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Super Rugby: Highlanders vs. Chiefs in Dunedin (22/02/2013)
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<blockquote data-quote="TRF Mr Fish" data-source="post: 553367" data-attributes="member: 20892"><p>Figured I should make a comment on this game, seeing as I was lucky enough to attend!! First off, great stadium, absolutely fantastic. Had only cheap seats, but still had an awesome view - and the roof definitely helped make the game the exhibition it was.</p><p></p><p>Both teams played fairly well, at least on attack. The main thing I noticed was that every single time the Highlanders spread the ball they gained a lot of metres - I watched a replay on TV and you didn't get that impression, but viewing it in person it was pretty obvious that's what the Highlanders should've been doing more of.</p><p></p><p>For the Highlanders Ben Smith was clearly the stand out. Ma'a Nonu made metres every time he hit up the ball, and Gear and Poki did pretty well with ball in hand too. I actually thought Lima Sopoaga was very good, his handling in particular was excellent, and with a few more games under his belt he should be very accomplished. Arron Smith was poor, and didn't aid the Highlanders cause. I worry that he's not a fantastic player to have on the field if your forwards aren't dominating. I thought the forwards were pretty average in general for the Highlanders. Manu did some good things while he was on the field. </p><p></p><p>The Chiefs were pretty good, especially for the first game of the season. Nanai-Williams was obviously pretty good on attack, though leaked a try on defence. Aki did well for his first game, making a good number of tackles. Osborne was average, likewise Tikoirotuma was fairly quiet for most of the game. Anscombe was solid at fullback, probably should've passed the ball at one certain point which I think cost the Chiefs a try. Cruden was ok, some of his passes went to deck but I think that will improve with a few games together with Aki etc. Kerr-Barlow was fine, without setting the world on fire. Pulu made a good impact when he came on. Leonard will almost certainly be heading overseas at the end of the year I think, which is a bit sad, but with Pulu and TKB both performing well, it's unlikely there'll be room for him at the Chiefs. Lee wasn't bad at 8, he didn't make any stupid errors and got some good go forward. His outrageous forward pass when the Chiefs has an overlap can be forgiven. Messam and Cane were both very good. The tight five were good for the Chiefs, they look to be well stocked. I thought Fitzgerald and his best game for the Chiefs so far, though that's not saying much. Manu was good at 1, even though he got penalised a couple of times. </p><p></p><p>Probably one of the best things about the game for me was the refereeing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TRF Mr Fish, post: 553367, member: 20892"] Figured I should make a comment on this game, seeing as I was lucky enough to attend!! First off, great stadium, absolutely fantastic. Had only cheap seats, but still had an awesome view - and the roof definitely helped make the game the exhibition it was. Both teams played fairly well, at least on attack. The main thing I noticed was that every single time the Highlanders spread the ball they gained a lot of metres - I watched a replay on TV and you didn't get that impression, but viewing it in person it was pretty obvious that's what the Highlanders should've been doing more of. For the Highlanders Ben Smith was clearly the stand out. Ma'a Nonu made metres every time he hit up the ball, and Gear and Poki did pretty well with ball in hand too. I actually thought Lima Sopoaga was very good, his handling in particular was excellent, and with a few more games under his belt he should be very accomplished. Arron Smith was poor, and didn't aid the Highlanders cause. I worry that he's not a fantastic player to have on the field if your forwards aren't dominating. I thought the forwards were pretty average in general for the Highlanders. Manu did some good things while he was on the field. The Chiefs were pretty good, especially for the first game of the season. Nanai-Williams was obviously pretty good on attack, though leaked a try on defence. Aki did well for his first game, making a good number of tackles. Osborne was average, likewise Tikoirotuma was fairly quiet for most of the game. Anscombe was solid at fullback, probably should've passed the ball at one certain point which I think cost the Chiefs a try. Cruden was ok, some of his passes went to deck but I think that will improve with a few games together with Aki etc. Kerr-Barlow was fine, without setting the world on fire. Pulu made a good impact when he came on. Leonard will almost certainly be heading overseas at the end of the year I think, which is a bit sad, but with Pulu and TKB both performing well, it's unlikely there'll be room for him at the Chiefs. Lee wasn't bad at 8, he didn't make any stupid errors and got some good go forward. His outrageous forward pass when the Chiefs has an overlap can be forgiven. Messam and Cane were both very good. The tight five were good for the Chiefs, they look to be well stocked. I thought Fitzgerald and his best game for the Chiefs so far, though that's not saying much. Manu was good at 1, even though he got penalised a couple of times. Probably one of the best things about the game for me was the refereeing. [/QUOTE]
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Super Rugby: Highlanders vs. Chiefs in Dunedin (22/02/2013)
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