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Transcript

Rugby Direct - Episode 150 · Rugby Direct

0:09
Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow
0:12
Speaker 1: this and our Wide Ranger podcasts now on iHeartRadio. Inside
0:18
Speaker 1: the Game from every angle. It's Rugby Direct with Elliott Smith,
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Speaker 1: powered by News Talks EDB.
0:24
Speaker 2: Welcome into Rugby Direct powered by Habit Health, tackling all
0:27
Speaker 2: your aches and pains from sports and work. Elliott Smith,
0:31
Speaker 2: Newstalk zbb's lead rugby commentated with me is always Liam Nappier,
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Speaker 2: rugby writer and chief sports writer for The New Zealand Herald.
0:39
Speaker 3: Liam is super rugby back.
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Speaker 4: I think it is, Elliott. Well, you don't want to
0:44
Speaker 4: jump the gun too much. But what an opening rounds,
0:46
Speaker 4: wasn't it? One point results tries from the end of
0:52
Speaker 4: the Earth, Try of the Year contenders, very competitive, very engaging.
0:57
Speaker 4: The style of rugby was brilliant, so you couldn't ask
1:00
Speaker 4: for a better start.
1:01
Speaker 2: You really couldn't because there were no blowouts. The biggest
1:04
Speaker 2: margin of the weekend was the Chiefs upsetting the Blues.
1:07
Speaker 2: The champions a lot at one point, when's last place
1:11
Speaker 2: sort of victories, you know, maybe it's a little bit
1:14
Speaker 2: too early and shouldn't get carried away, but deleting the
1:17
Speaker 2: rebels from the competition spreading those players out. Mowana has
1:21
Speaker 2: got better with RDSVA, the Crusaders seemed to be better.
1:24
Speaker 2: Just as a general the competition seems a lot more
1:27
Speaker 2: even this year or already compared to previous years. And
1:31
Speaker 2: I know there were three new Zealand teams in the
1:33
Speaker 2: mix last year, but across the board, you go, that's
1:36
Speaker 2: a fascinating opening round.
1:38
Speaker 5: Yeah, big time.
1:39
Speaker 4: And I think we saw stylistically last year the massive
1:44
Speaker 4: improvements that a number of largely small tweaks can make
1:48
Speaker 4: in terms of speeding up the game, improving the product,
1:52
Speaker 4: removing stoppages and even in the weekend, just little things
1:56
Speaker 4: like the shot clock for the goalkickers or setting the
2:00
Speaker 4: scrum or the line out quickly protecting the halfback. All
2:03
Speaker 4: those sorts of things make a massive difference to the
2:06
Speaker 4: on field products.
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Speaker 5: Did see that last year.
2:09
Speaker 4: And now, as you mentioned, with the spread of talent
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Speaker 4: in Australia, Muana being more competitive, and we do have
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Speaker 4: to be careful not jumping the gum and making wid
2:19
Speaker 4: widespread generalizations too early, but you put those two things
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Speaker 4: together and this does feel like it's going to be
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Speaker 4: one of the most competitive Super Rugby competitions in recent memory.
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Speaker 2: Well, let's go through it line by line, game by
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Speaker 2: game and speaking with sweeping generalizations. The Crusaders, they are back.
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Speaker 5: I've been waiting for this, been waiting for this.
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Speaker 4: Look, just pump the brakes, Elliot, pumped the brakes, mate,
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Speaker 4: you're not back yet.
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Speaker 5: One game, you know, hold the phone.
2:51
Speaker 3: Well, I thought they did very well.
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Speaker 2: You know, they were down fourteen now and it felt
2:55
Speaker 2: like the ghosts of last year was still in the
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Speaker 2: system and they could have tripped up and really been
3:02
Speaker 2: blown out in that game. But they came back and
3:05
Speaker 2: rallied and sort of fought fire with fire a little
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Speaker 2: bit against the Hurricanes. I really liked what David Harvelli
3:11
Speaker 2: did for the Crusaders. Taha Kemada clearly his best game
3:14
Speaker 2: at super rugby level, yet there are a lot of
3:16
Speaker 2: questions about him last year sent back to MP sorry
3:19
Speaker 2: to club rugby level. But David Avelli, I thought was
3:22
Speaker 2: so key in that performance. He linked well with Will
3:24
Speaker 2: Jordan and that allowed Sevrees to roam out wide. And
3:28
Speaker 2: then you had Kyle Preston come on early in the
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Speaker 2: game play seventy seven to odd minutes, and boy, he
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Speaker 2: looks like a real player of promise. So what I
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Speaker 2: thought they did well was just response and fire with fire,
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Speaker 2: whereas last year they went into the cages a little
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Speaker 2: bit of the Crusaders and didn't know how to fight
3:44
Speaker 2: their way out of trouble. I thought at fourteen neel
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Speaker 2: down it could have gone a lot differently, but they
3:48
Speaker 2: managed to wheel their way back into the contest and
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Speaker 2: that's a confidence building win for a team that was
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Speaker 2: low on confidence at the end of last year.
3:57
Speaker 4: That's a massive one, isn't it after what happened last year,
4:00
Speaker 4: missing the playoffs, having your head coach in the gun. Look,
4:04
Speaker 4: I think everyone expected the Crusaders to be infinitely better year.
4:08
Speaker 4: You put guys like Will Jordan back in that team
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Speaker 4: and what a difference he made.
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Speaker 5: But he can't do it alone. You mentioned David Heavili there.
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Speaker 4: The captaincy seems to rest really well on his shoulders.
4:20
Speaker 4: I saw him talking postmatch about you know how much
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Speaker 4: the jersey means to him, and he really seems to
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Speaker 4: be mature and relishing that responsibility. Sever Reese was lethal
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Speaker 4: on the edge, and you're right the Crusaders made the
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Speaker 4: adjustment because in the first half, probably even for fifty
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Speaker 4: odd minutes.
