[2017 Super Rugby] Round 12: Blues vs. Cheetahs (12/05/2017)

[TRF_heineken]

V

Venue: Eden Park
Time: 09:35 CAT (SA, GMT+2)

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PS: Sorry for the amateur display, while the Data Integration is still being done, I had to make use of other methods to get the match threads up.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

With the Stormers oon the bye I'd usually revert to supporting the Cheetahs but I was so damned mad at how they managed to throw away the game against the Highlanders I am not sure I want to see the Blues piling more misery on them.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

This should be the biggest win of the round, with the Cheetahs travelling over from SA and the x-factor-filled Blues finding some form.
But even if the Cheetahs somehow get themselves into a winning position, at least the Blues can live safe in the knowledge that they'll probs just throw it away lol.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

The Cheetahs certainly have that knack. Just look at the ~20 point lead they had on the Chiefs as well only to lose horribly nevermind shipping 21 points in 4 minutes last week. Crazy.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

The Cheetahs certainly have that knack. Just look at the ~20 point lead they had on the Chiefs as well only to lose horribly nevermind shipping 21 points in 4 minutes last week. Crazy.

Crazy indeed.
A part of me feels sorry for them too though, that must be pretty gutting.

 

[The Jones Boy]

Two teams that can throw close games away.
I'm leaning slightly toward the Blues for home advantage but we will have to see.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

Blues team named, and finally my pleads have been answered, Nanai to start at Fullback!!!

The team:
1. Pauliasi Manu, 2 James Parsons (c), 3 Charlie Faumuina, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 5 Scott Scrafton, 6 Steven Luatua, 7 Blake Gibson, 8 Akira Ioane; 9 Augustine Pulu, 10 Piers Francis, 11 Rieko Ioane, 12 TJ Faiane, 13. George Moala, 14 Declan O'Donnell, 15 Melani Nanai.

Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Alex Hodgman, 18 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 19 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 20 Kara Pryor, 21 Sam Nock, 22 Ihaia West, 23 Michael Collins.

4 guys returning from injury which is very pleasing... Tuipolotu, Hodgman, Pryor and West.
Duffy and Collins rested. SBW still recovering from concussion symptoms.

A lot to look forward to here... it's great to see Tuipolutu back and will be interesting to see how he goes, he's now I think in a 50/50 race with S Barret for the ABs reserve locking spot, so will be out to prove a point... also good to see Kara Pryor back from injury on the bench, we was very good last year.
Actually, even without Kaino, that possibly looks like the strongest Blues pack of the season... especially with Akira finding some really good form atm.

Finally Nanai is getting a start at the back, which I've been calling for for a while now lol, so I'm happy bout that. The Cheetahs generally play an open game, which will suit Nanai, so there's a real chance for him to have a big game...... and I really hope he does because I'm making him my fantasy captain .

Will also be interesting to see how Faiane and O'Donnell go... O'Donnell getting his 1st chance after a very good pre-season and Faiane getting another chance to prove himself... he's supposedly a massive prospect, but tbh I haven't seen much of him, so will be keeping a keen eye.

 

[The Jones Boy]

I hope Nanai does the business for you...

Whats happened to Sonny Bill?
Whats this Faiane kid like?

 

[Larksea]

sbw had a head knock in the last game and failed HIA
was a shame, to me he started to look more confident, made some good tackles and one of his trademark offloads.

I think Collins and Duffie are being rested, interesting looking team. Good to see prior & Tuipulotu back.
You would have to think Tuipulotu has to come straight back and make some stort of statement... not much time left.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

Whats happened to Sonny Bill?

Got a head knock vs the Tahs, has had concussion symptoms. Not thought to be major.

I think Collins and Duffie are being rested, interesting looking team. Good to see prior & Tuipulotu back.
You would have to think Tuipulotu has to come straight back and make some stort of statement... not much time left.

Collins and Duffy are being rested.
I think Tuipolotu still maintains some right of way to the ABs, but he definitely does need to prove himself. I think him and Barrett will be the other 2 locks in the squad, but who's on the bench will come down to how well they perform over the coming weeks.

 

[WaterboySA]

Apparently none of these two teams can defend. 5 tries after 23 minutes, 3 for Blues and 2 for Cheetahs.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

Not the greatest 1st half, pretty loose game.

 

[Ground We Won]

Not the greatest 1st half, pretty loose game.

Got Reiko Ioane in my fantasy team this week mate and Naholo captain. What about you? Next season we should get a pool going, none of my mates ever take it seirously and give up after 4-5 game weeks.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

Got Reiko Ioane in my fantasy team this week mate and Naholo captain. What about you? Next season we should get a pool going, none of my mates ever take it seirously and give up after 4-5 game weeks.

I only had room to pick one more Blues player (already had Faumuiina, Tuiplolotu and Pulu). It was a toss up between Reiko and Nanai, went with Nanai and made him captain. He didn't do too bad, but I should've gone with Rieko lol. Good pick.
I was actually already planning on making a Fantasy thread in this forum so that next season we could get a comp going, so we'll definitely do that!
Do you play SuperBru or Fox or both? I play both, but only really care about SuperBru

 

[mania]

Akira keeps that up and could get fast tracked into the ABs

 

[galumay]

Bloos reinforcing the Kiwi dominance of SA & Aus franchises. They may be the bottom of the NZ conference but the Blues are showing much less brittleness than previous seasons, if they keep buiding into the season and dont suffer too many injuries they may go close to getting into the finals - although the crazy conference system with 2 SA conferences makes that a big ask. They will probably miss out to allow a much worse team in.

 

[Ground We Won]

I only had room to pick one more Blues player (already had Faumuiina, Tuiplolotu and Pulu). It was a toss up between Reiko and Nanai, went with Nanai and made him captain. He didn't do too bad, but I should've gone with Rieko lol. Good pick.
I was actually already planning on making a Fantasy thread in this forum so that next season we could get a comp going, so we'll definitely do that!
Do you play SuperBru or Fox or both? I play both, but only really care about SuperBru

Nanai was a great shout too, was tempted to get him, but didn't want to load up on the Blues too much.

Could fire the thread up now and chat away how our week went on it? What position are you? I'm in the top 400 for the fantasy team and for the predictions I have 86% with 10pt margin accuracy, puts me in the top 7%. It's a tougher season with the predictions due to the amount of upsets this season.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

Nanai was a great shout too, was tempted to get him, but didn't want to load up on the Blues too much.

Could fire the thread up now and chat away how our week went on it? What position are you? I'm in the top 400 for the fantasy team and for the predictions I have 86% with 10pt margin accuracy, puts me in the top 7%. It's a tougher season with the predictions due to the amount of upsets this season.

For the first half of the season I didn't take much interest in it so my positioning isn't great, I've started really getting into it over the last 5 rounds or so. Currently I'm top 1500, but that has been getting a lot better each round over the last few weeks lol. I wasn't doing the predictions for most of the season too so my numbers there are all out of wack.
If you wanted to start up the thread now I'm all for it. I was gonna wait till next season so that we could start at the start of a fresh season, but it'd be cool to have one now

 

[Radsy]

Keep me in the loop gents. I'm in the Top 500 in SuperBru, but the commitment of others in my pool is shabby!

 

[The Jones Boy]

Great result for the Blues.
DEfence still an issue but the winning run continues and the pressure is now on the Highlanders to beat the Bulls or the gap will close right up.