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Transcript

Rugby Direct - Episode 155 · Rugby Direct

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow
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  Speaker 1: this and our Wide Ranger podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Inside the Game from Every Angle.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: It's Rugby Direct with Elliott Smith, powered by News Talks EDB.
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: Welcome to Rugby to powered by Habit Health, tackling all
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: your aches and pains from sports and work back for
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: another week to dissect the rugby issues. Elliott Smith with
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: me as always, Liam Napier. Liam, Greetings, it's been another
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: fascinating week in the world of rugby. I suppose let's
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: go back to last week where by the time we
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: recorded our usual weekly podcast, we're about twenty four hours
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: out from releasing a podcast with Mark Robinson into our
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: CEO and Scott robertson All Black Sea Coach. Plenty of
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: positive reactions, so I thank you to all that have
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: got in touch with us on that. And yeah, it's
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: created a few stories around the rugby world, hasn't it has.
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: Indeed, anytime the All Blacks Coach goes live to the
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: nation so to speak, or it does an in depth
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: interview like that, it's widely picked up on. And yeah,
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: I thought it was quite candid by Razor at times.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Some hot top.
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: Topics covered eligibility, everything from Kalyn Ponger to NRL converts
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: and the like in Richie Muonga what happened in Japan.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: So yeah, thanks for all your feedback.
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: And if you haven't had a chance to listen to
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: it's yea rap breads around it.
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you can view it on YouTube as well. Check
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: it on the old Crome cast or smart TV and
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: park up in the lounge and watch it that way
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: if you're so inclined and keen for any other guests
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: that you might like us to get on Rugby Direct.
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: Let's rip into the weekend that was, and the headline
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: match from a New Zealand perspective was the Blues and
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: Crusaders on Saturday night and it delivered plenty of tries,
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: It delivered a big win for the Crusaders, and it
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: delivered more questions about this Blues team one and five
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: in their title defense. No one would have picked this.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: This was perhaps a fifty to fifty game heading in.
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: You know, the Crusaders were underdogs at the bookies, but
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: the Crusaders just too good on the nights and deserving
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: of their win. What did you make of the performance then.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: I think we've split them down the middle.
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: If we deal with the Crusaders first and foremost, what
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: a transformation in the past. What is it four months
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: really from a disastrous season. I think they only won
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: four games last year, missed the playoffs. Rob Penney's coaching
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: job was on the line, questions about his back room staff,
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: players weren't happy, there were selection concerns. This year, They've
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: got some bodies back, but they're still missing a few.
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: Cody Taylor is a couple of others that Brandon n
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: or Scott Barret only played half of that game. At
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: the weekends. Ethan Blackhead is still out. So look, the Crusaders,
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: all credit to them. They did a number on the Blues.
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: This was the Blues equal biggest loss to the Crusaders
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: at Eden Park, and I think the Crusaders have now
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: won nine of the last ten at Eden Park as well,
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: which is quite staggering. But this was a Crusaders team
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: that hadn't won away from home and Rob Penny's tenure
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: nine games. You have to go back to the twenty
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: twenty three Super Aby Final to find their last away win,
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: so that was a big monkey off their back. What
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: I like about the Crusaders is they are far more
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: adventurous this year, and far more adventurous than they were
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: under Scott Robertson.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: As well.
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: They are attacking from inside their twenty two. They are
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: offloading using the ball, having a real crack playing with pace.
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: The Blues could not slow down their quick recycle and
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: that really hurt them. So I was very impressed by
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: the Crusaders forward pack. They did a number on the
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: Blues lineout on this scrum the breakdown, and it really
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: was one rate traffic apart from the Blues scored the
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: opening try and then it was all the Crusaders.
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: And what the Crusaders thought did well after that opening
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: try is that they didn't allow the Blues to get
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: him momnt and they went back down the other end
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: and scored, then scored again fee hockey scores from the
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: twenty two, and that just put the Blues on the
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: back foot after they've done well to open the scoring,
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: get on the front foot, give themselves a bit of confidence.
