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Speaker 1: Straight down the middle.
Speaker 2: Of truck this guy.
Speaker 1: Try get inside the game from every end goal. It's
Speaker 1: Rugby Direct with Elliot Smith and Liam Napier powered by
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Speaker 3: Welcome into Rugby Direct powered by Habit Health Physio book
Speaker 3: today and stay in the game back for another week,
Speaker 3: two episodes a week now, of course of Rugby Direct.
Speaker 3: My name is Elliott Smith and someone that maybe needs
Speaker 3: to go to Habit Health. Maybe not the physio necessarily,
Speaker 3: although he has broken his wrist, but he's under the weather.
Speaker 3: This week is Liam Napier, so joining me once again.
Speaker 3: Welcome in, Nick Buley Bills, thanks for your time on
Speaker 3: that Rugby Direct.
Speaker 2: Happy to be first cab off the rank here. It's
Speaker 2: been a pretty bad run, hasn't it for Liam? What
Speaker 2: are we round six? But all the best to our
Speaker 2: favorite Cane train fan. Fan. Are we calling a fan? Well?
Speaker 3: I think we are.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think he's fully on the bandwag and forget any
Speaker 3: sort of impartiality. He's right in the fan. And look,
Speaker 3: you know, this week we'll try and not make it
Speaker 3: as Crusader's focus, but I think it would have been
Speaker 3: more Hurricanes focused if Liam was indeed here, Let's rip
Speaker 3: into the weekend. That was round six in the books
Speaker 3: for Super Rugby Bules and the Blues beating the war
Speaker 3: Tars thirty five twenty to round out the round on
Speaker 3: Saturday night. This was a really good performance I thought
Speaker 3: from the Blues game that was slipping away from them.
Speaker 3: You felt maybe just after halftime when the Waratars had
Speaker 3: extended their lead out to twenty points to eight, but
Speaker 3: what I really liked from the Blues was there was
Speaker 3: no real panic at that point. They basically stuck to
Speaker 3: their script. They continued their game plan trusted it would work,
Speaker 3: and I know that's a bit of a cliche, but
Speaker 3: they just stuck to the process and believed that they
Speaker 3: were going to write the ship and as soon as
Speaker 3: they got one back through Cody Vais, it felt like
Speaker 3: they had fully swung the momentum and they weren't even
Speaker 3: chasing the game at that point. I thought, you know,
Speaker 3: the schooline doesn't tell the full story there, but I
Speaker 3: thought it was a pretty assured performance from the Blues,
Speaker 3: especially the last half hour of that contest.
Speaker 2: I totally agree. Yeah, what is that in the end
Speaker 2: twenty seven unanswered points? I think four tries thrown in there.
Speaker 2: They really just kicked into gear as you say, after
Speaker 2: that VI try. I thought aj Lamb was particularly strong
Speaker 2: and they got some real spark off the bench through
Speaker 2: Tofa Funaki at half back. I thought Boden Barrett pulled
Speaker 2: the strings as he always does, and as you say,
Speaker 2: it was an assured performance, no panic and commanding. Pretty
Speaker 2: concerning for the Warratar's side. They came out with a
Speaker 2: hiss and a row. What's that? Three or maybe four
Speaker 2: losses in a row now, But there is some really
Speaker 2: encouraging signs there for the Blues. They'll be a little
Speaker 2: bit miffed as to their starts, and I know they're
Speaker 2: a little bit scrappy from a starting perspective against Mawana
Speaker 2: as well, so they want to sure that up. But
Speaker 2: signs of encouragement there for ern Cotta's side, and then
Speaker 2: you look ahead at their drawer. They take on the
Speaker 2: drawer back at Eden Park, a team that we all
Speaker 2: know don't travel well. And then part of this Easter
Speaker 2: weekend by round, which we're going to get into shortly
Speaker 2: then the Hurricanes down in Wellington that will be a
Speaker 2: real litmus test. But no, I thought a place where
Speaker 2: it can be tricky, Sydney. The Warrataza is the one
Speaker 2: place that they really tend to lift and get up for.
Speaker 2: In a game that was slipping away, they really turned
Speaker 2: it on in that last half hour.
Speaker 3: They did indeed, and they did it without Golden Popolti
Speaker 3: who went off at halftime as well. They had to
Speaker 3: reshuffle their pack a little bit as a result. Tory
Speaker 3: in Barns comes on. Look he's having a storming start
Speaker 3: to the Super Rugby season. It was in the wider
Speaker 3: training group now is a Blues regularly came off the
Speaker 3: bench and had a full forty minutes performance. You know,
Speaker 3: he threw everything out. I think he had about eleven
Speaker 3: twelve runs in the end good the last try. But
Speaker 3: players like him are just slotting into roles really nicely
Speaker 3: for the Blues. They play little system sort of style
Speaker 3: of rugby union. I think that the strength of Barnes
Speaker 3: is that he has slotted in, found a real niche
Speaker 3: and he looks like a really promising player. You've seen
Speaker 3: a bit of him down you know in christ Church
Speaker 3: with Canterbury and the NBC hasn't had too many chances there,
Speaker 3: but he looks like a real comer for the Blues
Speaker 3: over the next few seasons. And last week they just
Speaker 3: resigned him for a couple more.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was just going to say they made the
Speaker 2: core early and rightly so to promote him through to
Speaker 2: a full squad contract for twenty seven and twenty eight. Look,
Speaker 2: I must admit smothe, you know, watching him sparingly for Canterburen,
Speaker 2: you'd get the odd game, the odd start at six
Speaker 2: or eight, but primarily off the bench. I thought, look,
Speaker 2: you know, you look at the cattle that the Crusaders
Speaker 2: have in the loose forward department. You look at them
Speaker 2: going out and getting an Oli Mathis, which is a
Speaker 2: totally different type of loose forward. But you could kind
Speaker 2: of understand what the Crusaders were thinking in terms of that.