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Speaker 5: The Hurricanes were dominant. They regularly broke the Crusaders.
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Speaker 4: Lever Armore clearly had a license to rush in the
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Speaker 4: midfield and that caused the Crusaders a lot of problems.
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Speaker 4: They were broken on the edge quite consistently. But they
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Speaker 4: made some adjustments and I felt the Crusaders got bester
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Speaker 4: as the game gone war on with the Hurricanes. For me,
5:03
Speaker 4: maybe their their injuries, A bit of depth concerns started
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Speaker 4: to tell. I thought the Crusaders got more pay off
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Speaker 4: the bench. Guys like James O'Connor came on and had
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Speaker 4: a real impact. Where the Hurricanes it looked like they
5:14
Speaker 4: started to fatigue and that allowed the Crusaders to just
5:20
Speaker 4: get on top. But a massive win for the Crusaders
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Speaker 4: at home in particular. They've got a tough start to
5:26
Speaker 4: the year with the Chiefs this week as well, so
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Speaker 4: really important for them to just draw a line in
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Speaker 4: the stand and say, hey, this is a new year,
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Speaker 4: let's keep building. You know, we're not the team that
5:37
Speaker 4: we were last year. We can, you know, rebuild because
5:43
Speaker 4: the Empire did crumble last year earlier and it does
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Speaker 4: need some rebuilding.
5:47
Speaker 2: It did, and that's only the opening week. As you mentioned,
5:51
Speaker 2: some big games to come, but some promising signs there
5:53
Speaker 2: for the Crusaders. I thought there were promising signs for
5:55
Speaker 2: the Hurricanes as well. I agree though were fatigued late
5:58
Speaker 2: in the game. What they did really well early on,
6:00
Speaker 2: I thought was stretched the Crusaders on the edges, and
6:03
Speaker 2: you had in the hollow and finng and awful who
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Speaker 2: looks really really impressive super rugby level dominating around the
6:11
Speaker 2: edges and making breaks. But it felt to me like
6:14
Speaker 2: cam Royguard was doing a lot of it on his own,
6:17
Speaker 2: and as the game wore on, you know, he got
6:20
Speaker 2: fatigued and just wasn't able to have the influence that
6:22
Speaker 2: he probably would have liked. But it felt like a
6:24
Speaker 2: lot of that game rested on his shoulders and he
6:27
Speaker 2: was just trying to do a little bit too much.
6:29
Speaker 2: There was one kick that went a little bit too
6:31
Speaker 2: far from memory, and he was maybe trying to do
6:35
Speaker 2: it all because he perhaps didn't have the players outside
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Speaker 2: him that he was used to. So look, I don't
6:39
Speaker 2: think it's you know, I think the Hurricanes will bounce
6:42
Speaker 2: back quickly from that performance. There were some promising signs,
6:44
Speaker 2: but just maybe in terms of the makeup of that
6:47
Speaker 2: back line. They don't have the right pieces in the
6:49
Speaker 2: right places through injury and maybe some selection issues as well.
6:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's right, And look I was impressed with I
6:56
Speaker 4: thought Harry Godfrey was very good at ten, but yeah,
7:00
Speaker 4: I think maybe lacked a bit of support. And you're right,
7:02
Speaker 4: Cam Royguard. He's still a young guy, isn't he and
7:05
Speaker 4: took a lot on his shoulders. There was one kick
7:07
Speaker 4: that went dead, another one went out on the fall
7:10
Speaker 4: and those things start to compound, and yeah, you take
7:16
Speaker 4: Jordi Barrett out of that team, massive influence in the
7:19
Speaker 4: Hurricanes back line. I think they lost Riley Higgins late
7:22
Speaker 4: in the week and a couple of others, so some
7:26
Speaker 4: big outs. But yeah, I probably expected a bit more
7:29
Speaker 4: from the Hurricanes just because of the way they performed
7:31
Speaker 4: in that first half.
7:32
Speaker 5: They were all over the Crusaders.
7:34
Speaker 4: I wouldn't go as far as say they had them
7:35
Speaker 4: on the ropes, but as you mentioned, they're breaking them up. Well,
7:38
Speaker 4: they really had them on the rack and couldn't put
7:41
Speaker 4: them away for whatever reason. They I thought Carrefa had
7:45
Speaker 4: a big game and lead really well. That their attitude
7:49
Speaker 4: to kick for the corner and really chase. Those opportunities
7:53
Speaker 4: largely worked, but just they didn't get the payoff the bench.
7:58
Speaker 4: You know, guys like Peter Luckeye came on and didn't
8:00
Speaker 4: probably have the impact that you would expect of a
8:04
Speaker 4: recent All Black, but he wasn't alone. So yeah, to
8:08
Speaker 4: see how the Hurricanes regroup and if they can get
8:11
Speaker 4: some troops.
8:11
Speaker 5: Back, but not not all all Derm and Gloom.
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Speaker 4: I still think Clark Bladel was a very stude coach,
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Speaker 4: and he'll he'll go back and look at that, and
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Speaker 4: I think the blueprint is there for the Hurricanes.
8:24
Speaker 2: Let's move on to the war Tars Highlanders later that
8:26
Speaker 2: night on Friday, the war Tars winning that one by one,
8:30
Speaker 2: thirty seven thirty six, end to end sort of stuff.
8:34
Speaker 2: It was basically try meets try meets try. What did
8:37
Speaker 2: we learn about the Highlanders first and foremost from the spixualium.
8:42
Speaker 4: The Highlanders look, I think there were signs of Jamie
8:47
Speaker 4: Joseph's fingerprints on this team.