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: The Crusaders managed to do that and that allowed them
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: to take control of the game from that point onwards
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: and went into halftime with a thirteen point lead. Extended
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: it after the break and never really felt like in
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: any danger from when they went about twenty points to
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: seven up. And we think back to last year what
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: the Blues were able to do so well. They played direct,
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: They used their ball runners really effectively. They used this
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: set piece really effectively. I know they've got a number
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: of injuries, but they looked ponderous at times with ball
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: in hand. And it wasn't until they were chasing the
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: game late on and the Crusaders maybe switched off a
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: little bit and some tied bodies out there that they
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: made and to be a little bit more expansive with
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: the game plan. It was too late for the Blues
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: by that point. They let the game slip. In the
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: first half.
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: They did just on the Crusaders again. The final score
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: line flated the Blues. Kimitta missed three conversions and the
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: Crusaders could have I think they lead twenty to seven
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: at halftime, and Will Jordan came close to scoring. I
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: think he dropped the ball quite close to the line.
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: They were breaking the Blues open at will. So many
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: unforced eras from the Blues and senior players were talking here,
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: you know, Stephen Petefetter dropping a very simple high ball.
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: The Crusaders score from that. Riquewani at least two drop
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: balls in contact and he was elevated to the captaincy
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: after Patrick two Polotu's withdrawal. I think for me that
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: the form of the crusaders is encapsulated in David Havili's
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: form last year. I know he had some injury concerns,
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: but he is now the out and out form second
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: five in this competation. The way he's carrying the ball
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: in a dominant fashion, if you watch him his talk,
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: his organization, he's really relishing that leadership and so his
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: transformation transformation has been very stark and that's reflected in
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: the Crusader's form.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: And he's taking pressure off to Hakimitter as well, which
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: is big because he's a young team. We know the
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: woes he had last year dropped back to Waycato Club Rugby,
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: missing conversions and and things like that. That he's taking
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: that is a big concern. So he's taking a lot
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: of the heat off Tarkumeter in terms of the way
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: he's running the game.
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: Still a young guy, but when you cast a head
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: to the playoffs, you've got to be kicking your goals.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: That is going to make a big difference.
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: So at some point there's going to be a very
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: tight call for a penny there does he go for
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: the experience and James O'Connor, you know when when if
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: does he make that call?
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: Well, he's got free hockey who can go kick. He's
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: got David Havilli who can goal kick. Now they are
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: not first choice goal kick is by any strip to
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: the imagine, but Ta Hakim his numbers would suggest that
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: he's not at that level of being a first choice
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: goalkicker as yet, so that I don't need to know
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: that they really need to change the run on team.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: I just think you give the kicking team. I mean,
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: he's already doing plenty for the Crusaders one to give
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: it to David Harvilli and say this is part of
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: your responsibilities now.
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, well it's not working for him and why does
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: the first five have to kick? When you mentioned that,
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: and just on schaefe K, I've given him a bit
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: of stick here, yeh. And justifiably so, I felt at
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: the time in terms of the All Blacks conversation, and
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: it was a big call for Rob Penny to bring
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: him back and drop Macha Springer to the bench after
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: he scored five tries.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: But fie Hackey was excellent at the weekend.
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: He was highly involved, very dangerous, and every time he
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: touched the ball fully justified his selection. So that speaks
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: to the Crusader's depth. Now let's look at the Blues.
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: What the hell's gone wrong? This was a team that
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: dominated last year and they were titled favorites and now
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: they have been a complete flop. And the biggest concern
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: was we'll talk about the injuries, but last week they
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: really hinted that they were improving. They could have very
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: easily beaten the Chiefs in Hamilton but for a sideline
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: conversion from Xavier Taili and this was easily their worst
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: performance of the season.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: That leaves so many question marks.
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: It does. It was a massive step backwards after what
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: they were able to do the week prior and push
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: the Chiefs right to the limit. And you look at
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: the stats postgame and they do not tell the story.
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: I was looking up. The possession was fifty fifty, so
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: charactery of fifty fifty possession, The Blues had fifty three
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: to forty seven running meters. The Blues had five hundred
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: and ninety to the Crusaders three hundred and forty. This
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: is a game where the stats don't tell the tale.
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: It's probably bolstered by the last fifteen or so minutes
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: where they became a bit more adventurous, had to really
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: chase the game and had some better running meters and
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: were able to hold onto the ball for perhaps a
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: little bit longer. But they seem to have just gone
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: away from everything that was working so well last year.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: They don't build pressure, and that's the concerning thing for me,
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: is that they had a lot of position in that
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: game and just didn't know really what to do with it.
