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Speaker 2: Inside the Game from Every Angle.
Speaker 1: It's Rugby Direct with Elliott Smith, powered by News Talks EDB.
Speaker 3: Welcome to Rugby to powered by Habit Health, tackling all
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Speaker 3: another week to dissect the rugby issues. Elliott Smith with
Speaker 3: me as always, Liam Napier. Liam, Greetings, it's been another
Speaker 3: fascinating week in the world of rugby. I suppose let's
Speaker 3: go back to last week where by the time we
Speaker 3: recorded our usual weekly podcast, we're about twenty four hours
Speaker 3: out from releasing a podcast with Mark Robinson into our
Speaker 3: CEO and Scott robertson All Black Sea Coach. Plenty of
Speaker 3: positive reactions, so I thank you to all that have
Speaker 3: got in touch with us on that. And yeah, it's
Speaker 3: created a few stories around the rugby world, hasn't it has.
Speaker 4: Indeed, anytime the All Blacks Coach goes live to the
Speaker 4: nation so to speak, or it does an in depth
Speaker 4: interview like that, it's widely picked up on. And yeah,
Speaker 4: I thought it was quite candid by Razor at times.
Speaker 2: Some hot top.
Speaker 4: Topics covered eligibility, everything from Kalyn Ponger to NRL converts
Speaker 4: and the like in Richie Muonga what happened in Japan.
Speaker 2: So yeah, thanks for all your feedback.
Speaker 4: And if you haven't had a chance to listen to
Speaker 4: it's yea rap breads around it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you can view it on YouTube as well. Check
Speaker 3: it on the old Crome cast or smart TV and
Speaker 3: park up in the lounge and watch it that way
Speaker 3: if you're so inclined and keen for any other guests
Speaker 3: that you might like us to get on Rugby Direct.
Speaker 3: Let's rip into the weekend that was, and the headline
Speaker 3: match from a New Zealand perspective was the Blues and
Speaker 3: Crusaders on Saturday night and it delivered plenty of tries,
Speaker 3: It delivered a big win for the Crusaders, and it
Speaker 3: delivered more questions about this Blues team one and five
Speaker 3: in their title defense. No one would have picked this.
Speaker 3: This was perhaps a fifty to fifty game heading in.
Speaker 3: You know, the Crusaders were underdogs at the bookies, but
Speaker 3: the Crusaders just too good on the nights and deserving
Speaker 3: of their win. What did you make of the performance then.
Speaker 2: I think we've split them down the middle.
Speaker 4: If we deal with the Crusaders first and foremost, what
Speaker 4: a transformation in the past. What is it four months
Speaker 4: really from a disastrous season. I think they only won
Speaker 4: four games last year, missed the playoffs. Rob Penney's coaching
Speaker 4: job was on the line, questions about his back room staff,
Speaker 4: players weren't happy, there were selection concerns. This year, They've
Speaker 4: got some bodies back, but they're still missing a few.
Speaker 4: Cody Taylor is a couple of others that Brandon n
Speaker 4: or Scott Barret only played half of that game. At
Speaker 4: the weekends. Ethan Blackhead is still out. So look, the Crusaders,
Speaker 4: all credit to them. They did a number on the Blues.
Speaker 4: This was the Blues equal biggest loss to the Crusaders
Speaker 4: at Eden Park, and I think the Crusaders have now
Speaker 4: won nine of the last ten at Eden Park as well,
Speaker 4: which is quite staggering. But this was a Crusaders team
Speaker 4: that hadn't won away from home and Rob Penny's tenure
Speaker 4: nine games. You have to go back to the twenty
Speaker 4: twenty three Super Aby Final to find their last away win,
Speaker 4: so that was a big monkey off their back. What
Speaker 4: I like about the Crusaders is they are far more
Speaker 4: adventurous this year, and far more adventurous than they were
Speaker 4: under Scott Robertson.
Speaker 2: As well.
Speaker 4: They are attacking from inside their twenty two. They are
Speaker 4: offloading using the ball, having a real crack playing with pace.
Speaker 4: The Blues could not slow down their quick recycle and
Speaker 4: that really hurt them. So I was very impressed by
Speaker 4: the Crusaders forward pack. They did a number on the
Speaker 4: Blues lineout on this scrum the breakdown, and it really
Speaker 4: was one rate traffic apart from the Blues scored the
Speaker 4: opening try and then it was all the Crusaders.
Speaker 3: And what the Crusaders thought did well after that opening
Speaker 3: try is that they didn't allow the Blues to get
Speaker 3: him momnt and they went back down the other end
Speaker 3: and scored, then scored again fee hockey scores from the
Speaker 3: twenty two, and that just put the Blues on the
Speaker 3: back foot after they've done well to open the scoring,
Speaker 3: get on the front foot, give themselves a bit of confidence.
Speaker 3: The Crusaders managed to do that and that allowed them
Speaker 3: to take control of the game from that point onwards
Speaker 3: and went into halftime with a thirteen point lead. Extended
Speaker 3: it after the break and never really felt like in
Speaker 3: any danger from when they went about twenty points to
Speaker 3: seven up. And we think back to last year what
Speaker 3: the Blues were able to do so well. They played direct,
Speaker 3: They used their ball runners really effectively. They used this
Speaker 3: set piece really effectively. I know they've got a number
Speaker 3: of injuries, but they looked ponderous at times with ball
Speaker 3: in hand. And it wasn't until they were chasing the
Speaker 3: game late on and the Crusaders maybe switched off a
Speaker 3: little bit and some tied bodies out there that they
Speaker 3: made and to be a little bit more expansive with
Speaker 3: the game plan. It was too late for the Blues
Speaker 3: by that point. They let the game slip. In the
Speaker 3: first half.
