@duluth said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
19 matches for Umaga’s Blues - 1 win
5.3%
I think it’s just a bit of bad luck. T deserves his contract extension
Crusaders in Christchurch next week
Whether you think it's his fault or not there's just absolutely no way you can keep a coach with that record on. They are beyond taking the piss with that extension.
I think the damning indictment of Tana is not so much that they've been beaten by the top teams, but that his team has lost too many games they shouldn't have, while winning too few that they shouldn't have.
@kirwan said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@african-monkey said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
1 win out of our last 27 against NZ teams aint bad.
Quite the Australian level stat that.
Speaking of Australian, bring back Nucifora, at least they’d be a finals contender 
Its another big problem for Super Rugby organisers, what should be high profile derby games are now difficult for neutrals to care about. For eight games a year the result is practically foretold...
Wynne Gray must be reading the fern, got his stick out to stir a bit at the end there too. Drop the Blues!
@jegga said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
Ah , what I like to call the schadenfreude thread .
There actually hasn't been a lot of gloating - mostly just us Blues guys wallowing in our own misery.
@snowy said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@jegga said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
Ah , what I like to call the schadenfreude thread .
There actually hasn't been a lot of gloating - mostly just us Blues guys wallowing in our own misery.
Twenty odd years back I moved to Auckland, when it was towards the end of its enormous run of victories. Back then far too many Aucklanders were saying that their dominance was good for NZ. I heard many argue that "strong Auckland means strong All Blacks", as if we should all not just lose to them, but enjoy losing.
The ARU gloated about how it's systems ensured that they remained on top. They refused to accept that it was largely due to three very good coaches in a row, and that one wrong move might bring it all down.
I built up a sizeable dislike for Auckland rugby, whereas I had previously grudging admired how good they were. I never ever felt the same way about Canterbury and the Crusader dominance because they never gloated half so much. Sure they tend to over-rate their players who get an armchair ride, but they never acted as if they had a right to win.
As a result, although I largely kept it to myself, I have thoroughly enjoyed the drop in fortunes of Auckland and The Blues. It has given me great joy every time they finished down the table. Especially as the All Blacks have gotten better as they have got worse.
But even I have now had enough. It's no longer fun.
@chester-draws what’s worse is the incredible lack of accountability from the administration that they are big part of the problem.
@chester-draws said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
But even I have now had enough. It's no longer fun.
It's going to be O.K. because I have been informed that next year is our year!
@snowy said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@chester-draws said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
But even I have now had enough. It's no longer fun.
It's going to be O.K. because I have been informed that next year is our year!
NO THIS IS OUR YEAR
oh. wait. yeah, ok Next Year it is. The mythical year that never comes.
to be fair, an ounce of luck and less injuries early on - or some decent coaching- and we might not go into the Lam Death Spiral that we have been in for ever.
@nzzp said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@snowy said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@chester-draws said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
But even I have now had enough. It's no longer fun.
It's going to be O.K. because I have been informed that next year is our year!
NO THIS IS OUR YEAR
oh. wait. yeah, ok Next Year it is. The mythical year that never comes.
to be fair, an ounce of luck and less injuries early on - or some decent coaching- and we might not go into the Lam Death Spiral that we have been in for ever.
Actually they extended Tana for another year - SO 2020 IS OUR YEAR! Or maybe a year sometime after that. It has already been forever, as mentioned,
@nzzp said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
to be fair, an ounce of luck and less injuries early on - or some decent coaching- and we might not go into the Lam Death Spiral that we have been in for ever.
quoting myself, but fark it
I remember the start of this shit. We were leading the Canes at home, and just dropped our bundle, kicked it back to them instead of clearing, and just stopped tackling. That was the start of losing a whole shed load on the bounce with Lam, which led to him getting the boot, and the start of our Celebrity Coach Era.
FML.
@nzzp confidence plays a huge part, and if you get down early on it is tough to get out of, especially if you are trying different systems you start questioning them, falling back to old habits and it just keeps getting worSe.