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: And whether teams have figured them out, or whether they're
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: not comfortable playing that style of rugby anymore, I don't
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: exactly know. But they barely really got into the Crusaders
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: twenty two and put pressure on in that game on
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: the weekend. They Crusaders were able to force eras, the
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: Blues made unforced eras, and there was one period in
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: the second spell where they just sort of were five
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: minutes five minutes inside the Crusaders half, not really going
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: anywhere for about two or three minutes at a time,
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: just passing left and right, not able to strike, not
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: able to find a way through. So I think the
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: Blues have become really ponderous this year. And yeah, there's
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: a number of injuries, but there's still a lot of
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: quality in that team, and I don't know why they
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: haven't been able to recapture any of that magic from
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: last year.
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: Very disjointed and directionless performance, and it is a big concern.
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: There were a couple of stats which does speak to
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: that performance. The Blues had nineteen turnovers to the Crusaders,
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: five six those were unforced eerers and they won five
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: of thirteen lineouts and the scrum was seventy five percent.
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: So if you look at where the Blues were strong
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: last year, it was in the collisions, it was the
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: line out, drives, the set piece, the defense, their kick strategy,
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: all of those things are not working for them. And
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: we do have to touch on their injuries.
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: I think fourteen.
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: Players out and Patrick losing Patrick, two Polo to and
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: Eckland just prior in the days leading up to that
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: game does have a massive influence on your leadership, on
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: your line out. And the Blues now go into the
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: buy and from what I'm hearing, they will get potentially Ricky, Rictelli, Eckland,
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: Patrick two, Polo to Zan Sullivan, Bowden, Barrett, Adrian Choate,
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: Anton Signer, Tafafunaki, aj Lamb potentially all coming back after
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: the buyer. Now there's some massive inns offer doing a
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: fussy knick injury doesn't sound great. Not sure what his
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: prognosis is, but you've got to front with who you've got,
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: and there's no excuses for basic errors and the lack
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: of direction and so yes, you can make excuses and
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: the injuries do play a part, but I don't think
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: that justifies the phenomenal slide we've seen in such a
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: short space time.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: I agree, And the problem I've got is that at
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: some of the All Blacks players that are not standing
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: up and delivering, the ones that are still standing and
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: not injured, that they're not getting the best out of
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: Rico Jowani. I think ran for a lot of meters
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: on the weekend, but and he was captain, but I
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: think didn't have one of his better games and struggled
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: to get on the go forward on the weekend. Dalton
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: Papa Lei has been really quiet this season and I'm
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: not sure why that. In these occasions where you need
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: players to stand up, they're not. Cameron Christie has been.
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: On the other hand, a young player that's only in
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: what has theod fourth game maybe for super rugby level,
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: is one of those ones that a stand up. As
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: zeb Ta earlier, you can see the brilliance and the
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: possibilities that he might bring. So it's those younger players
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: are standing up. And I think you've got to put
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: some real question marks around Papalii and Yuani as leaders
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: in this team. They've both captained before the Blues and
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: they're not delivering at the moment.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: And for me, that speaks to an attitude thing.
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: To be honest, it's very hard to quantify, but I
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: spoke to Stephen bit of fit to this year and
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: he hinted that a training attitude that wasn't the same
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: as last year, and speaking to others around the team,
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: there is a sense that there hasn't been that same hunger.
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: The Blues broke their eighteen year title drought last year.
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: They wanted it really bad and von Kotta came in
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: got a reaction from this team and it is very
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: much like do you want this?
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: How hungry are you?
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: And it's a classic case of almost second year syndrome.
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: Going through the motions. They made all the right noises
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: about not being complacent, but they're not walking the talk.
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: No and they had said that. You know, the players
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: have said that the training wasn't as intense as it
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: needed to be, perhaps in preseason from their own perspective,
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: that they they didn't bring the intensity required. And that's
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: the hallmarks of you know, great teams, isn't it. You
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: look back to some of the super rugby teams. You know,
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: the Crusader's going on that run between twenty seventeen and
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: twenty three, even the Chiefs in twenty twelve and twenty
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: thirteen winning back to back, the Blues you know, way
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: back in the nineties doing it back to bads. It's
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: all very well. Winning one and that's great and you
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: can celebrate that, and they broke the adrat there. But
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: the great teams back it up and they may not
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: go back and win the title the next year, but
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: they'll go very very close. And we're just not seeing
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: that from the Blues. You know, there's a long way
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: to go in this competition. They're one in five, but
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: you know, they get some players back, sure, but there's
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: still some big games to come from. They've got to
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: go play the Crusader's Wayne christ Church go to Suva.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: They've got to a suver. They've got Hurricanes at home
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: in a couple of weeks. They've got Wana Pacific two
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: games to play now, one is bottom of the table.