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Speaker 5: I thought they had a.
8:49
Speaker 4: Lot of spirit, They competed well, they contested everything this game,
8:55
Speaker 4: in particular that the first half wasn't great, that the
8:58
Speaker 4: war Tars seemon intent on hoisting to the heavens every
9:01
Speaker 4: chance they got to bring Joseph tole you into the game.
9:06
Speaker 4: I thought the hand has competed well and area they
9:09
Speaker 4: got some some good There were some interesting selections first
9:13
Speaker 4: and foremost for the Hounds. Wasn't there Benching Falal, Fuckatava
9:17
Speaker 4: and cam Miller So a couple of very green halves
9:21
Speaker 4: for the Honders, and I thought they formed a reasonably well.
9:24
Speaker 4: But I wouldn't be too desponding if I was the
9:28
Speaker 4: Honders that this was really tip for tet. I think
9:30
Speaker 4: there was something like four lead changes in the last
9:33
Speaker 4: ten to fifteen minutes was try for try and the Waratas.
9:39
Speaker 5: Maybe deserved it, maybe they didn't.
9:41
Speaker 4: They did because they got there in the end, but
9:43
Speaker 4: it very easily could have gone either.
9:44
Speaker 2: Way they could have. I think there were promising signs
9:47
Speaker 2: there for the Highlanders. I don't think their best is
9:49
Speaker 2: probably going to come for another couple of years. They've
9:52
Speaker 2: got a nucleus of a young squad used they've got
9:54
Speaker 2: some older heads in there as well, but they have
9:57
Speaker 2: some players that are on the up in New Zealand rugby.
10:00
Speaker 2: Cam Miller you mentioned there Fabian Holland, Sean Whzy and
10:04
Speaker 2: other players Tongue as well, who I thought was very
10:08
Speaker 2: good good on the weekend to more of the Nawai.
10:12
Speaker 5: So is exceptional, wasn't he?
10:13
Speaker 4: He's probably one of the best players of a round
10:16
Speaker 4: on both sides of the ball and his kicking game.
10:18
Speaker 5: Where did that come from?
10:19
Speaker 4: Obviously he's moved into the midfield, but he pulled off
10:22
Speaker 4: one fifty twenty two. I don't think anyone really thought
10:25
Speaker 4: he had that in his repertoire.
10:26
Speaker 2: No, and I think he can be a real presence
10:27
Speaker 2: in the midfield. I actually liked that move from Jamie
10:30
Speaker 2: Joseph moving in in there. So look, I don't think
10:32
Speaker 2: it's all doom and glue for the Highlanders. I think
10:35
Speaker 2: they're a team that is probably going to be this
10:37
Speaker 2: year outside the playoffs looking in. But I think there
10:41
Speaker 2: are promising signs. If Jamie Joseph sticks around, perhaps similar
10:44
Speaker 2: to how he did in twenty fifteen, and can mold
10:47
Speaker 2: this team into an unheralded, you know, unheralded bunch of
10:50
Speaker 2: players into something, then they'll be really promising. They just
10:53
Speaker 2: perhaps need to fix up, you know, some of their
10:56
Speaker 2: their tidiness around the park.
10:58
Speaker 3: They're a little bit discipline as well, and you know.
11:01
Speaker 2: They'll they'll be tough for teams to put away this
11:04
Speaker 2: year Waratas. In terms of their perform what did you
11:08
Speaker 2: make of them? Is it title town in Sydney.
11:14
Speaker 4: Look to be honest for the cavalry that they have
11:17
Speaker 4: got as practically a Wallabies team, I was a little
11:21
Speaker 4: bit underwhelmed.
11:22
Speaker 5: I expected more.
11:23
Speaker 4: I think maybe it's round one and they will get
11:27
Speaker 4: better as the season goes on.
11:29
Speaker 5: But they had an all Wallabies front row.
11:31
Speaker 4: They've got Joseph Sui Le who is an absolute freak
11:34
Speaker 4: of an athlete. You know, the Broaden guys like Andrew Callaway,
11:37
Speaker 4: Taliana Tupo, and they did get some pay in certain areas,
11:41
Speaker 4: but I think tactically they're a wee bit one dimensional
11:44
Speaker 4: in the first half and a wee helter skelter they
11:48
Speaker 4: were forcing passes that didn't need to be pushed, like
11:51
Speaker 4: a bit of composure.
11:52
Speaker 5: They got there in the end, but.
11:55
Speaker 4: If you just look man for man in terms of
11:58
Speaker 4: international experience, they headed all over the Hondas and they
12:02
Speaker 4: made really really difficult work that could easily lost it.
12:06
Speaker 5: So I expect them to get.
12:07
Speaker 4: Better as the season and goes on, but also probably
12:09
Speaker 4: expected a bit more, just given their off field recruits
12:13
Speaker 4: in the past year with the demise of the Rebels.
12:15
Speaker 2: Blues and Chiefs Saturday night at Eden Park this was
12:18
Speaker 2: another fascinating game. You would expect, given what we saw
12:22
Speaker 2: from the Blues last year fourteen six up at halftime,
12:25
Speaker 2: that they would go on and win it, but they
12:28
Speaker 2: folded in the second spell. The Chiefs went up a
12:31
Speaker 2: level the Blues couldn't go with them. And while the
12:33
Speaker 2: Chiefs I thought were unlucky to be down by eight
12:36
Speaker 2: at half time, that was a game where you know,
12:38
Speaker 2: I thought the Chiefs had maybe missed their opportunities in
12:40
Speaker 2: the first half, the Blues had taken them and would
12:42
Speaker 2: have kicked on from there. It didn't happen. In fact,
12:44
Speaker 2: the opposite happened, and that's a big win, a statement
12:47
Speaker 2: win from the Chiefs coming up to Auckland, taking the
12:50
Speaker 2: win off the defending champions. Yes, and round one, but
12:54
Speaker 2: a wake up call for the Blues as well. I
12:55
Speaker 2: really liked the way and it was almost by accidents.