Speaker 2: They would have been to keep Tory and Barnes, but
Speaker 2: they were happy to sort of, you know, spin their luck,
Speaker 2: if you like, in the draft system late last year
Speaker 2: with these wider training group contracts. But the Blues have
Speaker 2: found a gym that whatever he's done over the preseason,
Speaker 2: he looks like he's bulked up, but he is fully yeah,
Speaker 2: buying into the way the Blues are playing. He's got
Speaker 2: that ability to range out in the wider channels and
Speaker 2: equally as effective in tight so no one to follow.
Speaker 2: The Torian buds has been one of the stories of
Speaker 2: the season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, here's indeed Dan. Look, I just want to give
Speaker 3: a shout out to to aj Lambon and look, maybe
Speaker 3: he comes into it a bit later on when we
Speaker 3: give out our three two ones, but he's going overseas
Speaker 3: after the season. But to me, it feels like he's
Speaker 3: played all blacks fifteen rugby, never really had a look
Speaker 3: in at the top level, but that try he's scored
Speaker 3: just the power that he's able to use, but also
Speaker 3: that the speed that he's got. He's so powerful, and
Speaker 3: I just don't know that he even got a proper
Speaker 3: looking at test level. And I believe we may be
Speaker 3: letting a bit of a gym go in aj Lamb
Speaker 3: at the end of the season. You know, he's versatile,
Speaker 3: he's played wing, he can play both positions in midfield.
Speaker 3: You know, strong bench option as well, given the play
Speaker 3: places that he can cover in a back line. But
Speaker 3: I think he beat six to seven defenders on the
Speaker 3: weekend and a few of those would have been in
Speaker 3: that one tribe, but just a really outstanding player that
Speaker 3: maybe just didn't get the look and he deserved it
Speaker 3: at the top table.
Speaker 2: I agree, and look, I think his best position as center.
Speaker 2: And unfortunately for aj Lamb, you know, he had Rico
Speaker 2: Juanna ahead of him for several seasons. He's now really
Speaker 2: getting a chance to show how impactful he can be,
Speaker 2: particularly in terms of that physicalness, the ball carrying. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and there's a litany of players in there around that
Speaker 2: sort of twenty six twenty seven year old age bracket
Speaker 2: who are heading overseas at the end of the season
Speaker 2: who you feel like New Zealand Rugby didn't quite tap
Speaker 2: into sort of or get the full potential out of,
Speaker 2: and a J Lamb would have to be near the
Speaker 2: top of that list.
Speaker 1: They would.
Speaker 3: Indeed, Let's move for the backwards through fr Saturday night
Speaker 3: and the Crusaders fifty Mauana Pacific at twenty one if Miwana,
Speaker 3: if games of rugby were forty minutes, Mowana would be
Speaker 3: pretty dangerous. But as it happens, there are eighty minutes
Speaker 3: and the Crusaders just too good after halftime too clinical.
Speaker 3: They weren't great for patches of that first forty minutes Bules,
Speaker 3: but I thought they were asshured after the break. And
Speaker 3: you know, this is a Crusaders team down on a
Speaker 3: few players, obviously with injuries. Cody Taylor wasn't there on
Speaker 3: the weekend. They had to go down to their fourth
Speaker 3: choice ten. But a good performance, perhaps not great from
Speaker 3: the Crusaders, but when you can turn that on the
Speaker 3: second forty you know you're not doing too bad.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, we'll move on quickly here because apparently the
Speaker 2: Rugby Direct listeners don't want to hear the Crusaders commentator
Speaker 2: and a proud Cantabrian talk about the Crusaders. But look,
Speaker 2: I totally agree. I thought it was pretty clunky first
Speaker 2: half and without some of those regulars, it wasn't that flash.
Speaker 2: And look, the Crusaders are trying to force things. I
Speaker 2: think that the games against Mowana you kind of lean
Speaker 2: into that, perhaps a little bit too much and try
Speaker 2: too hard. But then we saw when the like said
Speaker 2: Lester Fining, a nook who came off the bench, ow
Speaker 2: impactful he could be. And another shout out to I
Speaker 2: know I'm probably a flaw investor when it comes to
Speaker 2: Shay Fee Harckey, but I thought he was superb stepped
Speaker 2: up as a goalkicker, scored a couple of tries, showed
Speaker 2: how good he is in the air with that cross
Speaker 2: field kick from Cooper Grant. His stocks arising as far
Speaker 2: as I'm concerned. So look the Crusaders. They go into
Speaker 2: the by first time they've won back to back, so
Speaker 2: they'll be happy, but knowing that bigger tests are to come.
Speaker 3: I completely agree about fee hockey and I've banged the
Speaker 3: strum for a couple of years. But the way that
Speaker 3: Tess rugby is being played at the moment, your skill
Speaker 3: set is so important around the aerial game. He may
Speaker 3: not have the odd and out pace of others, you know,
Speaker 3: he may not have the ability to beat defenders, but
Speaker 3: what he does have is that aerial skill, and he's
Speaker 3: pretty good at the other two facets of play as well.
Speaker 3: I think he's a pretty good defensive reader. He can
Speaker 3: fall off the odd tackle, but most wing is susceptible
Speaker 3: to doing that. But I just think you've got to
Speaker 3: be a little bit pragmatic around what the strengths are
Speaker 3: and then you throw on his goal kicking massive boot
Speaker 3: on him. Handy in that facet, I think he's well
Speaker 3: worthy of a look for for Dave Rnnie and co.
Speaker 3: This year.
Speaker 2: I totally agree. No, you're preaching to the converted already here, Elliott.
