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?
Quality of teams in Super rugby is pretty low this (bar the crusaders). Not sure if the drain is finally having an impact or its just because it's WC year. Bit of a worry though.
Blues look to be playing better but not by much.
Instability around the 9/10 selections and players has IMO been a massive factor in the inconsistent performance.
If you just look at the Blues playing at Eden Park this year vs last year you can see a huge improvement in the NZ derbies.
Remember last year at Eden Park Blues got destroyed by both Canes (by 21 points) and Highlanders (by 18 points) and lost to a weakened Chiefs team.
This year at Eden Park Blues beat Highlanders, got a bonus point win over a weakened Chiefs team and despite losing to the Canes certainly didn't get destroyed - in fact had enough ball and field position to win.
Big improvement.
@Bones I'd say that it's very close between this years side and the sides of Umaga's first 2 years with Umaga's 2016/17 sides maybe JUST having a slight edge. The NZ sides of those years were also a hell of a lot stronger than they are now (apart from the Crusaders who keep getting stronger). Regardless, MacDonald virtually has a free pass this year where he can't really fail as he's cleaning up the mess of 2018 so he'll be judged more on what happens next year. It would be nice however if he could steal some players (decent ones) from his old franchise for next season and beyond.
@African-Monkey said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
It would be nice however if he could steal some players (decent ones) from his old franchise for next season and beyond.
Yep, it would be nice, but do the Crusaders actually have any players diagnosed as clinically insane?
(Yes, the scars are still there for this Blues supporter - I have downgraded myself from "fan" over the last few years).
@Snowy said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@nzzp I don't cut out eye holes when I put on my bag to "watch" the Blues.
Some on here also think that my paper bag is made of human skin (and it may be - that is what the Blues have done to me).
crikey, that changed course quickly 
@nzzp said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@Snowy said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@nzzp I don't cut out eye holes when I put on my bag to "watch" the Blues.
Some on here also think that my paper bag is made of human skin (and it may be - that is what the Blues have done to me).
crikey, that changed course quickly
Not really. It has been mentioned on here before. I was possibly a little overly upset about another loss, and there was a murder about 50k from me, my alibi was weak...
as I said - the Blues.
@Snowy said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
@nzzp I don't cut out eye holes when I put on my bag to "watch" the Blues.
Some on here also think that my paper bag is made of human skin (and it may be - that is what the Blues have done to me).
Snowy Targaryen is that you?
@Machpants Not saying anymore than that "they" will be watching (but surely no one on game of GoT would support the Blues?)
@Machpants said in Blues win percentage against NZ teams:
Dany is therefore a Blues fan!
Poor thing. I used to think that the Craps were hard to support but as we get older we get wiser.
@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.
So "all" we have to do is beat the Crusaders in CHCH to get to a UGE 42.857% (thank you Eddie).
Kings of Leon.
Or 28.571...
3 years later
Haven't updated these stats for a while, but the post Tana recovery is still in progress
Here's the updated percentages of the coaches against NZ sides:
| Coach | Wins vs NZ Sides |
|---|---|
| Henry | 92.9% |
| MacDonald | 54.3% |
| Sloane | 52.9% |
| Nucifora | 50.0% |
| Lam | 37.5% |
| Kirwan | 29.0% |
| Umaga | 6.7% |
I've left off the 1 season coaches who all had a 50% record
First post in this thread has more details
Also worth noting that MacDonald is up 63% in the last 3 years (he did inherit squad selection in year one)
Remember some people claiming sacking Umaga would be a mistake?