12:59
Speaker 2: In terms of Clayton McMillan talking about the minutes that
13:02
Speaker 2: he was prepared to give some of his All Blacks
13:04
Speaker 2: players given how they'd had shortened preparation and times coming
13:09
Speaker 2: in off their holidays, etc. But the fact that they
13:12
Speaker 2: could bring those players on at the end, they could
13:14
Speaker 2: move McKenzie into ten and direct the team around in
13:17
Speaker 2: the second half. I thought it was a statement win
13:20
Speaker 2: from the Chiefs and that now makes things very very
13:24
Speaker 2: interesting in the state of the competition.
13:27
Speaker 4: It does, and a big win for the Chiefs because
13:29
Speaker 4: of the context of last year, wasn't it and round
13:32
Speaker 4: one that won't count for anything come to playoffs, But
13:35
Speaker 4: it was a big win for the Chiefs because they
13:37
Speaker 4: hadn't won in Auckland since twenty twenty. They got absolutely
13:40
Speaker 4: plumped in the final last year very.
13:44
Speaker 5: Despondent.
13:45
Speaker 4: You know that the Eden Park was chock a fall
13:47
Speaker 4: of Chiefs fans and they never really got into the contest.
13:50
Speaker 4: And there's a number of players, the vast majority of
13:52
Speaker 4: them in fact coming back again for another crack, as
13:55
Speaker 4: well as Clayton McMillan, so there.
13:58
Speaker 5: Would have been a chip on their shoulder.
14:00
Speaker 4: And it was a contrasting match compared to the rest
14:03
Speaker 4: of the realm, partly because of the way the Blues play,
14:06
Speaker 4: partly because there's a bit of rain, So it was
14:09
Speaker 4: a bit of a grind at times, but you're right,
14:11
Speaker 4: the Chiefs bench had a massive impact and that might
14:16
Speaker 4: not be the case every week, but it certainly worked
14:18
Speaker 4: for them being able to bring on that level of
14:22
Speaker 4: player to really you bring it home in the last quarter.
14:27
Speaker 4: Where I think the Chiefs won that game was going
14:30
Speaker 4: toe to toe with the Blues. You do that with
14:32
Speaker 4: their pack and you take away their strength and it's
14:37
Speaker 4: not like the Blues don't know where to turn, but
14:40
Speaker 4: they need to have a few more tricks up their
14:41
Speaker 4: sleeve because if you can compete with their pack, if
14:45
Speaker 4: you can muscle up and stop that go forward, then
14:50
Speaker 4: you really it can be a bit of a kryptonite.
14:53
Speaker 5: That's been Cotta's blueprint.
14:55
Speaker 4: How much of the blue is going to evolve it
14:56
Speaker 4: because when you take it away, it does really have
15:01
Speaker 4: a big impact. And Daman McKenzie has influence on that
15:05
Speaker 4: game from as you mentioned, fallback and first five. He
15:09
Speaker 4: really stamped his authority and said this is going to
15:12
Speaker 4: be my year.
15:12
Speaker 2: He did look I really like Josh Jacob. I think
15:15
Speaker 2: he's a promising player. But we did see the lifted
15:17
Speaker 2: intensity once McKenzie was able to run things at the
15:21
Speaker 2: back end of the game. I thought Jacob didn't play
15:23
Speaker 2: too badly, but it was just the quality of McKenzie
15:25
Speaker 2: that shone through, the ability and confidence to take on
15:28
Speaker 2: the line when the opportunity presented themselves. It was a
15:31
Speaker 2: game where he just took it by the struff of
15:33
Speaker 2: the neck and said we're coming away with the competition
15:36
Speaker 2: points from Eden Parks and I thought it was a
15:39
Speaker 2: really really good performance. The worrying thing for the Blues
15:42
Speaker 2: as you touched on there was up front there strum
15:45
Speaker 2: got man handled at times. The lineup was okay, they
15:48
Speaker 2: pinched a wee bit of the Chiefs ball, but the
15:51
Speaker 2: penalty count sixteen to six against the Blues. Discipline wise,
15:56
Speaker 2: they were all over the show. They invited Damon Murphy
16:00
Speaker 2: to penalize them, and I think this is going to
16:03
Speaker 2: be really really interesting to see where they go to
16:07
Speaker 2: in the next few weeks around this discipline. Lin Let's
16:10
Speaker 2: move on now to the four sen ONEA Pacific. The
16:12
Speaker 2: final match of the round, at least involving one of
16:15
Speaker 2: the New Zealand based teams that we'll discuss in this
16:18
Speaker 2: week's part of this was quite the game. Look at
16:23
Speaker 2: at forty four to thirty one up one. I should
16:26
Speaker 2: have won that game. They did enough, well almost did enough,
16:30
Speaker 2: and that's going to be a loss that haunts them.
16:33
Speaker 2: Having to play the Reds again this week still in Australia.
16:37
Speaker 2: They should be heading over to brisl with their tails up,
16:39
Speaker 2: but it's a game they lost. And promising signs from
16:43
Speaker 2: Mauana but just not enough on the night and Perth.
16:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, they will haunt Myna Elliott's I guess a RSI
16:50
Speaker 4: improved performance on the whole, but to have that sort
16:53
Speaker 4: of lead and to let it slip will be incredibly frustrating.