I always wonder how teams like Scotland, Argentina, Samoa etc go about preparing for a game against the ABs...you surely go into every game wanting to win, but knowing this is highly unlikely, how do you approach it?
@taniwharugby said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
I always wonder how teams like Scotland, Argentina, Samoa etc go about preparing for a game against the ABs...you surely go into every game wanting to win, but knowing this is highly unlikely, how do you approach it?
the way the Irish did in Chicago - stay aggressive, just stay upbeat and put a shedload of pressure on, hope the opposition is slightly off their game.
but yeah, it's tough. Hence my comment earlier - a bit of luck early in the season, and fewer injuries in key positions certainly helps out. Also, picking the worlds' best wing on the wing could be a good idea
@nzzp and the opposition playing people out of position...but yeah, tapping into what Schmidt did differently or how he got them to believe (especially after that overtime escape the ABs had made when Ireland shoulda won) they could achieve something so many before hadn't.
I also think our RWC failures were in part due to our top 2 inches, think of all the greats of our game that had failed to win a RWC, and then you have these other teams preparing to win with that legacy of failure weighing on them.
That Adidas slogan soon after they picked up the AB sponsorship: The Legacy you face is more intimidating than any opposition
And that works both ways!
The pigheadedness around Ioane at 12 has been incredible. In the last 2 matches the Blues have conceded ~40points through basic defensive errors in that channel. 40 points from one retarded selection.
@chris-b said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
But, if SBW and Moala are injured and Leger has dropped from sight - who else is an option at 12 now?
Tumua Manu, who incidentally has been playing 12 in Auckland club rugby after dropping from sight. In his few opportunities this year (on the wing) he didn't put a foot wrong.
@chris-b Tumua Manu, Tamati Tua, Faiane, and Collins.
The dropping of Leger was really weird.
@kiwimurph Scored two tries this weekend at 12.
Also I wonder is the NZ U20 second five Tanielu Tele'a injured as I haven't seen him in the Auckland club teams? If he was fit I would have been tempted to give him a crack. He's signed for next year's squad. He's a 12. Could have been useful experience.
@taniwharugby Few minutes at the end.
4 months later
@duluth said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
20 matches for Umaga’s Blues - 1 win
5%
One last bump of this thread
Umaga finishes on 5%
@duluth said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@duluth said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
20 matches for Umaga’s Blues - 1 win
5%
One last bump of this thread
Umaga finishes on 5%
THIS IS OUR YEAR
6 months later
Worth pointing out with Leon currently running at 33% in this metric, compared to Kirwan's 29% and Lam's 37%, kind of puts Tana's 5% in perspective.
@Kirwan said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
Worth pointing out with Leon currently running at 33% in this metric, compared to Kirwan's 29% and Lam's 37%, kind of puts Tana's 5% in perspective.
Not only that, but a lot of the games we lost were super tight - Crusaders at home was either some good goal kicking, or a refs calls away; Chiefs away just played really really well and burgled it. Canes at home we've done to death...
I guess what I"m saying is that we're solidly lower table, but we're very very close to being towards the upper end. It's been a year we've definitely progressed.
@African-Monkey said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@Bones Yes most of them would have been. We weren't that bad in 2016-2017, last year however was just a complete disaster. This year's side would barely be on par with the sides of Umaga's first 2 years.
You say that, but we're running 1 in 3 against NZ sides. Previously we were 1 in 20. So - while we're not great, I can see improvements.
Some of the rugby the blues played on Saturday was great - running great lines, throwing balls into space, dragging defenders around -- it was at a level I haven't seen for a long long time. So I'm happy we're both better than the last few years, and building.
Next year is our year!!!
@African-Monkey said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@Bones Yes most of them would have been. We weren't that bad in 2016-2017, last year however was just a complete disaster. This year's side would barely be on par with the sides of Umaga's first 2 years.
I'm being dumb for a change and not sure I get what you're saying. You mean you think this year's team isn't as good as those teams?