Speaker 4: They did just on the Crusaders again. The final score
Speaker 4: line flated the Blues. Kimitta missed three conversions and the
Speaker 4: Crusaders could have I think they lead twenty to seven
Speaker 4: at halftime, and Will Jordan came close to scoring. I
Speaker 4: think he dropped the ball quite close to the line.
Speaker 4: They were breaking the Blues open at will. So many
Speaker 4: unforced eras from the Blues and senior players were talking here,
Speaker 4: you know, Stephen Petefetter dropping a very simple high ball.
Speaker 4: The Crusaders score from that. Riquewani at least two drop
Speaker 4: balls in contact and he was elevated to the captaincy
Speaker 4: after Patrick two Polotu's withdrawal. I think for me that
Speaker 4: the form of the crusaders is encapsulated in David Havili's
Speaker 4: form last year. I know he had some injury concerns,
Speaker 4: but he is now the out and out form second
Speaker 4: five in this competation. The way he's carrying the ball
Speaker 4: in a dominant fashion, if you watch him his talk,
Speaker 4: his organization, he's really relishing that leadership and so his
Speaker 4: transformation transformation has been very stark and that's reflected in
Speaker 4: the Crusader's form.
Speaker 3: And he's taking pressure off to Hakimitter as well, which
Speaker 3: is big because he's a young team. We know the
Speaker 3: woes he had last year dropped back to Waycato Club Rugby,
Speaker 3: missing conversions and and things like that. That he's taking
Speaker 3: that is a big concern. So he's taking a lot
Speaker 3: of the heat off Tarkumeter in terms of the way
Speaker 3: he's running the game.
Speaker 4: Still a young guy, but when you cast a head
Speaker 4: to the playoffs, you've got to be kicking your goals.
Speaker 2: That is going to make a big difference.
Speaker 4: So at some point there's going to be a very
Speaker 4: tight call for a penny there does he go for
Speaker 4: the experience and James O'Connor, you know when when if
Speaker 4: does he make that call?
Speaker 3: Well, he's got free hockey who can go kick. He's
Speaker 3: got David Havilli who can goal kick. Now they are
Speaker 3: not first choice goal kick is by any strip to
Speaker 3: the imagine, but Ta Hakim his numbers would suggest that
Speaker 3: he's not at that level of being a first choice
Speaker 3: goalkicker as yet, so that I don't need to know
Speaker 3: that they really need to change the run on team.
Speaker 3: I just think you give the kicking team. I mean,
Speaker 3: he's already doing plenty for the Crusaders one to give
Speaker 3: it to David Harvilli and say this is part of
Speaker 3: your responsibilities now.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well it's not working for him and why does
Speaker 4: the first five have to kick? When you mentioned that,
Speaker 4: and just on schaefe K, I've given him a bit
Speaker 4: of stick here, yeh. And justifiably so, I felt at
Speaker 4: the time in terms of the All Blacks conversation, and
Speaker 4: it was a big call for Rob Penny to bring
Speaker 4: him back and drop Macha Springer to the bench after
Speaker 4: he scored five tries.
Speaker 2: But fie Hackey was excellent at the weekend.
Speaker 4: He was highly involved, very dangerous, and every time he
Speaker 4: touched the ball fully justified his selection. So that speaks
Speaker 4: to the Crusader's depth. Now let's look at the Blues.
Speaker 4: What the hell's gone wrong? This was a team that
Speaker 4: dominated last year and they were titled favorites and now
Speaker 4: they have been a complete flop. And the biggest concern
Speaker 4: was we'll talk about the injuries, but last week they
Speaker 4: really hinted that they were improving. They could have very
Speaker 4: easily beaten the Chiefs in Hamilton but for a sideline
Speaker 4: conversion from Xavier Taili and this was easily their worst
Speaker 4: performance of the season.
Speaker 2: That leaves so many question marks.
Speaker 3: It does. It was a massive step backwards after what
Speaker 3: they were able to do the week prior and push
Speaker 3: the Chiefs right to the limit. And you look at
Speaker 3: the stats postgame and they do not tell the story.
Speaker 3: I was looking up. The possession was fifty fifty, so
Speaker 3: charactery of fifty fifty possession, The Blues had fifty three
Speaker 3: to forty seven running meters. The Blues had five hundred
Speaker 3: and ninety to the Crusaders three hundred and forty. This
Speaker 3: is a game where the stats don't tell the tale.
Speaker 3: It's probably bolstered by the last fifteen or so minutes
Speaker 3: where they became a bit more adventurous, had to really
Speaker 3: chase the game and had some better running meters and
Speaker 3: were able to hold onto the ball for perhaps a
Speaker 3: little bit longer. But they seem to have just gone
Speaker 3: away from everything that was working so well last year.
Speaker 3: They don't build pressure, and that's the concerning thing for me,
Speaker 3: is that they had a lot of position in that
Speaker 3: game and just didn't know really what to do with it.
Speaker 3: And whether teams have figured them out, or whether they're
Speaker 3: not comfortable playing that style of rugby anymore, I don't
Speaker 3: exactly know. But they barely really got into the Crusaders
Speaker 3: twenty two and put pressure on in that game on
Speaker 3: the weekend. They Crusaders were able to force eras, the
Speaker 3: Blues made unforced eras, and there was one period in
Speaker 3: the second spell where they just sort of were five
Speaker 3: minutes five minutes inside the Crusaders half, not really going
Speaker 3: anywhere for about two or three minutes at a time,
Speaker 3: just passing left and right, not able to strike, not
Speaker 3: able to find a way through. So I think the
Speaker 3: Blues have become really ponderous this year. And yeah, there's
Speaker 3: a number of injuries, but there's still a lot of
Speaker 3: quality in that team, and I don't know why they
Speaker 3: haven't been able to recapture any of that magic from
Speaker 3: last year.