16:57
Speaker 4: I think you saw all the work that they put
16:59
Speaker 4: them throughout the year, the preseason, sorry, the impact of
17:03
Speaker 4: the new coaching team that we've touched on Ardie Severe
17:06
Speaker 4: coming in behind the scene and listing expectations.
17:10
Speaker 5: But it doesn't count for anything if you don't finish
17:13
Speaker 5: the job.
17:13
Speaker 4: Person a traditionally tough place to go, the longest trip
17:18
Speaker 4: and Super Rugby currently and as you mentioned, they've got
17:21
Speaker 4: to go to the Reds this week, so look. Promising
17:23
Speaker 4: signs on the whole from one, but those are the
17:26
Speaker 4: sort of wins that you need to bank, and those
17:30
Speaker 4: are the sort of wins that the Crusaders let slip
17:32
Speaker 4: last year. I think they lost something l five or
17:35
Speaker 4: six games by five or six points or less. And
17:39
Speaker 4: good teams have that composure and when you're ten twelve
17:43
Speaker 4: points up with five ten minutes ago, you just have
17:46
Speaker 4: to close that out.
17:47
Speaker 5: So they will. That will really hurt.
17:50
Speaker 2: It will indeed, anything else you want to touch on
17:52
Speaker 2: from the opening round, Liam, we didn't really touch on
17:55
Speaker 2: the Blue Brumbies and drew a game, But anything else
17:58
Speaker 2: that stands out from that opening week of Super Rugby,
18:01
Speaker 2: I think.
18:02
Speaker 4: It was just a great start, Elliott, I really don't
18:05
Speaker 4: think you could have asked for much more. Want to
18:08
Speaker 4: see that competitiveness. We want to see the Chiefs upsetting
18:11
Speaker 4: the Blues. We want to see more on you know,
18:15
Speaker 4: going close and knocking over teams. So long man continue.
18:20
Speaker 2: Absolutely, We'll take a break here on Rugby Direct with
18:22
Speaker 2: Habit Health. Come back with the second half of the
18:24
Speaker 2: podcast after this.
18:25
Speaker 1: This is Rugby Direct, a podcast for real rugby fares.
18:33
Speaker 2: Ever try try heads, sixty sec every tackle to tackle,
18:36
Speaker 2: get up again, take him before I'm not.
18:41
Speaker 3: It's Rugby Direct. You're back with Rugby Direct powered by
18:47
Speaker 3: Habit Health.
18:48
Speaker 2: Time now for our final four four rugby topics that
18:50
Speaker 2: Liam and I will debate. Well, William, I think just
18:52
Speaker 2: after we clicked off on the podcast last week, it
18:57
Speaker 2: was news that broke that in the OS in New
18:59
Speaker 2: Zealand Rugby head split New Zealand Rugby taking in the
19:02
Speaker 2: OS to quart around the vacation of the sponsorship which
19:06
Speaker 2: has three years to run at this point. Your reaction
19:09
Speaker 2: to this and who's likely to win from this point
19:13
Speaker 2: in this whole saga, is anyone likely to win?
19:16
Speaker 5: No? No, No one will win.
19:18
Speaker 4: Lawyers will win because because they're not cheap, good lawyers
19:22
Speaker 4: don't come cheap and New Zealand ARABBI will need a
19:25
Speaker 4: very good lawyer to take on Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Look,
19:28
Speaker 4: this is a big story outlet because big business matters
19:32
Speaker 4: and it funds the game from the top to the bottom.
19:34
Speaker 4: So I know there's a lot of very nervous people
19:37
Speaker 4: out there in the New jell and a Ragby community
19:39
Speaker 4: about the three years still remaining on the ANOS contract
19:44
Speaker 4: and the loss of revenue that.
19:48
Speaker 5: Will come straight away.
19:50
Speaker 4: And I guess the big question now is well, a
19:53
Speaker 4: couple what one's going regby get out of the steel
19:56
Speaker 4: and you'd imagine it would be protracted that legal fights
20:00
Speaker 4: don't get wrapped up overnight. So whatever they recruit, they're
20:05
Speaker 4: going to take a loss and lawyer's fees. And can
20:07
Speaker 4: they find another sponsor to that to that level, you know,
20:12
Speaker 4: there's not that many out there. It's a pretty tough
20:14
Speaker 4: climber in the world. Maybe they can tap up one
20:16
Speaker 4: of their Japanese sponsors, but we're talking big funds here.
20:20
Speaker 4: You know, Front of Jersey sponsor for the All Blacks
20:23
Speaker 4: doesn't come cheap anywhere between ten to fifteen million dollars
20:27
Speaker 4: per year.
20:29
Speaker 5: Can they find someone else at that level, well, at.
20:32
Speaker 2: Their short notice, it's going to be very, very tough.
20:34
Speaker 2: You know, these things don't happen overnight. There's a lot
20:36
Speaker 2: of you know, charm offenses that happen before you even
20:40
Speaker 2: get to putting incorn paper. And to try and do
20:43
Speaker 2: it in a relatively short window. We know, the SEVENS
20:46
Speaker 2: teams I think still going to be badged as in
20:48
Speaker 2: the OS this weekend because they don't have the gear,
20:51
Speaker 2: you know, to change around that in such a short
20:54
Speaker 2: space of time. By the time the All Blacks and
20:57
Speaker 2: the Black Fans take to the field, you would suspect
20:59
Speaker 2: that there'll be clean skinned and maybe there's another sponsor
21:02
Speaker 2: on board. But as I say that, these things do
21:04
Speaker 2: take time to try and get into motion and to
21:08
Speaker 2: fill a hole of what I understand is to be
21:10
Speaker 2: upwards of US ten million dollars a year for New
21:13
Speaker 2: Zealand Rugby is not going to be a quick fix.