Speaker 2: I think he's the full package. I know they've got
Speaker 2: big tickets on him here down in Crusaders countries. Obviously
Speaker 2: from came through the Auckland rugby system, but another that's
Speaker 2: just resigned and put pens of paper. I think another
Speaker 2: two years on his deal, so I think that we're
Speaker 2: still going to see the best at Schaeffe Hockey, certainly
Speaker 2: in a Crusaders jersey, and time will to out to
Speaker 2: see if he'll get a black one as well.
Speaker 3: Absolutely. Let's move back to the Friday Games and the
Speaker 3: Brumbies beating the Chiefs thirty three twenty four. If you
Speaker 3: switched the TV off at twenty four to seven and
Speaker 3: thought that's a chance for an early night here, the
Speaker 3: Chiefs are going to kick on with this one. Will
Speaker 3: you missed a quite manut a half hour of rugby
Speaker 3: as the Brumby stormed back and won that contest in
Speaker 3: remarkable fashion. James Slipper breaking the record slips out for slipper,
Speaker 3: I think was the catch cry last week, Well like
Speaker 3: they're going to have a pretty poor night until about
Speaker 3: the sixty minute mark when they roared back into life.
Speaker 3: Lonigan with a try Charlie Cale who has been so
Speaker 3: good this year, and Meredith gets another that all of
Speaker 3: a sudden they're in front, and just a remarkable turnative events.
Speaker 3: And then right at the end the Chiefs with a
Speaker 3: chance to win it and Corey tool goes and Burgles
Speaker 3: try down the other end and make sure they don't
Speaker 3: even get a bonus point out of it. What did
Speaker 3: you make of that contest?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I uppeoseally from a Chief's perspective, first being twenty
Speaker 2: four to seven in front with an hour to go,
Speaker 2: even on the road at a tricky place to go
Speaker 2: like Canberra, that those are the sort of ones that
Speaker 2: you've got to put away. And I don't quite know
Speaker 2: what it was, whether it was they thought that they
Speaker 2: had the game done and they just switched off for
Speaker 2: you know, ever so slightly. You can't afford to switch
Speaker 2: off in this competition, particularly against a team like the Brumbi.
Speaker 2: So we know, as we cast our minds back to
Speaker 2: was it round two when the Brumbies put fifty on
Speaker 2: the Crusaders. They do finish very well, and I just
Speaker 2: thought some of the leaders there and the Chiefs, there
Speaker 2: were a couple of moments there, of course, after those
Speaker 2: trials were scored, with you just I'm sure these conversations
Speaker 2: are happening. You know, let's get back to basics, let's
Speaker 2: get back to what we have done well in that
Speaker 2: first hour. But it just they couldn't turn the tap
Speaker 2: off once the Brumbies got going. The disappointing factor for mine,
Speaker 2: as you sort of alluded to there, Elliott, the Chiefs
Speaker 2: had the opportunity to steal the game or win it
Speaker 2: back twice. Damien McKenzie missing a seventy seventh minute penalty
Speaker 2: from what about thirty five meters outright in front, that's disappointing.
Speaker 2: But not only that's you know, where was the cool
Speaker 2: heads And that seventy ninth minute mark, you know they're
Speaker 2: a meter away from breaching the Brumbies defense. It got
Speaker 2: a bit how to scouter. All of a sudden, Simon
Speaker 2: Parker's got his head over the ball. Where's Xavier row
Speaker 2: marshaling the troops? And he sort of fumbled and bumbled
Speaker 2: it and Corey Till sort of, you know, just seizes
Speaker 2: on the opportunity from the Parker pass off the grass
Speaker 2: to run what ninety eight meters intercepted and deny the
Speaker 2: Chiefs bonus point as well. I think, yeah, John O
Speaker 2: Gibbs that that flight to Perth. I heard them with
Speaker 2: Jason Pine on Weekend in Sport yesterday on news Talks,
Speaker 2: he'd be it'll be a long flight to Perth. They'll
Speaker 2: be not necessarily soul searching, but one that got away.
Speaker 2: And I know we're going to talk about the playoff
Speaker 2: picture as things stand a little bit later in the podcast,
Speaker 2: but these are the sort of results or going away
Speaker 2: from something like that empty handed when you're up by seventeen,
Speaker 2: it really isn't excusable.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, and I think home advantage in the playoffs is
Speaker 3: so crucial. We saw that last year. You know, the
Speaker 3: Chiefs had home advantage and the Blues were able to
Speaker 3: sweep through and win that game, but they didn't have
Speaker 3: home advantage for the next two weeks as a result,
Speaker 3: and that probably threw away their chance of winning the
Speaker 3: Super Rugby title. They had to go to christ Jurch.
Speaker 3: So the high you are on the ladder the better
Speaker 3: it is at the end of the season. I think
Speaker 3: that's where the Brumbies have sort of folded in the
Speaker 3: last couple of years. That've been very, very good, but
Speaker 3: they've dropped the odd game away from home in the
Speaker 3: regular season that maybe they should have won, and that
Speaker 3: has moved them down the ladder a little bit. Games
Speaker 3: like this, when they've sawn back and managed to win,
Speaker 3: we'll get them in the right positions towards at the
Speaker 3: end of the season. I'm not sure about that game
Speaker 3: management at the end from the Chiefs. I thought it
Speaker 3: was Look, you could probably argue that a drop goal,
Speaker 3: if you miss it, it's a low percentage play, you're
Speaker 3: better off a retaining position. But they were so close
Speaker 3: to the line that surely you should be able to
Speaker 3: put Damien McKenzie into the pocket on the twenty two
Speaker 3: in front enough protection there to either give yourself the
Speaker 3: option of the drop goal or drawing the defenders so
Speaker 3: that you can create something else. I just thought it
Speaker 3: was a really poor passage of leadership and game management
Speaker 3: from the Chiefs to close out that game. Drop goal
Speaker 3: would have won it. They went for the five point truck.