Speaker 4: Very disjointed and directionless performance, and it is a big concern.
Speaker 4: There were a couple of stats which does speak to
Speaker 4: that performance. The Blues had nineteen turnovers to the Crusaders,
Speaker 4: five six those were unforced eerers and they won five
Speaker 4: of thirteen lineouts and the scrum was seventy five percent.
Speaker 4: So if you look at where the Blues were strong
Speaker 4: last year, it was in the collisions, it was the
Speaker 4: line out, drives, the set piece, the defense, their kick strategy,
Speaker 4: all of those things are not working for them. And
Speaker 4: we do have to touch on their injuries.
Speaker 3: I think fourteen.
Speaker 4: Players out and Patrick losing Patrick, two Polo to and
Speaker 4: Eckland just prior in the days leading up to that
Speaker 4: game does have a massive influence on your leadership, on
Speaker 4: your line out. And the Blues now go into the
Speaker 4: buy and from what I'm hearing, they will get potentially Ricky, Rictelli, Eckland,
Speaker 4: Patrick two, Polo to Zan Sullivan, Bowden, Barrett, Adrian Choate,
Speaker 4: Anton Signer, Tafafunaki, aj Lamb potentially all coming back after
Speaker 4: the buyer. Now there's some massive inns offer doing a
Speaker 4: fussy knick injury doesn't sound great. Not sure what his
Speaker 4: prognosis is, but you've got to front with who you've got,
Speaker 4: and there's no excuses for basic errors and the lack
Speaker 4: of direction and so yes, you can make excuses and
Speaker 4: the injuries do play a part, but I don't think
Speaker 4: that justifies the phenomenal slide we've seen in such a
Speaker 4: short space time.
Speaker 3: I agree, And the problem I've got is that at
Speaker 3: some of the All Blacks players that are not standing
Speaker 3: up and delivering, the ones that are still standing and
Speaker 3: not injured, that they're not getting the best out of
Speaker 3: Rico Jowani. I think ran for a lot of meters
Speaker 3: on the weekend, but and he was captain, but I
Speaker 3: think didn't have one of his better games and struggled
Speaker 3: to get on the go forward on the weekend. Dalton
Speaker 3: Papa Lei has been really quiet this season and I'm
Speaker 3: not sure why that. In these occasions where you need
Speaker 3: players to stand up, they're not. Cameron Christie has been.
Speaker 3: On the other hand, a young player that's only in
Speaker 3: what has theod fourth game maybe for super rugby level,
Speaker 3: is one of those ones that a stand up. As
Speaker 3: zeb Ta earlier, you can see the brilliance and the
Speaker 3: possibilities that he might bring. So it's those younger players
Speaker 3: are standing up. And I think you've got to put
Speaker 3: some real question marks around Papalii and Yuani as leaders
Speaker 3: in this team. They've both captained before the Blues and
Speaker 3: they're not delivering at the moment.
Speaker 2: And for me, that speaks to an attitude thing.
Speaker 4: To be honest, it's very hard to quantify, but I
Speaker 4: spoke to Stephen bit of fit to this year and
Speaker 4: he hinted that a training attitude that wasn't the same
Speaker 4: as last year, and speaking to others around the team,
Speaker 4: there is a sense that there hasn't been that same hunger.
Speaker 4: The Blues broke their eighteen year title drought last year.
Speaker 4: They wanted it really bad and von Kotta came in
Speaker 4: got a reaction from this team and it is very
Speaker 4: much like do you want this?
Speaker 2: How hungry are you?
Speaker 4: And it's a classic case of almost second year syndrome.
Speaker 4: Going through the motions. They made all the right noises
Speaker 4: about not being complacent, but they're not walking the talk.
Speaker 3: No and they had said that. You know, the players
Speaker 3: have said that the training wasn't as intense as it
Speaker 3: needed to be, perhaps in preseason from their own perspective,
Speaker 3: that they they didn't bring the intensity required. And that's
Speaker 3: the hallmarks of you know, great teams, isn't it. You
Speaker 3: look back to some of the super rugby teams. You know,
Speaker 3: the Crusader's going on that run between twenty seventeen and
Speaker 3: twenty three, even the Chiefs in twenty twelve and twenty
Speaker 3: thirteen winning back to back, the Blues you know, way
Speaker 3: back in the nineties doing it back to bads. It's
Speaker 3: all very well. Winning one and that's great and you
Speaker 3: can celebrate that, and they broke the adrat there. But
Speaker 3: the great teams back it up and they may not
Speaker 3: go back and win the title the next year, but
Speaker 3: they'll go very very close. And we're just not seeing
Speaker 3: that from the Blues. You know, there's a long way
Speaker 3: to go in this competition. They're one in five, but
Speaker 3: you know, they get some players back, sure, but there's
Speaker 3: still some big games to come from. They've got to
Speaker 3: go play the Crusader's Wayne christ Church go to Suva.
Speaker 3: They've got to a suver. They've got Hurricanes at home
Speaker 3: in a couple of weeks. They've got Wana Pacific two
Speaker 3: games to play now, one is bottom of the table.
Speaker 3: But you just don't know what kind of game plan
Speaker 3: they'll bring and how hungry they might be on the night.
Speaker 3: So they've got a still some runway the Blues, but
Speaker 3: not a lot really in this competition.