21:16
Speaker 2: And as you say, it's you know, there's not many
21:19
Speaker 2: sponsors out there that are willing to part with that
21:21
Speaker 2: money at short notice. These things do take a lot
21:25
Speaker 2: of time to get into motion, so it's going to
21:27
Speaker 2: be fascinating to see whether someone can plug the gap.
21:29
Speaker 2: Whether it's exactly the amount that inios we're putting into
21:33
Speaker 2: the books or whether it's a smaller amount, is going
21:36
Speaker 2: to be very very interesting. But I think you're right.
21:39
Speaker 2: I think it's only lawyers who are going to win.
21:41
Speaker 2: They clearly and the US wrote a number on a napkin,
21:44
Speaker 2: slid it across the tables New Zealand Rugby and said
21:47
Speaker 2: this is what we're preparing to get out of the
21:49
Speaker 2: deal with New Zealand. Rugby laughed that off and hence
21:52
Speaker 2: why we're going to court. But it's hard to see
21:55
Speaker 2: anyone but lawyers winning at this point. Watch the space
21:58
Speaker 2: on that front topic number two. The question was asked
22:01
Speaker 2: last week here on Rugby Direct Napes around whether Warren
22:05
Speaker 2: Gatland will last until the next six nations got I
22:08
Speaker 2: said no, You said yes, he has gone. Now is
22:11
Speaker 2: it the right call and who's going to replace him?
22:15
Speaker 5: Well? I think it is the right call.
22:16
Speaker 4: I didn't expect the Welsh Ruby Union to follow through
22:21
Speaker 4: on that decision, and by all accounts, depending on who
22:24
Speaker 4: you believe, this was Gatlin's decision.
22:28
Speaker 5: At least in the short term.
22:30
Speaker 4: He's jumped before he's been pushed because you just couldn't
22:34
Speaker 4: retain him. Long term should have happened at the back
22:36
Speaker 4: end of last year misplaced loyalty. But yeah, it is
22:41
Speaker 4: a big question about who comes in now. Do they
22:44
Speaker 4: look to someone like a Michael Checker, Do they look
22:47
Speaker 4: to someone in their domestic scene. I know they've brought
22:52
Speaker 4: up the Cardiff coach as interim for the rest of
22:55
Speaker 4: the year.
22:55
Speaker 5: What if he gets a bit of a bounce, do
22:57
Speaker 5: they retain him?
22:59
Speaker 4: But I think we do also do nearly acknowledge that
23:02
Speaker 4: whoever gets its faces a massive uphill task because the
23:06
Speaker 4: problems run much deeper than he co which But I
23:10
Speaker 4: think it was a poor decision to bring in Gats.
23:12
Speaker 5: Yes, he had a lot of success.
23:14
Speaker 4: I think he won three Grand Slams and you know
23:18
Speaker 4: went to the World Cup semi finals with Wales. But
23:23
Speaker 4: viewing him as a quick solution was very short sighted
23:26
Speaker 4: and I think we've seen that come to fruition.
23:29
Speaker 2: We have indeed, look, it's quite interesting to look back.
23:31
Speaker 2: Wayne Pevack was sacked in twenty twenty two and replaced
23:36
Speaker 2: by Gatland when PVAc won the Six Nations in twenty
23:40
Speaker 2: twenty one. Yes, twenty twenty didn't go flash. Twenty twenty
23:44
Speaker 2: two didn't go flash in terms of Six Nations and
23:47
Speaker 2: other results. But clearly I think the point was missed
23:51
Speaker 2: around it is that this team was on a slide
23:53
Speaker 2: and they thought let's get a bloke back in who
23:56
Speaker 2: knows well shrugby intimately and he can correct it. But
24:00
Speaker 2: I think the problems are bigger than Wayne Pavac, than
24:03
Speaker 2: Warren Gatland. But I don't think he was the right
24:07
Speaker 2: coach for that point and time. And and you know,
24:09
Speaker 2: the saying goes, you can't go home again. You know,
24:11
Speaker 2: you try and do things again for a second time round.
24:15
Speaker 2: You might have that nostalgia but it never quite works
24:17
Speaker 2: out Eddie Jones, you know in Australia, he's back in Japan.
24:20
Speaker 2: Things aren't working that flash room.
24:21
Speaker 3: Again.
24:22
Speaker 2: There's been football managers who have done the same thing.
24:24
Speaker 2: It's very, very hard once you've left the place time's
24:27
Speaker 2: gone by to go back and do it again, especially
24:29
Speaker 2: when there are issues like that. And while Shrugby and
24:31
Speaker 2: Franco Smith has been a link with the job, Simon
24:35
Speaker 2: eased to be. You know, maybe you know Liam McDonald
24:38
Speaker 2: or someone might might be in the mix from a
24:40
Speaker 2: New Zealand perspective, but haven't heard his name particularly links.
24:43
Speaker 2: Brad Moore, Crusader's assistant coaches had his name up in
24:46
Speaker 2: lights as well when that news first broke, But seems
24:50
Speaker 2: like they might go someone based on the European Continent
24:53
Speaker 2: Topic number.
24:54
Speaker 3: Three, should we just give the war Tars the title? Now?
24:56
Speaker 3: We did answer this a little bit earlier on, but
24:58
Speaker 3: is it the year?