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: But you just don't know what kind of game plan
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: they'll bring and how hungry they might be on the night.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: So they've got a still some runway the Blues, but
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: not a lot really in this competition.
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: No times running out and you know what, this is
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: where we find out what the Blues are made of
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: and what their attitude is and how much they want it.
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: They've dug themselves a massive hole. And for me, the
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: responsibility it's player lead. The coaching team can only do
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: so much. Where are these players at How are they
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: gonna They need to catch the ball, they need to
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: put these things in place. The other thing we just
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: another step. The kicking meters, I think it was the
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: Crusaders kicked twenty five times and they've got eight hundred
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: odd meters. The Blues were nineteen odd times for three hundreds.
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: So little things like that have a profound effect but yeah,
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: the Blues there are in some adversity. How and are
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: they going to fight their way out of it? Because
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: this has been their own doing. So let's find out
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: what they're all about.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: Indeed, they go into the buy the sweet, plenty of
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: things to pond it there. Let's go to the Reeds
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: in the hand is under the roof in Dunedin on
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: Saturday afternoon, the Reeds emerging twenty nine to twenty three winners. Look,
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: the Reds were without Fraser mcwright as they crossed the
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: Tasman tamd Dermott and yet they come over and take
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: the win. And for periods in this game it felt
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: like the Highlanders not necessarily have this game under control,
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: but they know they trailed early, came back, got themselves
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: into the contest and it felt like, okay, they'd set
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: themselves up for well, but they just made a couple
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: of errors. In the second spell, Ethan Degrouk goes off
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: for a yellow card. They can sider to try either
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: side of that, and all they can escape with is
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: a penalty goal at the end for a bonus point.
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: I thought this was a really disappointing second spell, in
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: particular from the Highlanders.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: It was.
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: Yes, the game was there for the taking and they
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: started slowly and then I felt like they got their
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: game going, started to build, some things got on top,
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: and then they felt like they let it slip. You
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: mentioned the yellow card, and the other big factor here
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: was their scrum got completely dismantled, dismantled. Their replacement tight
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: head had some real struggles, then went off injured. The
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: starting tight head came back, but the Reds really their
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: replacement front rowers Alex Hodgman and the like did a
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: number on the Highlanders. Poor yellow card from the group.
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: That was costly as well from an all Black. So yeah, look,
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: there were some impressive individual performances. Was great to see
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: Peter umung A Jensen back in the midfield. I thought
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: he was added some real touches of class with his
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: long balls and midfield penetration. Sean Withey was good well,
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: at least one turnover, but yeah, the read's not at
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: full strength. That was there for the taking for the Honders.
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: I think there was the Reds first one in Dneed
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: in ten twelve years. So there's a bit about that team.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: There is a bit about that team. We saw them
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: come to christ Church and get beaten there, but they
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: felt threatening in that game, just didn't quite get maybe
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: the bounce of the ball the war waritie. They go
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: over to Needen, which is as you said and historically
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: has been a tricky trip for them. They're well in
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: Sconced now in that top three alongside the Chiefs and Crusaders.
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: You know, they're building quite nicely and they've got an
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: interesting all run. They've got the Chiefs in a couple
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: of weeks in Hamilton, which is gonna be a real
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: litmus test for them because.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: I've had a bit of success against the Chiefs.
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: They have exactly and they deliver it in Hamilton in
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: a couple of weeks time. Because it feels like they're building,
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: you know, and there's all sorts of things going on
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: in the background around Les Kiss and his likelihood that
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: he's probably going to be the next Wallabies coach after
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: Joe Schmidt. But what I like about them is their
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: depth and we've seen that again you know, Frasmik right out.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: But they've got a really strong loose for trio and
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: the Highlanders just couldn't kick with it. And it feels
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: like this is a hot and cold sort of Highlanders team.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: At the moment, they are better than last year, but
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: whether they can push for you know, those top spots
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: when it comes to the playoffs, it's going to be
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: a real question.
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it feels like they're on the fringe, doesn't it.