Speaker 4: No times running out and you know what, this is
Speaker 4: where we find out what the Blues are made of
Speaker 4: and what their attitude is and how much they want it.
Speaker 4: They've dug themselves a massive hole. And for me, the
Speaker 4: responsibility it's player lead. The coaching team can only do
Speaker 4: so much. Where are these players at How are they
Speaker 4: gonna They need to catch the ball, they need to
Speaker 4: put these things in place. The other thing we just
Speaker 4: another step. The kicking meters, I think it was the
Speaker 4: Crusaders kicked twenty five times and they've got eight hundred
Speaker 4: odd meters. The Blues were nineteen odd times for three hundreds.
Speaker 4: So little things like that have a profound effect but yeah,
Speaker 4: the Blues there are in some adversity. How and are
Speaker 4: they going to fight their way out of it? Because
Speaker 4: this has been their own doing. So let's find out
Speaker 4: what they're all about.
Speaker 3: Indeed, they go into the buy the sweet, plenty of
Speaker 3: things to pond it there. Let's go to the Reeds
Speaker 3: in the hand is under the roof in Dunedin on
Speaker 3: Saturday afternoon, the Reeds emerging twenty nine to twenty three winners. Look,
Speaker 3: the Reds were without Fraser mcwright as they crossed the
Speaker 3: Tasman tamd Dermott and yet they come over and take
Speaker 3: the win. And for periods in this game it felt
Speaker 3: like the Highlanders not necessarily have this game under control,
Speaker 3: but they know they trailed early, came back, got themselves
Speaker 3: into the contest and it felt like, okay, they'd set
Speaker 3: themselves up for well, but they just made a couple
Speaker 3: of errors. In the second spell, Ethan Degrouk goes off
Speaker 3: for a yellow card. They can sider to try either
Speaker 3: side of that, and all they can escape with is
Speaker 3: a penalty goal at the end for a bonus point.
Speaker 3: I thought this was a really disappointing second spell, in
Speaker 3: particular from the Highlanders.
Speaker 2: It was.
Speaker 4: Yes, the game was there for the taking and they
Speaker 4: started slowly and then I felt like they got their
Speaker 4: game going, started to build, some things got on top,
Speaker 4: and then they felt like they let it slip. You
Speaker 4: mentioned the yellow card, and the other big factor here
Speaker 4: was their scrum got completely dismantled, dismantled. Their replacement tight
Speaker 4: head had some real struggles, then went off injured. The
Speaker 4: starting tight head came back, but the Reds really their
Speaker 4: replacement front rowers Alex Hodgman and the like did a
Speaker 4: number on the Highlanders. Poor yellow card from the group.
Speaker 4: That was costly as well from an all Black. So yeah, look,
Speaker 4: there were some impressive individual performances. Was great to see
Speaker 4: Peter umung A Jensen back in the midfield. I thought
Speaker 4: he was added some real touches of class with his
Speaker 4: long balls and midfield penetration. Sean Withey was good well,
Speaker 4: at least one turnover, but yeah, the read's not at
Speaker 4: full strength. That was there for the taking for the Honders.
Speaker 4: I think there was the Reds first one in Dneed
Speaker 4: in ten twelve years. So there's a bit about that team.
Speaker 3: There is a bit about that team. We saw them
Speaker 3: come to christ Church and get beaten there, but they
Speaker 3: felt threatening in that game, just didn't quite get maybe
Speaker 3: the bounce of the ball the war waritie. They go
Speaker 3: over to Needen, which is as you said and historically
Speaker 3: has been a tricky trip for them. They're well in
Speaker 3: Sconced now in that top three alongside the Chiefs and Crusaders.
Speaker 3: You know, they're building quite nicely and they've got an
Speaker 3: interesting all run. They've got the Chiefs in a couple
Speaker 3: of weeks in Hamilton, which is gonna be a real
Speaker 3: litmus test for them because.
Speaker 2: I've had a bit of success against the Chiefs.
Speaker 3: They have exactly and they deliver it in Hamilton in
Speaker 3: a couple of weeks time. Because it feels like they're building,
Speaker 3: you know, and there's all sorts of things going on
Speaker 3: in the background around Les Kiss and his likelihood that
Speaker 3: he's probably going to be the next Wallabies coach after
Speaker 3: Joe Schmidt. But what I like about them is their
Speaker 3: depth and we've seen that again you know, Frasmik right out.
Speaker 3: But they've got a really strong loose for trio and
Speaker 3: the Highlanders just couldn't kick with it. And it feels
Speaker 3: like this is a hot and cold sort of Highlanders team.
Speaker 3: At the moment, they are better than last year, but
Speaker 3: whether they can push for you know, those top spots
Speaker 3: when it comes to the playoffs, it's going to be
Speaker 3: a real question.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it feels like they're on the fringe, doesn't it.
Speaker 4: They can pull out a performance. But the hot cold
Speaker 4: is a good analogy because even if you go back
Speaker 4: to that performance against Wina Pacifica where they just scrape through,
Speaker 4: you know, very lucky to get through that. So there's
Speaker 4: still a bit of growing for that team.
Speaker 3: There is in d Let's go back to the weekend
Speaker 3: this for night, to the game that started the weekend,
Speaker 3: the Chiefs fifty one of PACIFICA thirty five in Pocaki.
Speaker 3: This was a very odd game of rugby to one
Speaker 3: watch to commentate. Was forty three to seven at half time.
Speaker 3: And the Chiefs are cruising and playing some of the
Speaker 3: best rugby this season. One are playing some of their worst.