Speaker 3: Can understand it. They'll bang on the line a little bit,
Speaker 3: but three is as good as five. In that situation,
Speaker 3: I would have gone for the drop goal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we just don't see it, do we. In this
Speaker 2: part of the world. There's just a real lack of
Speaker 2: confidence and going for it. It's, for whatever reason, just
Speaker 2: considered a low percentage play, perhaps because it's just it's
Speaker 2: never really tried. But I think you look at the
Speaker 2: English Premiership or Top fourteen and six nations, they're popping
Speaker 2: drop goals most weekends. So yeah, that's a very good point.
Speaker 3: And to start the round, what a performance from the Hurricanes.
Speaker 3: Fifty points to seven to beat the Highlanders behinds drew
Speaker 3: first blood through jkb Rotami Tavuki Nepkins and that was
Speaker 3: their night done. From a scoring perspective, the Hurricanes just
Speaker 3: very very good, very assured. I know what my co
Speaker 3: host be saying. The cane train is beginning to really
Speaker 3: hit its straps at this point of the season. First Darby,
Speaker 3: that was the question mark over them, while they took
Speaker 3: that first box. Just a clinical, dominant performance from a
Speaker 3: team that looks like and knows the way it wants
Speaker 3: to play this season. We've seen Hurricanes teams in the
Speaker 3: past perhaps be a little too flashy. Well, to me,
Speaker 3: I thought on Friday night, they especially in the first
Speaker 3: forty they played a little bit like a rugby league team.
Speaker 3: And what I mean by that is that they knew
Speaker 3: where they wanted to be in a couple of phases time.
Speaker 3: They just plotted their way around the park. And you
Speaker 3: think about the Great Storm teams where Cameron Smith was
Speaker 3: direct can play out of hooker and Dammi half and
Speaker 3: he'd know where they wanted to be in two sets time,
Speaker 3: and then Cooper Kronk would trust that, and it felt
Speaker 3: like the Hurricanes zero say, we're just playing that start
Speaker 3: of play on the front foot rugby moving up the
Speaker 3: field knowing where they were going to be, and the
Speaker 3: holand has had no answer to try and stop it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a very good point. And the one thing
Speaker 2: I was going to add, which was sort of similar
Speaker 2: to that around that league pattern is there's no fixation
Speaker 2: on the first five having to be at first receiver
Speaker 2: or Jordi Barrett having to be at the second man
Speaker 2: to touch the ball because he's wearing the twelve jersey.
Speaker 2: You know Barrett will jump in there at ten and
Speaker 2: then it'll be love out the back, or it can
Speaker 2: be Billy Procter or Callum Hark can sweep or you
Speaker 2: know even cam Royguard can step in there in the
Speaker 2: first five position. They're also skillful there with their ball
Speaker 2: distribution that it doesn't really matter. But as you say,
Speaker 2: it almost felt like a glorified training run there at
Speaker 2: some stages there for the Hurricanes. The way that they
Speaker 2: were able to sweep the ball from one side of
Speaker 2: the field to the other while making ground and I
Speaker 2: suppose to knock on the canes as you say, Eliot,
Speaker 2: and the past has been too flashy. But the way
Speaker 2: that they're pack fronted as well, and they're so physical
Speaker 2: with their ball carrying. I mean, just look at the
Speaker 2: way that Devin Flanders just bulldoze his way to the
Speaker 2: line to finish off that special team try early in
Speaker 2: the second half. Guy's like Peter Larkey, I thought that
Speaker 2: the scrum was dominant again as well as is still
Speaker 2: without Tyrrel Lomax. That there's a lot to like about
Speaker 2: this Hurricanes team and the way they performing. They've got depths,
Speaker 2: as you say, it was that first New Zealand Derby.
Speaker 2: There'll be tough at Derby's to come just having a
Speaker 2: quick lockdown their list and I know they've got the
Speaker 2: Reds next, but then it's Blues and Chiefs. So again
Speaker 2: I want to reserve a little bit of judgment for
Speaker 2: the Canes, but you can only play what's in front
Speaker 2: of you. The way that they're going about their work,
Speaker 2: they racked up one thy and twenty one carry meters.
Speaker 2: It was just totally and utterly dominant. I thought Cameroy
Speaker 2: guard was superb. I thought Reuben Love was superb. Yeah,
Speaker 2: there's a lot to like, but not if you're a
Speaker 2: Highland Is fan.
Speaker 3: No, let's stick into it to Ruben Love at ten.
Speaker 3: There's been cries for him to get more game time
Speaker 3: at ten. He got a little bit last year, but
Speaker 3: that was in the back end of the season after
Speaker 3: he come back from injury for the Hurricanes. Didn't really
Speaker 3: get a looking at test level last year. But I thought,
Speaker 3: you know, again, they weren't up to much the Highlanders
Speaker 3: and he could only play what was in front of them.
Speaker 3: But I just thought that's a performance that there's a
Speaker 3: lot to like about from Ruben Love. Perhaps needs to
Speaker 3: work on the game management a little bit, but again,
Speaker 3: those tougher tests will come in those games that you
Speaker 3: mentioned in the weeks that will follow, But that has
Speaker 3: to be the nineteen option for the Hurricanes the rest
Speaker 3: of the season. I know they've been short of a
Speaker 3: couple of players and you know Harkens slotted in at ten,
Speaker 3: but if you know, I think they've just got to
Speaker 3: keep rolling that out because it's a very very dangerous
Speaker 3: combo and with an at all Blacks level, you know,
Speaker 3: accommodations are important at super level as you're flow into
Speaker 3: the test side too.