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: They can pull out a performance. But the hot cold
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: is a good analogy because even if you go back
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: to that performance against Wina Pacifica where they just scrape through,
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: you know, very lucky to get through that. So there's
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: still a bit of growing for that team.
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: There is in d Let's go back to the weekend
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: this for night, to the game that started the weekend,
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: the Chiefs fifty one of PACIFICA thirty five in Pocaki.
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: This was a very odd game of rugby to one
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: watch to commentate. Was forty three to seven at half time.
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: And the Chiefs are cruising and playing some of the
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: best rugby this season. One are playing some of their worst.
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: We've seen how good they can be against the Canes
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: and the Herders, or seeing how bad they can be
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: though at times, and how they can switch off. Well,
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: they didn't switch on until minute forty on the weekend,
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: but when they switched on, they were hard to contain.
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: Really hard to get a read on what this game
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: meant and what we got out of it, the key
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: point probably being the halftime break and also tinn of
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: Umonger changing. I think five players at the break and
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: bring on some fresh legs.
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: Read a nice line from Aaron Goyle saying Pokakoe Stadium
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: someone needed to check the slope on it because there's
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: seventy five points scored at one end.
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: Of the the Old Lord's but at Cricket Ground.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: It's quite staggering, isn't it.
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: I guess Look, I think you're the Chiefs and you're
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: up by forty odd points at halftime. There is an
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: element of clocking off mentally and parking the bus. Wine
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: will be very disappointed with the way they started their game.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: The Chiefs. Weren't you a full strength to provide?
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: Pulled out just before the game, missing Ardie as well,
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: and they got a lot of off their bench. Maybe
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: they look to change things up from a selection perspective there.
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: But yeah, very very strange game. I know punters were
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: sweeten the on the Chiefs thirteen plus down the stretch there.
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: I don't know how much he can take out of
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: that game.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: For either team. Wana.
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: You know, a lot of work to do on how
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: they start games and Chiefs will be disappointed to concede
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: that many points.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: Damian McKenzie very good again.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: He was very good again. But I just think Clayton
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: McMillan won't have been a happy man. Halftime interview on
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: sky TV says, you know, he basically to paraphrase, we
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: need to go out and complete the job. Well they didn't,
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: and it would have been a very tense bus ride back,
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: I'm sure on Friday night from Hamilton to Pookey. That's right,
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: Bookie to Hamilton.
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and look, the Chiefs are title favorites, but they
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: do look a bit fallible. They were pushed to the
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: brink by the Blues. I only turned up for one
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: half against the against Mona lost the week prior to
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: the Blues, so yeah, there's a few holes you could
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: put punch there.
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Their best performance was that Crusader's game where they
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: nearly put fifty on on that night, and they've been
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: a bit up and down since, but they are collecting
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: the wins. Anything stand out from the other two games
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: of the weekend Warratars Brumbies twenty eight twenty three and
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: the four fifty two fifteen over the poor old Druler
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: in Sunday night footy or Sunday afternoon for they in Perth.
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, surprised by the margin in Perth. The Duror always
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: struggle away from home, but they pushed the Brumbies in Canberra.
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: Look I saw parts of that Wartars Brumbies game. It
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: was a great finish and one thing to note there.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Is the Waratars heads.
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: I think twenty odd thousand at that game, which is
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: a record attendance for them in the last couple of years.
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: And I think there is a bit of buzz building
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: around Australian rugby. They've got the lines there next year,
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: so starting to slowly rebuild and put Ozzie rugby back
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: on the map. These teams are a lot more competitive
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: this year and I think Sydney is a bit of
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: a gauge of that twenty thousand that compares really well
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: to the NRL crowds that they've seen this year. So
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: positive rumblings in Australian rugby, which is good to see.
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we love to see that absolutely and more on
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: the Aussie teams. After this here on Rugby Direct will
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: come back take a break, second half of Rugby Direct
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: after this.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: This is Rugby Direct, a podcast for real rugby fares.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: Rugby Direct, Howard Buddies Talk SIV.
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: You're back with Rugby Direct. Time now for our final
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: four or Liam. There are four Australian teams in the
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: Super Rugby Top six at the moment. How many will
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: make the playoffs? So they're all in their The Chiefs
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: are on top on twenty two points, Crusaders on nineteen,
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: Reds on nineteen, Wartars on seventeen, Brumby's on fifteen, Force
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: on fourteen. That's the top six. Highland is eleven, Hurricanes nine,
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: Blues seven drew a seven more on a Pacificer on six.