Speaker 3: We've seen how good they can be against the Canes
Speaker 3: and the Herders, or seeing how bad they can be
Speaker 3: though at times, and how they can switch off. Well,
Speaker 3: they didn't switch on until minute forty on the weekend,
Speaker 3: but when they switched on, they were hard to contain.
Speaker 3: Really hard to get a read on what this game
Speaker 3: meant and what we got out of it, the key
Speaker 3: point probably being the halftime break and also tinn of
Speaker 3: Umonger changing. I think five players at the break and
Speaker 3: bring on some fresh legs.
Speaker 4: Read a nice line from Aaron Goyle saying Pokakoe Stadium
Speaker 4: someone needed to check the slope on it because there's
Speaker 4: seventy five points scored at one end.
Speaker 3: Of the the Old Lord's but at Cricket Ground.
Speaker 2: It's quite staggering, isn't it.
Speaker 4: I guess Look, I think you're the Chiefs and you're
Speaker 4: up by forty odd points at halftime. There is an
Speaker 4: element of clocking off mentally and parking the bus. Wine
Speaker 4: will be very disappointed with the way they started their game.
Speaker 2: The Chiefs. Weren't you a full strength to provide?
Speaker 4: Pulled out just before the game, missing Ardie as well,
Speaker 4: and they got a lot of off their bench. Maybe
Speaker 4: they look to change things up from a selection perspective there.
Speaker 4: But yeah, very very strange game. I know punters were
Speaker 4: sweeten the on the Chiefs thirteen plus down the stretch there.
Speaker 4: I don't know how much he can take out of
Speaker 4: that game.
Speaker 2: For either team. Wana.
Speaker 4: You know, a lot of work to do on how
Speaker 4: they start games and Chiefs will be disappointed to concede
Speaker 4: that many points.
Speaker 2: Damian McKenzie very good again.
Speaker 3: He was very good again. But I just think Clayton
Speaker 3: McMillan won't have been a happy man. Halftime interview on
Speaker 3: sky TV says, you know, he basically to paraphrase, we
Speaker 3: need to go out and complete the job. Well they didn't,
Speaker 3: and it would have been a very tense bus ride back,
Speaker 3: I'm sure on Friday night from Hamilton to Pookey. That's right,
Speaker 3: Bookie to Hamilton.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and look, the Chiefs are title favorites, but they
Speaker 4: do look a bit fallible. They were pushed to the
Speaker 4: brink by the Blues. I only turned up for one
Speaker 4: half against the against Mona lost the week prior to
Speaker 4: the Blues, so yeah, there's a few holes you could
Speaker 4: put punch there.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Their best performance was that Crusader's game where they
Speaker 3: nearly put fifty on on that night, and they've been
Speaker 3: a bit up and down since, but they are collecting
Speaker 3: the wins. Anything stand out from the other two games
Speaker 3: of the weekend Warratars Brumbies twenty eight twenty three and
Speaker 3: the four fifty two fifteen over the poor old Druler
Speaker 3: in Sunday night footy or Sunday afternoon for they in Perth.
Speaker 4: Yeah, surprised by the margin in Perth. The Duror always
Speaker 4: struggle away from home, but they pushed the Brumbies in Canberra.
Speaker 4: Look I saw parts of that Wartars Brumbies game. It
Speaker 4: was a great finish and one thing to note there.
Speaker 2: Is the Waratars heads.
Speaker 4: I think twenty odd thousand at that game, which is
Speaker 4: a record attendance for them in the last couple of years.
Speaker 4: And I think there is a bit of buzz building
Speaker 4: around Australian rugby. They've got the lines there next year,
Speaker 4: so starting to slowly rebuild and put Ozzie rugby back
Speaker 4: on the map. These teams are a lot more competitive
Speaker 4: this year and I think Sydney is a bit of
Speaker 4: a gauge of that twenty thousand that compares really well
Speaker 4: to the NRL crowds that they've seen this year. So
Speaker 4: positive rumblings in Australian rugby, which is good to see.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we love to see that absolutely and more on
Speaker 3: the Aussie teams. After this here on Rugby Direct will
Speaker 3: come back take a break, second half of Rugby Direct
Speaker 3: after this.
Speaker 1: This is Rugby Direct, a podcast for real rugby fares.
Speaker 1: Rugby Direct, Howard Buddies Talk SIV.
Speaker 3: You're back with Rugby Direct. Time now for our final
Speaker 3: four or Liam. There are four Australian teams in the
Speaker 3: Super Rugby Top six at the moment. How many will
Speaker 3: make the playoffs? So they're all in their The Chiefs
Speaker 3: are on top on twenty two points, Crusaders on nineteen,
Speaker 3: Reds on nineteen, Wartars on seventeen, Brumby's on fifteen, Force
Speaker 3: on fourteen. That's the top six. Highland is eleven, Hurricanes nine,
Speaker 3: Blues seven drew a seven more on a Pacificer on six.
Speaker 3: At this point in the season, will all four of
Speaker 3: those teams make the top six?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 4: No, they won't. The Force won't. I'm torn on two
Speaker 4: or three, but I can't. We don't fit fence here
Speaker 4: at Rugby Derex. So I'm going to say two of
Speaker 4: them make it, and the Blues and Hurricanes both sneaking.
Speaker 3: Okay, I tend to agree. The Force have got a
Speaker 3: tricky back half of the season. They got the Reds
Speaker 3: this week, then they welcome the Highlanders and Hurricanes at
Speaker 3: home in consecutive weeks. Then they're away to the Force
Speaker 3: on as Sorry to the Chiefs on anzac Dan Todonga.
Speaker 3: Then there to Auckland and playing the Blues, who at
Speaker 3: that point in the season, who knows they'll be hungry.
Speaker 3: And then the Brumbies drew it and war Atars to finish.