Speaker 2: Oh, I certainly are then the more reps that that
Speaker 2: little triumphant with Roy Gyard, Love and Barrett can get
Speaker 2: at super Abia level. That's only going to put their
Speaker 2: cases forward for Dave, Rennie and Cove towards the back
Speaker 2: end of the season. As you said, I think that
Speaker 2: was the perfect game for Ruben Love in terms of
Speaker 2: its openness, its expansiveness. The real tests for him will
Speaker 2: be on those cooler nights when the winds rarely picking
Speaker 2: up in Wellington and he has to game manage a
Speaker 2: little bit more in perhaps with a Ford pack that
Speaker 2: isn't going as going forward as often. So look, I'm
Speaker 2: very encouraged. I've been one who's been waiting to see
Speaker 2: Ruben Love play a lot more at ten through circumstance
Speaker 2: to a degree, we're going to see a bit more
Speaker 2: of it now, but it was a very exciting watch
Speaker 2: to just see how good he could be, particularly with
Speaker 2: ball in hand.
Speaker 3: Absolutely one of the Highlanders, i mean, fired one shot
Speaker 3: right at the start, didn't really fire another one for
Speaker 3: the entire eighty minutes. They look like a team down
Speaker 3: on confidence. They're certainly down on a few numbers. They've
Speaker 3: got a few issues at Locke, Recha and Passeitor at
Speaker 3: team not sure he's the answer, but they just don't
Speaker 3: seem like a team that has any confidence about them
Speaker 3: at this point of the season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the point about Passi Tai, I think last
Speaker 2: time I stepped into this podcast, we were talking about
Speaker 2: cam Miller not being the answer either in terms of
Speaker 2: his creativity at ten. So you feel for JB, Joseph
Speaker 2: and Cobe because you just look at the cattle that
Speaker 2: they have and this has been an ongoing issue with
Speaker 2: the Highlanders in terms of their recruitment, and you can
Speaker 2: pare that up against the Crusaders of Hurricanes, the Chiefs
Speaker 2: and the Blues and it's just it's not the same.
Speaker 2: So what they did so well in twenty fifteen way
Speaker 2: back when is they got the absolute best out of
Speaker 2: the players.
Speaker 1: That they had.
Speaker 2: But I just feel for them because I don't really
Speaker 2: know what the answer is. That they might scrap away
Speaker 2: and try and sneak into the six, but I can't
Speaker 2: see it at this point in time. And yeah, as
Speaker 2: I said a lot a wee while ago, now, just
Speaker 2: the losses of Farby and Holland, and I know he
Speaker 2: hasn't played a super baki game of the loss adl
Speaker 2: and pledge you too. It's verging on terminal now. And
Speaker 2: now that we're at round six.
Speaker 3: And let's take quick break, come back with the final
Speaker 3: four after this time, Now for the final four on
Speaker 3: Rugby Direct, friend of the podcast Steve Lenthal had a
Speaker 3: message and suggested that one of the final four topics
Speaker 3: be what was the better fifty point win on the
Speaker 3: weekend Hurricanes or Crusaders. Maybe we'll just leave that one
Speaker 3: and Lim can answer that when he gets back to
Speaker 3: the podcast at some point. But the actual final four,
Speaker 3: Jason Holland announced on Saturday, Alien actually broke this story
Speaker 3: appointed as the Blues coach from twenty twenty seven. Of course,
Speaker 3: former Hurricanes head coach. They went to the All Blacks
Speaker 3: as a strike play coach and assistant backs coach. Didn't
Speaker 3: work out. He wasn't going to be part of the
Speaker 3: setup even before Scott Robertson got sacked, went back to
Speaker 3: the Hurricanes as an assistant in the season, and now
Speaker 3: he lands the top job at the Blues. He surprised
Speaker 3: by this, Bills.
Speaker 2: No, I'm not surprised. It seemed pretty obvious to me
Speaker 2: that when Jason hyle And left the All Blacks coaching
Speaker 2: mix late last year he was pretty keen to get
Speaker 2: back into a head coaching gig, and in fact, sort
Speaker 2: of throughout the Scott Robertson tenure, with Jason Holland and
Speaker 2: and Leo McDonald coming in having been head coaches at
Speaker 2: Super Aby level, that was always perhaps the concern or
Speaker 2: the query as to how these guys would go slotting
Speaker 2: back in as assistants. So I always thought it was
Speaker 2: going to be a temporary measure for Jason Holland once
Speaker 2: he landed back at the Hurricanes. I suppose that you
Speaker 2: could say a little bit surprised that he's landed in
Speaker 2: another New Zealand Super franchise and rather than hitting overseas.
Speaker 2: But as he pointed out to Jason Pine on News
Speaker 2: Talks here Be yesterday, it was an opportunity too good
Speaker 2: to turn down for me. It'll be interesting. I was
Speaker 2: supposed Smithy to see how much he wants to bring
Speaker 2: in his style versus the Vern cot away. And I
Speaker 2: know you'll have some thoughts on this as well as
Speaker 2: the Blues play by player commentator. But as we know
Speaker 2: about the Blues, you know, particularly in year one when
Speaker 2: they won the title under Vern, it was no free,
Speaker 2: abrasive sort of buying aga into that Kluemont style and
Speaker 2: being very direct. Jason Holland, as you outline being that
Speaker 2: skills specialist for the All Blacks coach or strike play specialist,
Speaker 2: you know, I suspect he'll be looking at a bit
Speaker 2: more of an expansive style of play. And I suppose
Speaker 2: secondary to that too, coming in in a World Cup
Speaker 2: year when it's tricky for Super Ugby coaches, they'll know
Speaker 2: they'll be told from the top down. Look, this is
Speaker 2: how you have to manage Bowden, Barrett, this is how
Speaker 2: you have to manage your other All Black scattle, Patrick
Speaker 2: Tupelo two and the likes what with the Jason Hollands
Speaker 2: in a bit of a holding pattern in year one
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty seven and then can rarely go full
Speaker 2: steam ahead from twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 3: Well, I think he won't want to throw the baby
Speaker 3: out with the bath water. The Blue has done some
Speaker 3: good things in the last couple of years. One that's
Speaker 3: needed in the title. Last year they sort of caught
Speaker 3: fire a bit too late in the season and maybe
Speaker 3: could have even gone a bit further After that, went
Speaker 3: over the Chiefs and the knockouts and went close to
Speaker 3: beating the Crusaders in christ Church in the semi final round.