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: At this point in the season, will all four of
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: those teams make the top six?
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: No?
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: No, they won't. The Force won't. I'm torn on two
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: or three, but I can't. We don't fit fence here
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: at Rugby Derex. So I'm going to say two of
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: them make it, and the Blues and Hurricanes both sneaking.
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: Okay, I tend to agree. The Force have got a
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: tricky back half of the season. They got the Reds
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: this week, then they welcome the Highlanders and Hurricanes at
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: home in consecutive weeks. Then they're away to the Force
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: on as Sorry to the Chiefs on anzac Dan Todonga.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: Then there to Auckland and playing the Blues, who at
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: that point in the season, who knows they'll be hungry.
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: And then the Brumbies drew it and war Atars to finish.
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: So that's a tricky run includes a trip to Suva
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: for them as well. So I suspect you're right around
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: the Force dropping out. Who did you say that your
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: two teams is going to make it?
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: So I said two. Yeah, it's tough, isn't it. So
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: we've got the Reds, Wartars and Brumbies. It's really tough
• 24:04
  Speaker 4: to draw a line through one of them. I'm going
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: to say the Warriors miss out.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: I tend to agree because they've got a number of
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: New Zealand teams and not just to put the New
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: Zealand teams up in lights, but there's a tricky drawer.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah seven, I think the Blues and Knees sneak in.
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: But look, it's very it's going to be a great
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: finish to the season and there's.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: Going to be a lot of jeopardy around around there.
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: Well at the Blues, you know seven points on the
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: letter stands there one went outside the playoffs. They do
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: have the buy, but other teams have the ball. It'll
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: even itself out. That flows really nicely onto topic number two.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: Are you willing to draw a line through the Blues
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: winning the title this year one in five outside the
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: playofs at the moment on seven points?
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: No, no, no, I'm not.
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: But it's a long long road to hoe because they
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: will be away from home for should they sneak into
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: the playoffs, there's two questions here. One is do they
• 25:06
  Speaker 4: make the playoffs and then they still title contenders? As
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: it stands right now, you would say, no, they're not
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: title contenders. I think they make the playoffs and if
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: they're healthy, they could knock over anyone on their day,
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: and we saw that a week ago in Hamilton where
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: they pushed the title favorites to the brink.
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: So look, they desperately need some bodies back, and they
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: desperately need the reset and the buy, and we're gonna
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: it's almost it's not quite make or break territory for
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: the Blues, but with the Hurricanes next up, these are
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: very very important matches. So no, I'm not willing to
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: draw a line through them as title contenders, but it's
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: very touch and go.
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: They've got a trip to christ shoots to come yep
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: and SUV and SUV and Queensland and Brisbane. Yeah. Yeah,
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: there's not much regal, right, I know that. So the
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: one went out of the playoffs, but there really isn't
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: much regular room excuse me left for the Blues.
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: Well, they can probably drop what are they one and five?
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: They could probably drop two ab three most and it
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: also depends on how other teams go as well. And
• 26:12
  Speaker 4: that's just getting to the top six. You don't really
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: want to be going to Hamilton a week one. No,
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: that's that's tough. Yeah, one v six, two v five
• 26:20
  Speaker 4: three p four Yeah, what about you. I don't think
• 26:23
  Speaker 4: they can win the title. I think they can still
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: make the playoffs, absolutely. I have seen enough from the
• 26:29
  Speaker 4: Chiefs too are clear favorites Crusaders and Reds tucked in
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: behind to suguesce that there are better teams at this
• 26:35
  Speaker 4: point in time. And you're right, having to go from
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: deep mark it down twenty fourth to March. I don't
• 26:42
  Speaker 4: think they can win the title again this year. The
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: only thing I'm hanging on to here is if you
• 26:47
  Speaker 4: get bow in the back at ten, you put Peter
• 26:49
  Speaker 4: Fittis to fall back. You know, you welcome some of
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: these Patrick Ricky big names, but it just hasn't happened
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: for them.
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: So and they've had a lot of those names in
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: the opening rounds. You know, maybe not in the positions
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: that they would necessarily have put them, but they've had
• 27:04
  Speaker 3: a lot of those players that you know, these aren't
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: players that have been out for the entire season. These
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: are players out for two or three weeks.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: YEP.