Speaker 3: So that's a tricky run includes a trip to Suva
Speaker 3: for them as well. So I suspect you're right around
Speaker 3: the Force dropping out. Who did you say that your
Speaker 3: two teams is going to make it?
Speaker 4: So I said two. Yeah, it's tough, isn't it. So
Speaker 4: we've got the Reds, Wartars and Brumbies. It's really tough
Speaker 4: to draw a line through one of them. I'm going
Speaker 4: to say the Warriors miss out.
Speaker 3: I tend to agree because they've got a number of
Speaker 3: New Zealand teams and not just to put the New
Speaker 3: Zealand teams up in lights, but there's a tricky drawer.
Speaker 2: Yeah seven, I think the Blues and Knees sneak in.
Speaker 4: But look, it's very it's going to be a great
Speaker 4: finish to the season and there's.
Speaker 2: Going to be a lot of jeopardy around around there.
Speaker 3: Well at the Blues, you know seven points on the
Speaker 3: letter stands there one went outside the playoffs. They do
Speaker 3: have the buy, but other teams have the ball. It'll
Speaker 3: even itself out. That flows really nicely onto topic number two.
Speaker 3: Are you willing to draw a line through the Blues
Speaker 3: winning the title this year one in five outside the
Speaker 3: playofs at the moment on seven points?
Speaker 2: No, no, no, I'm not.
Speaker 4: But it's a long long road to hoe because they
Speaker 4: will be away from home for should they sneak into
Speaker 4: the playoffs, there's two questions here. One is do they
Speaker 4: make the playoffs and then they still title contenders? As
Speaker 4: it stands right now, you would say, no, they're not
Speaker 4: title contenders. I think they make the playoffs and if
Speaker 4: they're healthy, they could knock over anyone on their day,
Speaker 4: and we saw that a week ago in Hamilton where
Speaker 4: they pushed the title favorites to the brink.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So look, they desperately need some bodies back, and they
Speaker 4: desperately need the reset and the buy, and we're gonna
Speaker 4: it's almost it's not quite make or break territory for
Speaker 4: the Blues, but with the Hurricanes next up, these are
Speaker 4: very very important matches. So no, I'm not willing to
Speaker 4: draw a line through them as title contenders, but it's
Speaker 4: very touch and go.
Speaker 3: They've got a trip to christ shoots to come yep
Speaker 3: and SUV and SUV and Queensland and Brisbane. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 3: there's not much regal, right, I know that. So the
Speaker 3: one went out of the playoffs, but there really isn't
Speaker 3: much regular room excuse me left for the Blues.
Speaker 4: Well, they can probably drop what are they one and five?
Speaker 4: They could probably drop two ab three most and it
Speaker 4: also depends on how other teams go as well. And
Speaker 4: that's just getting to the top six. You don't really
Speaker 4: want to be going to Hamilton a week one. No,
Speaker 4: that's that's tough. Yeah, one v six, two v five
Speaker 4: three p four Yeah, what about you. I don't think
Speaker 4: they can win the title. I think they can still
Speaker 4: make the playoffs, absolutely. I have seen enough from the
Speaker 4: Chiefs too are clear favorites Crusaders and Reds tucked in
Speaker 4: behind to suguesce that there are better teams at this
Speaker 4: point in time. And you're right, having to go from
Speaker 4: deep mark it down twenty fourth to March. I don't
Speaker 4: think they can win the title again this year. The
Speaker 4: only thing I'm hanging on to here is if you
Speaker 4: get bow in the back at ten, you put Peter
Speaker 4: Fittis to fall back. You know, you welcome some of
Speaker 4: these Patrick Ricky big names, but it just hasn't happened
Speaker 4: for them.
Speaker 3: So and they've had a lot of those names in
Speaker 3: the opening rounds. You know, maybe not in the positions
Speaker 3: that they would necessarily have put them, but they've had
Speaker 3: a lot of those players that you know, these aren't
Speaker 3: players that have been out for the entire season. These
Speaker 3: are players out for two or three weeks.
Speaker 2: YEP.
Speaker 3: Topic number three A good story from our friend Joe Pearson.
Speaker 3: Last week. Current time way Flour goes on record saying
Speaker 3: that he is wanting to play for the All Blacks.
Speaker 3: He played for Tonger at the twenty twenty three World Cup,
Speaker 3: so it wouldn't be eligible until the back end of
Speaker 3: twenty twenty six, a long way to go. And he
Speaker 3: certainly signs some really good signs that he's a promising
Speaker 3: footballer and has some real quality about him. But having
Speaker 3: played for Tonga, was this what the rule was brought
Speaker 3: in for? And would you support it? If you know?
Speaker 3: Sc Robertson comes knocking next year.
Speaker 2: It's no idea, was it.
Speaker 4: You want players to play for their heritage, and the
Speaker 4: fact he has played for Tonga you would hope that
Speaker 4: that would continue. But we have discussed the iniquities in
Speaker 4: test rugby, and I think for most Pacific Islanders, I
Speaker 4: don't want to generalize here speak for individuals, but there
Speaker 4: is an elevated prestige that comes with the all blacks.
Speaker 4: A certainly opens a lot more doors to securing your
Speaker 4: financial future. So by all means individuals can do as
Speaker 4: they choose. But in an ideal world where you could
Speaker 4: make everything equitable, these guys play for their home nations.
Speaker 3: The rule is in the rule Boox. You know, I
Speaker 3: wouldn't have too much of a problem with it necessarily.
Speaker 3: It's happened, you know, Frank Buntz in the nineties. I
Speaker 3: think a Lumbit had admired did it as well. When
Speaker 3: the rules are a bit more loosened than they are now.
