v Blues

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Well done Blues!

If Gatland could send Seymour and Hogg over to the Scotland camp that would be just great.

[Sandydragon]

Sexton's been totally anonymous since he came on

Yup.

We had plenty of possession, but couldn't contour up anything that looked like a try scoring opportunity, aside from a driving lineout. Poor, better than the last game, but still poor.

[Mellsblue]

Absolutely clueless in the backs. Nowell's lack of pace was utterly exposed. Haskell looked like he has done since he came back from injury - slow and desperately average - but that's no surprise.

All that said, it was a better performance than Saturday. That's a low bar to clear, though.

That last lineout was rank.

[MrK]

Well done Blues!

If Gatland could send Seymour and Hogg over to the Scotland camp that would be just great.

Can they send Laidlaw too then.

[jared_7]

That last penalty and line out summed up both sides rather fittingly.

It's going to be a loooooooooong tour for the Lions.

[Eugene Wrayburn]

Sexton's been totally anonymous since he came on

Yup.

We had plenty of possession, but couldn't contour up anything that looked like a try scoring opportunity, aside from a driving lineout. Poor, better than the last game, but still poor.

Was Sexton more anonymous than Biggar? Did he do less than Farrell?

[Matt Ha]

Was Biggar injured?

[MrK]

MGrath and Marler did themselves no harm again
Owens was good up until his last lineout
Cole and Sinkler again ok but Sinkler needs to curb his entyhusiasm
Itoje and Lawes were a step up from AWJ And Henderson
Haskell was meh, made tackles but nothing special
Tipuric was everywhere again...its a shame Gatland has such a hard on for Warburton as Tipuric really is the better 7
Stander did enough to put pressure on for the 8 spot (But fancy he will play 6)

Webb was better than Laidlaw but not as effervescent as he usually is
Biggar and Sexton both pants.
Henshaw was as expected...Payne was pretty anonymous
Nowelll...a game to forget...advantage North now to take the spot
Daly...got involved and look like he wanted it
Halfpenny..nothing special

[jared_7]

Sexton's been totally anonymous since he came on

Yup.

We had plenty of possession, but couldn't contour up anything that looked like a try scoring opportunity, aside from a driving lineout. Poor, better than the last game, but still poor.

Better than the last game? Hmmmm. A minor win against a bunch of actual amateurs versus a loss against a bunch of average professionals, tough to call.

Next up is a bunch of proper professionals down south.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Well done Blues!

If Gatland could send Seymour and Hogg over to the Scotland camp that would be just great.

Can they send Laidlaw too then.

Nah, I'll pass. Most Scots don't even want him in the 23 which says all you need to know about Gatland as a selector.

[Puja]

I only got to watch the first half, where we looked fairly solid. What happened in the second?

Puja

[cashead]

Blues won.

[Mikey Brown]

So, didn't manage to catch any of that, biggest losers? Gatland? Itoje? Nowell? Sexton again? Just guessing by comments on here.

How were Biggar and Haskell?

[Mellsblue]

I only got to watch the first half, where we looked fairly solid. What happened in the second?

Puja

Three consecutive pieces of magic for West's try.

[zer0]

Only watched the first half and caught the end of the second, but SBW's try must have to be the single most Blues thing I've ever seen. Earned an eminently kickable penalty? Good. Missed relatively simple kick? Bad. Said missed relatively simple kick bounces off the uprights and results in a 1-in-a-million sequence of events that ends with the ball touched down by a man with Orangutan arms surgically grafted on in replace of his regular ones? F*cken ace.

West's try was pretty good too.

[Mellsblue]

So, didn't manage to catch any of that, biggest losers? Gatland? Itoje? Nowell? Sexton again? Just guessing by comments on here.

How were Biggar and Haskell?

Biggar was average and lasted 35 mins. Haskell was utter, utter gash.

[MrK]

So, didn't manage to catch any of that, biggest losers? Gatland? Itoje? Nowell? Sexton again? Just guessing by comments on here.

How were Biggar and Haskell?