25:00
Speaker 4: Well, the way that they carried on like pork chops
25:03
Speaker 4: Eliot after that victory, you'd think so certainly looked like
25:07
Speaker 4: they'd won the championship. And look, I'm all for celebrating
25:10
Speaker 4: your wins, but it does seem to be a bit
25:14
Speaker 4: symptomatic of the Warrior tess you mentioned. You recall a
25:17
Speaker 4: couple of years ago when they beat the Crusaders, and
25:20
Speaker 4: you know, taking that scalp of the former seven time
25:24
Speaker 4: champions is a big deal. But I think it just
25:27
Speaker 4: needs to be a bit of ty hoe. You know,
25:29
Speaker 4: just pull your head and look at Wii. But it's
25:31
Speaker 4: only one game, it's only round one. You haven't won
25:33
Speaker 4: anything yet. So yeah, it was interesting to see those
25:37
Speaker 4: over the top reactions from the Tars and yeah, let's
25:40
Speaker 4: just say they need to back it up now.
25:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do think the competition needs the war Tis
25:44
Speaker 2: to be strong in terms of crowd figures and that
25:46
Speaker 2: Sydney presence. But yeah, it's just just hold your horses
25:49
Speaker 2: a little bit, Fellows. Topic number four of the chiefs Now,
25:52
Speaker 2: the competition favorites on the basis of what we saw
25:54
Speaker 2: on Saturday night.
25:56
Speaker 4: I wouldn't got that far. You know, don't rule out
25:59
Speaker 4: the Canes yet, but no, look, I think i'd still
26:05
Speaker 4: favor the Blues at this point in time, but clearly
26:09
Speaker 4: they've got a lot of work to do. It's interesting,
26:10
Speaker 4: isn't You Look at preseason and the Blues had a
26:16
Speaker 4: patchy preseason.
26:18
Speaker 5: You have players coming late.
26:19
Speaker 4: Everyone has excuses, but there is none for the Blues
26:21
Speaker 4: with the depth of their roster.
26:24
Speaker 5: Mentally, maybe they weren't quite there.
26:26
Speaker 4: Not too sure, but I think it's probably too early
26:30
Speaker 4: to annoy the title favorites.
26:33
Speaker 5: Look, the Chiefs have it all to.
26:34
Speaker 4: Do and they have their expected them to be right
26:38
Speaker 4: up there to win it last year. They've lost a
26:41
Speaker 4: couple of finals that will be ingrained in them, won't they.
26:46
Speaker 4: And Clayton McMillan is a very astute coach, but when
26:49
Speaker 4: it comes to the big dance, hasn't hasn't quite made
26:52
Speaker 4: the Chiefs lift. So personally, I'd love to see the
26:55
Speaker 4: Chiefs to I think they've been building for a number
26:58
Speaker 4: of years. They've got some very experienced figures in that team,
27:01
Speaker 4: but they've just folded when it really mattered at the
27:04
Speaker 4: back end of the year.
27:05
Speaker 5: So they need to keep building.
27:06
Speaker 4: But it was a mess monkey off their back to
27:09
Speaker 4: knock over the title title defenders.
27:12
Speaker 2: One thing I do think they need to do the
27:13
Speaker 2: Blues is move Boden Barrett back into ten. I know
27:15
Speaker 2: there are injuries on Sullivan's out for at least a
27:18
Speaker 2: few weeks. He was in a cast last week at training.
27:20
Speaker 2: Stephen Petefetta a couple of weeks away, so maybe it
27:23
Speaker 2: was the horses for courses selection. But Boden Barrett is
27:26
Speaker 2: the incombent all Blacks ten. He needs to be playing ten.
27:28
Speaker 2: I think they're better with him at ten. We saw
27:30
Speaker 2: what Damian McKenzie did when he slid into ten for
27:32
Speaker 2: the Chiefs. I think for the purposes of this Blues team,
27:38
Speaker 2: they need to get him into ten as much as possible.
27:41
Speaker 2: Let's run through the picks from last week. A rarity
27:44
Speaker 2: for me. I'm actually in the lead three or five
27:48
Speaker 2: over the course of the weekend, so great news for
27:51
Speaker 2: me personally. And you had two of five.
27:54
Speaker 4: Well you enjoy that well at last, because history would
27:57
Speaker 4: say it won't last.
27:59
Speaker 2: I think you've won what the last two maybe three years?
28:02
Speaker 2: So look, let's see if I can build on that
28:04
Speaker 2: lead the games this week. Liam, Let's run through the
28:08
Speaker 2: Friday Night Chiefs Crusaders. Do the Chiefs go two from two?
28:11
Speaker 2: Of the Crusaders be smart at home, Elliott's.
28:15
Speaker 4: Unfortunately for your Crusaders, the rebuild, it's a financial hurdle, mate.
28:23
Speaker 3: The rebul goes two from two. Don't you worry? About that.
28:26
Speaker 2: This is Rob Penny's time and the Crusaders will be
28:29
Speaker 2: two from two after this weekend.
28:31
Speaker 3: Read's more one of PACIFICA.
28:33
Speaker 2: This is an interesting one Friday night sun Corpse Stadium,
28:35
Speaker 2: Reds first game of the year after a first round
28:37
Speaker 2: by Do more want to learn the lessons of last
28:40
Speaker 2: week or do the Reds get the victory?
28:43
Speaker 5: Look, I think it helps playing a game.
28:45
Speaker 4: You should have a bit more cohesion and Miner will
28:48
Speaker 4: take a lot out of that game despite the result.
28:49
Speaker 4: But look less Kiss has done a brilliant job with
28:53
Speaker 4: the Reds potentially coaching for a role and that walla
28:58
Speaker 4: be set up as well. You've got Frase mcwright and
29:01
Speaker 4: a number of quality players in that Reds team. They're
29:03
Speaker 4: at home, so I'm going to go the Reds.
29:06
Speaker 2: I'm going to go the Reds as well. Set it
29:08
Speaker 2: out afternoon at McLean Park in Napier. It'll be dangerous
29:11
Speaker 2: if there's Sunshine Hurricanes hosting the drawer in Napier. Really
29:16
Speaker 2: disappointed with the drawer. I thought over the weekend against
29:19
Speaker 2: a Brumby's team that was down on numbers, so they
29:23
Speaker 2: haven't traditionally traveled well. But you know, maybe you know
29:27
Speaker 2: the sights and sounds of Napier will spur them on.