Speaker 3: And even these rules have been loosened from what they
Speaker 3: were previously, it's not ideal. I still think having completed
Speaker 3: a three year standdown, you're entitled to go play for
Speaker 3: who you want. And yeah, I don't know that you
Speaker 3: go from you can only go from tier one down
Speaker 3: to tear two. I don't think you can lock that
Speaker 3: in going from Ted. You know, you couldn't say you
Speaker 3: can only go down, you can't go up. So it's
Speaker 3: not what the rule was brought in for. But he's
Speaker 3: a special case in many ways.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: The other question is around Moana's purpose, right, So is
Speaker 4: it just a vehicle for the All Blacks to cherry
Speaker 4: pick their best players or are they really benefiting Tonga
Speaker 4: and some more?
Speaker 3: Well, look at their rules, don't they that they're allowed
Speaker 3: three All Blacks? But then they've got a number of
Speaker 3: other plays who are eligible for the All Blacks and
Speaker 3: are eligible for multiple countries. Levi Moore, who's no longer
Speaker 3: with them, played for He's think eligible for four countries.
Speaker 3: It was another examle We've go a number of players
Speaker 3: who are eligible for the All Blacks but have Pacific
Speaker 3: Island heritage. And I think that's the thing around what
Speaker 3: makes New Zealand so unique and special is that we
Speaker 3: have that strong connection to the Pacific and people are
Speaker 3: proud of multiple heritages, and because we are still so
Speaker 3: close to them in terms of geographical nature, it is
Speaker 3: possible to go and play for them and have these
Speaker 3: mixed that mixed heritage that makes New Zealand great and
Speaker 3: makes wite A Pacific great and makes these teams great.
Speaker 3: So I don't think you can cap it and go, well,
Speaker 3: you can't be eligible for the All Blacks because then
Speaker 3: they're losing a lot of players.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a vexed conversation, isn't it. Because you have
Speaker 4: other players like Miracle Vai Lungy who was plucked from
Speaker 4: samo On Club Rugby essentially and has come in and
Speaker 4: been a roaring successful Muana and he will go back
Speaker 4: and strengthen Samoa and there are other examples of that.
Speaker 4: So Miana is strengthening those island nations. It's just there
Speaker 4: is something that doesn't feel quite right about Miana being
Speaker 4: used as a vehicle for the All Blacks.
Speaker 3: Topic number four. Ian Foster back in international rugby coaching.
Speaker 3: He's going to coach the Australian New Zealand Invitational team
Speaker 3: that will play the British and Irish lines a week
Speaker 3: out from the first Test, so they're probably going to
Speaker 3: play shadow test team in Adelaide. That was announced last
Speaker 3: week that Ian Foster is going to be back in
Speaker 3: the reins.
Speaker 2: Yea a chet to him, didn't you.
Speaker 3: He did have a chat with him, jumped on too
Speaker 3: zoom and had a chat that was Fuzzy Bear. It
Speaker 3: was good. He's looking forward to picking. I think primarily
Speaker 3: the New Zealand based players will get will mostly be
Speaker 3: Japanese players, maybe players he's got connections to previously.
Speaker 2: Him and Steve Hanson might be out of a job
Speaker 2: come the end of the season. There Toyota teams.
Speaker 3: Not going to flatter I or they're lost on the
Speaker 3: weekend as well. I mean, who ideally is going to
Speaker 3: form the basis of this Australian New Zealand team, Probably
Speaker 3: around the vicinity of sixty to seventy percent Australians by
Speaker 3: the sound of it, and they'll be wide to Wallaby
Speaker 3: squad members you would expect maybe Michael Hooper comes back
Speaker 3: for it. But who would you have there is dream
Speaker 3: New Zealand targets.
Speaker 4: Well, Fuzzy dropped a few big names, didn't he. Aaron Smith,
Speaker 4: Richie mo Wonger, Nathan Cleary.
Speaker 3: That was I'm not sure the Panthers were releasing from
Speaker 3: around whatever it is of the nral To.
Speaker 4: I'd be shocked to see that happen. It would be
Speaker 4: great to see Joe Marnhu in that team. I think
Speaker 4: there'd be a lot of interest in that, particularly in Australia.
Speaker 4: I think there would be a desire from Aaron Smith
Speaker 4: and Richie Warner to play in that fixture. They can't
Speaker 4: play international rugby as it stands, and they are still
Speaker 4: competing still in particular, still still got it. And the
Speaker 4: big question for me is there's there's going to be
Speaker 4: need that there will need to be some big sums
Speaker 4: of insurance because these guys rich and along is on
Speaker 4: upwards of two million a season with Tshiba and his
Speaker 4: Someone's going to need to ensure him.
Speaker 3: How does it work when South African players go back
Speaker 3: and play for their country from Japanese they must be ensured,
Speaker 3: I would guess.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I guess they have to release them, don't they
Speaker 4: because it's a regulation.
Speaker 3: They don't have to release these players because it's an
Speaker 3: invitational teams.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I guess when they signed them it would
Speaker 4: be on the proviso that they're not playing international rugby.
Speaker 4: So I think there would need to be a deal broken.
Speaker 4: From a spectacle point of view, great, the more quality
Speaker 4: former international players you can have in that team, the better.
Speaker 4: When this ficture was announced, people talked about all Blacks
Speaker 4: being involved, and that was never going to happen because
Speaker 4: it clashes with the All Backs playing France. And so
Speaker 4: then you're looking at second tier, well not second to
Speaker 4: you're looking at super rugby players potentially who but even
Speaker 4: then are they going to be released from MPC teams
Speaker 4: at that time?
