BLUES v HIGHLANDERS FRIDAY MARCH 1st.
SUPER ROUND. ALL GAMES PLAYED IN MELBOURNE. AUSTRALIA
First things first. All six predictions in round 1, CORRECT.
Now lets have a bitch. In the Reds v Waratahs game, the Tahs winger scores a try. The ref and touch judge, plus the video ref say try. They say the ball left the hand backwards and floated forward. I say Bullsh..,
The ball was a forward pass every day of the week. Not the Waratahs fault, just dumb officials. It did not affect the result ,but in the future it might. What if it was a final, one minute to go, scores locked up, and a team wins on a forward pass?
I do not follow either team, so bias is ruled out, but I do support fair sport. On Sunday I showed three referees ,who did not watch the game, FORWARD PASS OR NOT! Unanimous 3-0, Forward. NO TRY.
Your Honour, I rest my case.
I see players are now supposed to wear Smart mouth guards. The new mouthguards, which have been introduced in Super Rugby Pacific after World Rugby mandated elite competitions from the beginning of this year, are designed to better protect against concussion, using built-in bluetooth technology to measure the G-force of every head impact, and transmit data to the side line, where matchday doctors can better identify players who require HIAs. Well two players left the field, for head assessments even though there was NO head contact, AND, what about the players I seen NOT wearing any mouthguard? Maybe not so Smart.
All 12 Super Rugby Pacific teams will be in Melbourne for Super Round this weekend, in what is likely to be the last time the AFL-mad Victorian capital hosts the concept.
The weekend starts with the only Kiwi derby of the weekend, when the Highlanders play the Blues in what is nominally a home game for the southerners.
There are also three trans-Tasman clashes, which will show whether the gap between New Zealand and Australia has closed at all this year.
The game of the round is the Chiefs v Brumbies, a rematch of last year’s semi final in Hamilton, won 19-6 by the Chiefs.
The Highlanders are unsurprisingly little changed from their 35-21 win over Moana Pasifika last weekend, although All Black Ethan de Groot comes straight back into the No 1 jersey.
The Highlanders held back de Groot for a week to get more conditioning work into him, but have unleashed him against what is likely to be a big Blues pack.
Promising No 10 Ajay Faleafaga is poised for a debut off the bench, replacing Cam Millar in the match-day 23, while lock Fabian Holland is also rotated to the reserves after a big 80 minutes against Moana Pasifika.
Additionally, four players – Jack Taylor, Rohan Wingham, James Arscott and Martin Bogado – will complete the 27-man squad for the two-week tour of Australia, with the Highlanders to face the Waratahs in Sydney in round 3.
HIGHLANDERS (1-15): Ethan de Groot, Henry Bell, Jermaine Ainsley, Pari Pari Parkinson, Max Hicks, Sean Withy, Billy Harmon (c), Hugh Renton, Folau Fakatava, Rhys Patchell, Jona Nareki, Sam Gilbert, Tanielu Tele’a, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens
RESERVES: Ricky Jackson, Daniel Lienert-Brown, Saula Ma’u, Fabian Holland, Nikora Broughton, Nathan Hastie, Ajay Faleafaga, Jonah Lowe
BLUES (1-15): Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Ricky Riccitelli, Marcel Renata, Laghlan McWhannell, Sam Darry, Akira Ioane, Dalton Papali’i (c), Hoskins Sotutu, Taufa Funaki, Stephen Perofeta, Caleb Clarke, Bryce Heem, AJ Lam, Mark Tele’a, Zarn Sullivan
RESERVES: Soane Vikena, Joshua Fusitu’a, Angus Ta’avao, Josh Beehre, Adrian Choat, Sam Nock, Harry Plummer, Cole Forbes
Referee: Angus Gardner
Assistant Referees: Damon Murphy, Reuben Keane
BLUES. Fit-again senior forwards Ofa Tu’ungafasi (knee) and Akira Ioane (calf) are among the seven new starters this week as they return off the injury-list. All Blacks prop Tu’ungafasi forms an all-new front row alongside Marcel Renata and Ricky Riccitelli, while Ioane lines up in a familiar loose trio with skipper Dalton Papali’i and in-form No 8 Hoskins Sotutu.
Cotter has chosen to hand All Blacks Rieko Ioane and Fin Christie their load management rests this week (though Ioane did come off the field in Whangarei with a slight hamstring tweak), which sees youngster Taufa Funaki get the nod to start at halfback and Bryce Heem and AJ Lam form an all-new midfield, with Harry Plummer dropping to the bench.
The other run-on change sees former Chiefs second-rower Laghlan McWhannell come in for his first start for his new franchise, with Josh Beere dropping to the bench after a promising debut in last Saturday’s season-opening 34-10 victory over the Fijian Drua.
Cotter will be rapt to welcome back veteran forwards Tu’ungafasi and Ioane. Both are high quality players who we’re sure will make a big impact on Friday night.
PREDICTION. I am chasing gold this week since I now have the TAB’s money from last week and I will go for the Blues with a 13 plus points win. The Landers looked good last week but this is a step up for them I believe. The Blues will show no mercy looking for an illusive title this year. Coach Vern Cotter has previously coached both Scotland, and Fiji more recently, after taking over from Leon MacDonald who is assisting Razor Robertson with the AB’S.
Watch here for game 2 of Super Round , Melbourne Rebels v Western Force.
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