Speaker 3: So he won't want to throw away too much. But
Speaker 3: I think he's also going to have to adapt next
Speaker 3: year because he's coming into a team that will be
Speaker 3: missing Dalton Papaletti who's going overseas, a Joe Lamb who's
Speaker 3: going overseas. I'm trying to think there's any o other
Speaker 3: ones from the Blues that'll be departing, but there's certainly
Speaker 3: a couple of players there that he's going to have
Speaker 3: to replace. He's obviously got touring in Barns into a
Speaker 3: bigger role next year, as we've touched on earlier in
Speaker 3: the podcast, Boden Barrett maybe gets one more year out
Speaker 3: of him next year, but probably won't resign beyond twenty
Speaker 3: twenty seven. You wouldn't have thought New Zealand Rugby, So
Speaker 3: nixt year is going to be, as you say, very
Speaker 3: very interesting, and it may be that he's sort of
Speaker 3: plodding towards twenty twenty eight in terms of recruitment and
Speaker 3: where the certain players are going to be in certain positions.
Speaker 3: By that engineer Peyton Spencer. We saw a glimpse of
Speaker 3: him on the weekend. He will no doubt play a
Speaker 3: bigger role over the next couple of years Arico Simpson
Speaker 3: and there are others coming through the under twenty setup.
Speaker 3: So yeah, twenty twenty seven Loombs is a sad, a
Speaker 3: bit of a holding pattern. Yet I'm sure the Blues
Speaker 3: won't see it as that and won't go in with
Speaker 3: that mentality. But given the changes that have been made
Speaker 3: to their personnel and as you say that they're looming
Speaker 3: thing of the World Cup, it's going to be interesting
Speaker 3: to see how he manages that. So we wait and
Speaker 3: see top number two in the final four. Do we
Speaker 3: have our top six already in Super Rugby Hurricane, not
Speaker 3: in this order necessarily, but in the top six currently Hurricanes, Blues, Brumb's, Reds, Crusaders,
Speaker 3: Chiefs on the outside looking in the Wartars three points
Speaker 3: behind the Chiefs, then the Highlanders, the Drewer, Force and
Speaker 3: Moana Pacifica. Can you see anyone from outside that top
Speaker 3: six after six rounds Bulls moving their way into that
Speaker 3: top six?
Speaker 2: Oh this is a bit grim to say after that context,
Speaker 2: isn't it. But yes is my answer, which is a
Speaker 2: bit of a shame. And look, there will be some
Speaker 2: jeopardy on the order, which is exciting for the fan.
Speaker 2: But as you outline there Waratars, Highlanders, Drewer, Force and Mowana,
Speaker 2: I think you've put a line through the Drewer, the
Speaker 2: Force and Moana the Wartars too. Is if they can
Speaker 2: just sort this shit out a little bit. I mean,
Speaker 2: I know that they're without Joseph Suli. They started with
Speaker 2: two wins, what they had three losses and a bye
Speaker 2: since they do have the Highlanders and the Force twice
Speaker 2: the back end of their season. But then you look
Speaker 2: at the quality of the top six and who of
Speaker 2: them is falling out? I was impressed by the Reds
Speaker 2: as well. We didn't get to the Reds drawer, but
Speaker 2: that's a really tough place to go and win. So
Speaker 2: they're four from five, they've had a buy I think
Speaker 2: the Brumbies will be there as well, and those four
Speaker 2: New Zealand anyways, so do you disagree.
Speaker 3: Well, I don't disagree. It's this here. I can really
Speaker 3: only see the war Retahs coming through out of that lot.
Speaker 3: And the question mark I would have is funny enough
Speaker 3: with the Crusaders, they've got the drawer after the buye
Speaker 3: on Good Friday, then they're away to the Reds in
Speaker 3: the Force. Now they should probably win both of those,
Speaker 3: but the Reds are tricky and Brisbane and the Force
Speaker 3: hasn't always been a happy hunting ground for the Crusaders.
Speaker 3: But again, by good enough to win both of those
Speaker 3: games and to come home launch the new stadium against
Speaker 3: the Waratas. Should win that. But then they finished and
Speaker 3: I know they've got to buy in the middle of it,
Speaker 3: but they've got four Derby's in a row to finish.
Speaker 3: And look, I'm not saying they won't there and look
Speaker 3: there was some promising signs on Saturday night, but I
Speaker 3: just I think that that schedules really difficult to end
Speaker 3: the season Hurricanes away, Blues at home. Then they have
Speaker 3: the buy, then they've got the Chiefs at home and
Speaker 3: the Hurricanes at home. Now they've front loaded the games
Speaker 3: and so they can have a run at the new
Speaker 3: stadium and then it'll be fantastic. But that's a lot
Speaker 3: of you know, last four games, you know, depending on
Speaker 3: how much they need out of it. I just think
Speaker 3: there's a question mark there.
Speaker 2: No, I totally agree. And look that they've known obviously,
Speaker 2: they've had this draw out for some time around the
Speaker 2: back end of their drawer and how tricky it is
Speaker 2: and how they've played a part in that because they
Speaker 2: wanted the big fixtures to be in one in Zied
Speaker 2: Stadium to Kaha. So it's a very good point. And look,
Speaker 2: they have been clunky these first six weeks, so I
Speaker 2: suspect there will be there. But yeah, no, you make
Speaker 2: a very very compelling case that they might be the
Speaker 2: ones to fall out.