Speaker 3: Well, July and then it's two weeks out, three weeks
Speaker 3: out from the start of the NPC, you know, pre
Speaker 3: seasons and full swing there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, maybe you could get a Shan Stephenson who's possibly
Speaker 4: going back to Japan.
Speaker 3: Well, you might lean up Foster, might lean on some
Speaker 3: of those connections, you know with all Blacks that he
Speaker 3: had that are no longer being selected by the All
Speaker 3: Black like Christie for example.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's going to be a barbarians type team, is it?
Speaker 4: And I think they'll play that way. So it should
Speaker 4: be a hell of a spectacle. And it would be
Speaker 4: great to see Aaron Smith and Richard Wonger link up
Speaker 4: because from a viewing point of view, we don't get
Speaker 4: to watch Japanese rugby.
Speaker 3: Nobody has the rights to I think it's on rugby passon.
Speaker 3: You get one game a week and it's their peckers
Speaker 3: to who you see.
Speaker 4: So it's a very interesting plot line to see who
Speaker 4: who in Foster can ken Dragon.
Speaker 3: The Penrith Panthers play the paramount of Eels that weekend.
Speaker 3: They probably don't need clearing to get past the Eels.
Speaker 3: So maybe maybe Fozzy can get on the phone to
Speaker 3: Ivan and just work out some sort of deal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Brad Thorne's not coaching.
Speaker 3: It's still right, all right, let's get into our tepic Liam,
Speaker 3: shocking weekend for you. Thanks one of five. You picked
Speaker 3: the Chiefs correctly, everything else wrong, remembering that we picked
Speaker 3: everything diametrically opposite last week.
Speaker 2: Yes, I'm just trying to give you a chance this year.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
Speaker 3: Too many beatdowns, Yeah, reads Crusader's task Force, Thank you
Speaker 3: very much. Four or five. I have the lead by
Speaker 3: four nineteen versus fifteen. Who do you picked this week?
Speaker 3: In our first four game round? Liam? And it starts
Speaker 3: on Friday night? Hurricanes, Waratars Love and gold Sport and
Speaker 3: iHeart Radio.
Speaker 2: Well, no, everyone's missed the Hurricanes.
Speaker 4: So great to have the cane train back and I'll
Speaker 4: be steamrolling the Waratas and Wellington.
Speaker 3: I can't see the Wartars winning that one, despite the
Speaker 3: fact they did get over the Brumbies. Rumbies into the Highlanders.
Speaker 3: Hard place to go on Camber, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yes, tough one, but Brumbies for me.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm going to pick the same on that front. Crusaders,
Speaker 3: Mona pacifica christ.
Speaker 4: I am feeling a strong connection to Moana this year,
Speaker 4: but look from a tipping point of view, going to
Speaker 4: have to.
Speaker 3: Well, I can't go against Okay, we're all the same.
Speaker 3: Red's Force will.
Speaker 2: Be cheering hard for Moana.
Speaker 3: Just for the record, please don't Red's Force Brisbane reads.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the Force, It's not going to get you much
Speaker 4: in the multi force.
Speaker 3: Well, okay, all right, upset time blow Dollie and the
Speaker 3: boys are going you look at the way they played
Speaker 3: against the.
Speaker 2: Drawer last night and Lea McDonald do you trust that's right?
Speaker 3: Absolutely? Always have always Well Rugby Direct m VP Metal
Speaker 3: voting time. Let's go rook at the table Actually na
Speaker 3: way out on top. On eight there is a five
Speaker 3: way tie for second. Ardie save Quinti, Pie Will, Jordan Duplessy,
Speaker 3: Confi and Damian McKenzie and what make that seventh alone
Speaker 3: in seventh's miracle Fi Lungey. So there's your top three
Speaker 3: ish as it stands my top three this week, I'm
Speaker 3: going first, Liam, you are any more? And Nonu the
Speaker 3: Crusaders hooker. Thought he was excellent on the weekend, remembering
Speaker 3: that he is the third choice hooker for the Crusaders
Speaker 3: with George boll out, Cody Taylor ruled out during the week,
Speaker 3: Brody Mcalster left in the off season. He's taken his
Speaker 3: opportunity and taking it really well. So he gets my
Speaker 3: three points. David HARVILLI gets my two thought he was
Speaker 3: really positive as we've touched on before. And Gideon Rampling
Speaker 3: from the Chiefs, who I thought was electric in midfield,
Speaker 3: especially that first half, gets my one point.
Speaker 4: This week we'll got the same one and two just
Speaker 4: on the Crusader's hooker. Another one that you've recruited from
Speaker 4: outside your region. Smart recruit good counties, boy, so recruit
Speaker 4: maybe produce some of your own for a change in well.
Speaker 3: You know, James Mullens from the Kanbury region has gone
Speaker 3: up to Auckland, so it's all about sharing it around.
Speaker 2: Nice Auckland products.
Speaker 4: There's been many of them over the years, Non Berryman
Speaker 4: RP norm and in one point I'm giving to Peter
Speaker 4: Humung and Jensen great scend back on the park and
Speaker 4: long way that continue.
Speaker 3: So we've got the same two and three, same big
Speaker 3: weekend for the Crusaders. That special from you to see
Speaker 3: that limb.
Speaker 2: Ah yes credit weird credits too, you.
Speaker 3: Know, yeah, absolutely right. That'll do us for another week
Speaker 3: of Rugby direct. I thanks to Larson Bars English for
Speaker 3: putting us together, and thanks of course to Abbit Health
Speaker 3: tackling all your aches and pains from sport and work.
Speaker 2: For more from News Talks ed B.
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