29:29
Speaker 3: What do you reckon?
29:30
Speaker 4: No, Elliott, it won't. The Kynes will bounce back in
29:33
Speaker 4: that game. And I did tip last week that it
29:36
Speaker 4: could be a tough year for the Dura. I just
29:37
Speaker 4: think first year head coach Queen Jackson. Yeah, it's hard
29:42
Speaker 4: to step in in your first year, while will there'll
29:44
Speaker 4: be a number of things that that are in place
29:46
Speaker 4: there it was. I think the Brumbies had something like
29:50
Speaker 4: six debutants, didn't they and a number of their front
29:52
Speaker 4: line players missing. So that was a bad first up
29:56
Speaker 4: loss for them four point defeats. So I think the
29:59
Speaker 4: Canes will resign the Dura to OH and two.
30:03
Speaker 2: Speaking of oh and two, the defending champions oh and
30:05
Speaker 2: two as they visit the Glasshouse in Dunedin and the
30:08
Speaker 2: Highlanders on Saturday night.
30:11
Speaker 5: Well, you know what, Elliot, I wouldn't rule the Highlands out.
30:13
Speaker 4: Going back home, Jammie Joseph will all stir the emotions
30:16
Speaker 4: and no doubt, you know, play on the underdog status
30:20
Speaker 4: that everyone will write them off, nobody gives them a
30:23
Speaker 4: chance and try and stoke that sort of narrative. But no,
30:29
Speaker 4: you can't go past the Blues and the depth that
30:32
Speaker 4: they've got, so we'll tip them.
30:33
Speaker 2: Okay, we're going roughly similar here on going the Blues
30:35
Speaker 2: as well, and the Brumby's a rounding things out against
30:37
Speaker 2: the Western Force in Canberra Saturday nights. The Brumby is
30:42
Speaker 2: always difficult at home. Any chance the Force go over
30:45
Speaker 2: and get the job done, No, I.
30:47
Speaker 4: Can't see it, so we'll have to put that multi
30:50
Speaker 4: in then all the faves.
30:53
Speaker 5: It sounds like a sure thing.
30:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, apart from the Crusaders and the Chiefs, we're
30:56
Speaker 2: exactly the same this weekend, so that could very well
31:00
Speaker 2: be defining in terms of the first couple of weeks
31:02
Speaker 2: of this tipping competition. Let's run things out with our
31:05
Speaker 2: MVP voting. Our Super Rugby have got their own Player
31:08
Speaker 2: of the Year coming in for the first time, long
31:10
Speaker 2: over due. We're going to continue ours as well, which
31:13
Speaker 2: is for the New Zealand based franchises. Only give me
31:17
Speaker 2: a three two ones for this point of this week, Limb.
31:21
Speaker 5: I'm going all backs this week.
31:23
Speaker 4: Elliott will Jordan for three, Damien McKenzie for two and
31:27
Speaker 4: Tather Tava Nahua for one. I just think they were
31:30
Speaker 4: the standout performance for me, big, big influence on their
31:34
Speaker 4: respective matches. I know the forwards to do the real work,
31:37
Speaker 4: but the back to take the chocolates.
31:39
Speaker 2: This week I'm actually going very very similar, but I'm
31:42
Speaker 2: going Kyle Preston for three points out of the Crusaders
31:46
Speaker 2: three tries on debut gave them some spark. We didn't
31:50
Speaker 2: see much of Nah Hotham, but for Kyle Preston to
31:53
Speaker 2: come on and do the sort of numbers that he
31:55
Speaker 2: did across the park I thought was very impressive.
31:57
Speaker 5: Mckenzrey very very tough to take, isn't it.
31:59
Speaker 4: Elliott born and bred Wellington boy wearing the worst jersey
32:05
Speaker 4: you could possibly wear and super rugby and doing it
32:08
Speaker 4: against his former teammates.
32:10
Speaker 5: It's very tough to take.
32:11
Speaker 2: Streams well, look at the Hurricanes offered him a contract
32:15
Speaker 2: and he turned it down. He saw the you know,
32:17
Speaker 2: he saw the lights. That's the Promised Land and him
32:21
Speaker 2: and no Hotham and we're going to form a dynamic combination.
32:24
Speaker 2: Hopefully Hotham not too far away from returning. So big
32:28
Speaker 2: week for the Crusaders and the MVP voting with Will
32:31
Speaker 2: Jordan and Kyle Preston getting three points eats but it
32:33
Speaker 2: is Damien McKenzie who leads early on on the basis
32:36
Speaker 2: of two points. For both of us getting four, he
32:39
Speaker 2: is topping the chart. So that all about to do
32:41
Speaker 2: us for Rugby Direct for the week. Liam, thank you,
32:45
Speaker 2: as always, we will well, I won't catch up with
32:47
Speaker 2: you next week. You're heading abroad, so we'll catch up
32:51
Speaker 2: in a fortnight. And Nick Bule is going to slide
32:53
Speaker 2: in next week and take your place and hopefully ruin
32:56
Speaker 2: your tipping.
32:58
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, appreciate that.
32:59
Speaker 4: No, he's he's a heavy hitterer, so I look forward
33:02
Speaker 4: to listening to his contributions.
33:04
Speaker 3: We'll catch you soon.
33:05
Speaker 2: Liam travels safe and we'll be back next week here
33:08
Speaker 2: on Rugby Direct, powered by Habit Health, tackling all your
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Speaker 2: aches and pains from sport and.
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