour? Seemed there was a definite improvement.

It's going to take a lot for people to forget that 'tahs game last year though

Ofa's scrum work when in an AB jersey has been good.

One interesting issue though - he has improved particularly when he has played tighthead and in this game he looks to be covering loosehead from the bench so if he gets on it will be interesting to see how he goes.

The Gallagher Chiefs team to play the Blues at 7.35pm on Friday is:

1. Kane Hames (10)
2. Hika Elliot (105)
3. Nepo Laulala (1)
4. Dominic Bird (12)
5. Brodie Retallick (72)
6. Liam Messam (147)
7. Lachlan Boshier (9)
8. Michael Leitch (23)
9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow (68)
10. Aaron Cruden (captain) (74)
11. James Lowe (38)
12. Johnny Faauli (1)
13. Anton Lienert-Brown (25)
14. Tim Nanai-Williams (78)
15. Damian McKenzie (34)

RESERVES:

16. Samisoni Taukei’aho (1)
17. Siegfried Fisi’ihoi (12)
18. Atu Moli (12)
19. Taleni Seu (19)
20. Tom Sanders (15)
21. Jonathan Taumateine (1)
22. Toni Pulu (14)
23. Shaun Stevenson (8)

So replace Boshier with Cane and you've got an all international forward pack, 7 ABs. Or am i being a retard and Elliott hasn't made it that far?

@Bones Hika has played for the ABs.

Some strong packs indeed across both teams.

On paper looking at the starting xv you'd have chiefs by a country mile. Is this for the Lauaki bucket?

Any idea why Boshier instead of Karpik? Is Karpik injured already?

@Crucial said in Chiefs v Blues:

Any idea why Boshier instead of Karpik? Is Karpik injured already?

I'll answer my own question after some googling.

Just seems to be a combination of giving Boshier a crack and Karpik having shouldered most of the workload in the pre-season and first game.

Bench seems a little odd though. I assume Seu is covering lock/6. Sanders is mainly an 8 isn't he? They look to me to be targeting a defensive role for the loosies more than a turnover role. Get your turnovers via defensive pressure and errors.

This is going to be one hell of a game I think. As much as I'd like the Chiefs to win I'd also like the Blues to continue their resurgence. A Blues team playing well adds a lot to the competition IMO.

@Bones said in Chiefs v Blues:

So replace Boshier with Cane and you've got an all international forward pack, 7 ABs. Or am i being a retard and Elliott hasn't made it that far?

Leitch is a Japanese player, not an All Black.

@cgrant he said "all international" forward pack with 7 ABs.. so I'm guessing the 8th forward is Leitch..

@Crucial Boshier is good at getting turnovers as he has more size to him than Karpik.

Seu will definitely be the backup lock/6, and I think that will be his role for most of the year unless Retallick or Bird are rested. Sanders can also play at 6 and Leitch provides the cover at 7.