Speaker 3: Easter Weekend next week. In you raised the point to
Speaker 3: me this morning. It's only three games on Easter Weekend,
Speaker 3: the Crusaders against the drawer and the last dance at
Speaker 3: a Polo Project stadium. On Good Friday. We're all looking
Speaker 3: forward to that Chicks warret seven oh five on Saturday,
Speaker 3: and then the Reds Force only three games. It surprises
Speaker 3: me a little bit. Last year I think they had
Speaker 3: a full slate and a couple of times last year
Speaker 3: I think I had a four game weekend, so there
Speaker 3: were more teams with the buy, but didn't quite realize
Speaker 3: there's only three games. Do you reckon it's crowded down
Speaker 3: to crowd figures or just a I guess a good
Speaker 3: opportunity to give teams a buy. At the midway ish
Speaker 3: point of the season.
Speaker 2: I was listening to a little radio show called The
Speaker 2: Mike Costing Breakfast this morning. You might have heard of it, Yeah,
Speaker 2: and Andrew several and the commentary box mentioned three games,
Speaker 2: and I just I just couldn't believe it. I I'd
Speaker 2: to go check and look, there is situation or last
Speaker 2: year where they'll have four game rounds or this is
Speaker 2: obviously you know, it's awkward having eleven teams, so I
Speaker 2: get that, but just to have just to have the
Speaker 2: three and look, I know in the past and particularly
Speaker 2: here in christ Church, I think where they can I
Speaker 2: know they've got one on Good Friday, that last game
Speaker 2: at Apollo against the drib But where they can, they
Speaker 2: do request to not play Easter weekend, a lot of
Speaker 2: people clear out from christ Church and go to Kai
Speaker 2: Tidy or Hanmer or Akrol wherever. So But then I
Speaker 2: look at it on the other side of the Code
Speaker 2: Battle if you like, or the Battle for Eyeballs, and look,
Speaker 2: it's a seventeen team competition in the NRL, but there's
Speaker 2: a full slate of eight fixtures, the first ones on Thursday,
Speaker 2: the last ones on Monday, so that there feels like
Speaker 2: an audience there that is willing to engage, certainly at
Speaker 2: least at a broadcast standpoint. So I do find three
Speaker 2: a little curious, to say the least, and perhaps something
Speaker 2: that needs a little bit more examination.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it does seem a little bit odd, but I'm
Speaker 3: with you. I know the Blues struggle to get crowds.
Speaker 3: I think at an Easter game a couple of years
Speaker 3: ago maybe, and it didn't work out well. And there's
Speaker 3: all sorts of licensing rules around booze and various things
Speaker 3: around those days as well, and how much booze or
Speaker 3: any booze you can sell, and that obviously hits the
Speaker 3: vendors as well, So there's little things like that that
Speaker 3: play into it. But does seem very very quiet for
Speaker 3: a weekend where a lot of the shops aren't open.
Speaker 3: You've sort of got a little bit of a captive market.
Speaker 3: At least, as you say, from a broadcast perspective, options
Speaker 3: are limited in terms of entertainment. You think you might
Speaker 3: make it the most of that, but I'm sure there
Speaker 3: are compelling reasons behind closed doors as to why that
Speaker 3: is not the case. Topic four in the Final four
Speaker 3: Blackfood squad for Pacific four has been named. Plenty of
Speaker 3: new faces that Whitney Hansen is named in her first squad.
Speaker 3: I think she's got eight potential debutantes in all, but
Speaker 3: I guess, as always, it's about the omissions and the
Speaker 3: players that aren't the air and that the names that
Speaker 3: stand out are pretty big ones as well that have
Speaker 3: been regular faces for the And I don't know the
Speaker 3: full story behind some of them, but Ilitana Ohio was
Speaker 3: part of that World Cup squad last year. She's not there.
Speaker 3: Just the two half backs that Winnie Hansen has gone with, Taraturner,
Speaker 3: who was very impressive last year for the Blues, gets
Speaker 3: her opportunity. So look, start of World Cup cycle bules
Speaker 3: a bit of a changing of the guard, but there
Speaker 3: are some familiar faces the as well among those players
Speaker 3: that are missing.
Speaker 2: Yes, certainly familiar. It's not baby out with the bathwater,
Speaker 2: is it, from the transition from the Alan Bunting era
Speaker 2: to the Whitney Hanson era. But of course there was
Speaker 2: always going to be some gaps to fill, and this
Speaker 2: primarily with the Pack four series being in April and
Speaker 2: the World seven series still being ongoing or entering the
Speaker 2: what is it called the World Championship phase or whatever
Speaker 2: they've coined it this year, So no no Braxton, Sirens
Speaker 2: and McGee, no Stacy Waka, no reci pory Laye, no
Speaker 2: Georgia Miller, so there was always going to be gaps
Speaker 2: in of course the retirement of Portia Woodman Wickliffe as well.
Speaker 2: So an opportunity, as you say, for some of the
Speaker 2: impressed at OPEKI level or even FBC level to stake
Speaker 2: a little bit of acclaim while others are absent for
Speaker 2: various reasons. And the one bit actually that caught my
Speaker 2: attention Smithie and I may have missed this, but obviously
Speaker 2: on the all black side there's been all this debate
Speaker 2: or discussion with a new coaching regime. Where does that
Speaker 2: leave Scott Barrett in his future as all Blacks captain,
Speaker 2: same co captaincy model, at least for the pack four
Speaker 2: from the World Cups. I saw that listed this morning
Speaker 2: with Kennedy to Kwafer and Rueje Demant, and look, maybe
Speaker 2: that's because there isn't as many other compelling leadership options elsewhere,
Speaker 2: but obviously Whitney Hansen has full faith in those two
Speaker 2: to lead from the front.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's a little bit of a leadership Voard.