Itoje played well, just the histrionics that go with him

Nowell, Sexton and Haskell werent great, neither was Biggar but only on for 30 as got injured.

[Eugene Wrayburn]

I only got to watch the first half, where we looked fairly solid. What happened in the second?

Puja

Three consecutive pieces of magic for West's try.

Is not magic. There are 2 or 3 of those every Super Rugby match featuring a NZ franchise. That one was just a bit of support running and accurate offloading.


The problem is that we scored only 16 points and scored only one try. Why? Because Gats thinks he can bludgeon his way to the line and that mere attrition is enough to win it. Listening now to his post match interview he seems surprised there were a few moments of excellence leading to tries. And now he's saying it won't be that big a step up to the ABs. FFS!

[Spy]

As usual, the Blues have no difficulty despatching foreign opposition.

That was a lot of fun. Winning try was a stunner. Was just waiting for the Blues to concede a penalty during that 2 pod time runout, followed by the inevitable kick to corner and maul try. Sure enough we fucked it up, but got lucky with the Lions lineout flub.

Lions dominated set piece, but I think they'll find the remaining nz teams stronger there than the Blues.

Bloody fantastic. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sent from my SM-G900FD using Tapatalk

[Mellsblue]

Haskell......made tackles

I'd agree with most what you say but would dispute the above. He missed a bucket full. Nowell will get blamed for their first try, and he does deserve some, but it all stemmed from Haskell 'rushing' up, getting there late and leaving the outside backs outnumbered.

[Stom]

I didn't see it all, just bits and pieces, but most of what I saw pointed at a failure in coaching rather than the players. It's embarrassing.

Ruck work was ok-ish, but Webb was appalling, Biggar and Sexton appalling, and the rest of the backs had nothing, therefore, to play with. Typical bloody Gatland.

It's an embarrassment. We're just playing on that bloody "NH can't pass, have terrible handling skills" nonsense, when if you substituted Gatland for Eddie Jones, we'd have won that game comfortably.

[Mellsblue]

I only got to watch the first half, where we looked fairly solid. What happened in the second?

Puja

Three consecutive pieces of magic for West's try.

Is not magic. There are 2 or 3 of those every Super Rugby match featuring a NZ franchise. That one was just a bit of support running and accurate offloading.


The problem is that we scored only 16 points and scored only one try. Why? Because Gats thinks he can bludgeon his way to the line and that mere attrition is enough to win it. Listening now to his post match interview he seems surprised there were a few moments of excellence leading to tries. And now he's saying it won't be that big a step up to the ABs. FFS!

I'll stick to magic. Other than Itoje jumping out out of the line it wasn't errors from the Lions just superb play from the Blues players involved. It was superb decision making, superb offloads, superb timing and superb lines. Magic.

Yep, the backs are blunt and clueless.

[Timbo]

Pack - 7.5/10
Backline - 2/10

Has there been one line break from a single Lions back in 2 games? Kicking game mediocre too.

[Mellsblue]

Pack - 7.5/10
Backline - 2/10

Has there been one line break from a single Lions back in 2 games? Kicking game mediocre too.

Fear not, Davies will be at 13 on Saturday......

[jared_7]

Three consecutive pieces of magic for West's try.

Is not magic. There are 2 or 3 of those every Super Rugby match featuring a NZ franchise. That one was just a bit of support running and accurate offloading.


The problem is that we scored only 16 points and scored only one try. Why? Because Gats thinks he can bludgeon his way to the line and that mere attrition is enough to win it. Listening now to his post match interview he seems surprised there were a few moments of excellence leading to tries. And now he's saying it won't be that big a step up to the ABs. FFS!

I'll stick to magic. Other than Itoje jumping out out of the line it wasn't errors from the Lions just superb play from the Blues players involved. It was superb decision making, superb offloads, superb timing and superb lines. Magic.

Yep, the backs are blunt and clueless.

First time you can say that about the Blues all year so make of that what you will.

If its simply "magic" from NZ's last placed super rugby side then good luck with the rest.