Speaker 3: I think in this squad. And look, these these two
Speaker 3: captains have done it for it for a number of
Speaker 3: seasons now in head Demant's a World Player of the
Speaker 3: Year at a certain pointer on the back of that
Speaker 3: World Cup win in twenty twenty. So it doesn't feel
Speaker 3: like there's a lot of emerging leaders in the squads.
Speaker 3: My Kabaklani Ruz strikes me as a future Black Fans captain.
Speaker 3: She did it for a Test a couple of years
Speaker 3: ago when there are a few injuries and players rested,
Speaker 3: et cetera. But doesn't necessarily strike me as you know,
Speaker 3: there are a lot of options to choose from, So
Speaker 3: I think the status quo keeping there makes a lot
Speaker 3: of sense compared to the Black Funds sevens team. And
Speaker 3: Darre say that most of the players in the park
Speaker 3: and natural leaders in their own way. You can make
Speaker 3: them the captain and they'd lead. There. Just a whole
Speaker 3: lot of leaders out in the park. You know, Georgia
Speaker 3: Miller feels like she's been run forever. She's still what
Speaker 3: twenty two maybe twenty three, she's vice captain of that team.
Speaker 3: They are stacked with all leaders across the park. That
Speaker 3: doesn't seem to have translated to the fifteens necessarily. So
Speaker 3: I think that's a job for Whitney Hansen and the
Speaker 3: coaching staff to do, is to bring through the next
Speaker 3: generation of leaders, because I don't think there are too
Speaker 3: many other compelling options at this point in time for
Speaker 3: the Black Funds, especially as the head to the World Cup.
Speaker 3: You know, you'd think demand will be there for the
Speaker 3: next tournament in twenty nine, but is suily a given
Speaker 3: to KWAFU the same thing. So if there is to
Speaker 3: be a change, you know, who are the options that
Speaker 3: Whitney Hansen can go to. So that's a pretty fascinating
Speaker 3: question over the next few years as she takes a
Speaker 3: full helm of this team. Let's take a look at
Speaker 3: the MVP voting for the weekend that was. This was
Speaker 3: a tough round to dish out some MVP votes in
Speaker 3: the end. Look, I went for Roy Guard for three.
Speaker 3: I thought he was just so good. Look, I could
Speaker 3: have gone probably Rubend Love, maybe ifinny ung An all
Speaker 3: four for three, But I just decided that he was
Speaker 3: so good, you know that that quick thinking tap for
Speaker 3: the try, you know, so good across the park. I
Speaker 3: thought he was really really good over the course of
Speaker 3: the day. A j Lamb gets my two points. We
Speaker 3: touched on him earlier. I thought he was outstanding. Flincher
Speaker 3: New York gets one for me as well. If he
Speaker 3: didn't see Saturday nights game. Not just the try he scored,
Speaker 3: didn't score, but he set up basically that was remarkable.
Speaker 3: You know, it made a break from fifty meters hour.
Speaker 3: It was taken just before the line gets up plays
Speaker 3: half back in the subsequent phase. One of the subsequent
Speaker 3: phases after that could have gone himself. Off loads to
Speaker 3: George Bell for the try. He was everywhere on the
Speaker 3: park and got pinged for one pen Rid couldn't quite
Speaker 3: forget that out went back in one penalties for the
Speaker 3: rest of the game from scrum top. Just a really
Speaker 3: good performance from Fletcher and Yule. What are your three
Speaker 3: two ones bills?
Speaker 2: Well, funnily enough after you say that, Simili, in terms
Speaker 2: of being a hard round, we've gone on a very
Speaker 2: similar theme here, and I am very pleased you brought
Speaker 2: up Fletch and Yule because he's one of the unsung
Speaker 2: heroes down here in Crusaders country and much loved and adored.
Speaker 2: So I gave him my one primarily based on that
Speaker 2: run alone. That was one of the great sights seeing
Speaker 2: a big man an open pasture like that. And similarly
Speaker 2: my tours are say aj Lamb I think was super
Speaker 2: and a real difference maker for the Blues, as we
Speaker 2: outlined earlier in the podcast, and I was tossing up,
Speaker 2: I had to go with a hurricane. Could it be
Speaker 2: Roy Guard, could it be Love, could it be Finang
Speaker 2: and off for I thought, you know, the latter was
Speaker 2: really just on the end of the chain through all
Speaker 2: the hard work, a little bit in field. So look,
Speaker 2: I've gone with Ruben Love. I thought he was tremendous
Speaker 2: the way he was used, in particular his crossfield kicked
Speaker 2: to set up one of those tries. I thought it
Speaker 2: was a very commanding performance and plenty of X Factor
Speaker 2: moments as well. So yeah, three for Reuben Love and yeah,
Speaker 2: let's see where that leaves him in the in the
Speaker 2: standings once once you do all the tallying up, So that's.
Speaker 3: Right, I'll throw them to the pot. See where that happens.
Speaker 3: Of course, this is the Rebel Super Rugby MVP voting
Speaker 3: comp where there are five teams ineligible for voting points
Speaker 3: in terms of the Australians and the Druids. So you know,
Speaker 3: you take out a few players and it becomes a
Speaker 3: very very different voting tally Bulls. Thank you so much
Speaker 3: for joining us on Rugby Direct. As always, no doubt
Speaker 3: you'll be back, maybe very soon, we'll see, but thanks
Speaker 3: as always for your your time on Rugby Direct.
Speaker 2: Always a pleasure. Look forward to Thursday. I keep my phone.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, please do do not turn your phone off.
Speaker 3: That is Rugby Direct powered by Habit Health book today
Speaker 3: and stay in the game. You can get in touch
Speaker 3: with us as well. I want your mailbag questions for
Speaker 3: Thursday Rugby Direct at USTALKZB, dot co dot MZI thanks
Speaker 3: to Mark Kellie. We'll see you next time.
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