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: Topic number three A good story from our friend Joe Pearson.
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: Last week. Current time way Flour goes on record saying
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: that he is wanting to play for the All Blacks.
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: He played for Tonger at the twenty twenty three World Cup,
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: so it wouldn't be eligible until the back end of
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: twenty twenty six, a long way to go. And he
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: certainly signs some really good signs that he's a promising
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: footballer and has some real quality about him. But having
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: played for Tonga, was this what the rule was brought
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: in for? And would you support it? If you know?
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: Sc Robertson comes knocking next year.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: It's no idea, was it.
• 27:44
  Speaker 4: You want players to play for their heritage, and the
• 27:48
  Speaker 4: fact he has played for Tonga you would hope that
• 27:51
  Speaker 4: that would continue. But we have discussed the iniquities in
• 27:55
  Speaker 4: test rugby, and I think for most Pacific Islanders, I
• 28:01
  Speaker 4: don't want to generalize here speak for individuals, but there
• 28:03
  Speaker 4: is an elevated prestige that comes with the all blacks.
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: A certainly opens a lot more doors to securing your
• 28:10
  Speaker 4: financial future. So by all means individuals can do as
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: they choose. But in an ideal world where you could
• 28:20
  Speaker 4: make everything equitable, these guys play for their home nations.
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: The rule is in the rule Boox. You know, I
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: wouldn't have too much of a problem with it necessarily.
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: It's happened, you know, Frank Buntz in the nineties. I
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: think a Lumbit had admired did it as well. When
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: the rules are a bit more loosened than they are now.
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: And even these rules have been loosened from what they
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: were previously, it's not ideal. I still think having completed
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: a three year standdown, you're entitled to go play for
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: who you want. And yeah, I don't know that you
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: go from you can only go from tier one down
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: to tear two. I don't think you can lock that
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: in going from Ted. You know, you couldn't say you
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: can only go down, you can't go up. So it's
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: not what the rule was brought in for. But he's
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: a special case in many ways.
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: The other question is around Moana's purpose, right, So is
• 29:12
  Speaker 4: it just a vehicle for the All Blacks to cherry
• 29:14
  Speaker 4: pick their best players or are they really benefiting Tonga
• 29:19
  Speaker 4: and some more?
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: Well, look at their rules, don't they that they're allowed
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: three All Blacks? But then they've got a number of
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: other plays who are eligible for the All Blacks and
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: are eligible for multiple countries. Levi Moore, who's no longer
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: with them, played for He's think eligible for four countries.
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: It was another examle We've go a number of players
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: who are eligible for the All Blacks but have Pacific
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: Island heritage. And I think that's the thing around what
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: makes New Zealand so unique and special is that we
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: have that strong connection to the Pacific and people are
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: proud of multiple heritages, and because we are still so
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: close to them in terms of geographical nature, it is
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: possible to go and play for them and have these
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: mixed that mixed heritage that makes New Zealand great and
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: makes wite A Pacific great and makes these teams great.
• 30:04
  Speaker 3: So I don't think you can cap it and go, well,
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: you can't be eligible for the All Blacks because then
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: they're losing a lot of players.
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a vexed conversation, isn't it. Because you have
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: other players like Miracle Vai Lungy who was plucked from
• 30:17
  Speaker 4: samo On Club Rugby essentially and has come in and
• 30:20
  Speaker 4: been a roaring successful Muana and he will go back
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: and strengthen Samoa and there are other examples of that.
• 30:28
  Speaker 4: So Miana is strengthening those island nations. It's just there
• 30:34
  Speaker 4: is something that doesn't feel quite right about Miana being
• 30:38
  Speaker 4: used as a vehicle for the All Blacks.
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: Topic number four. Ian Foster back in international rugby coaching.
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: He's going to coach the Australian New Zealand Invitational team
• 30:48
  Speaker 3: that will play the British and Irish lines a week
• 30:49
  Speaker 3: out from the first Test, so they're probably going to
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: play shadow test team in Adelaide. That was announced last
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: week that Ian Foster is going to be back in
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: the reins.
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: Yea a chet to him, didn't you.
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: He did have a chat with him, jumped on too
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: zoom and had a chat that was Fuzzy Bear. It
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: was good. He's looking forward to picking. I think primarily
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: the New Zealand based players will get will mostly be
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: Japanese players, maybe players he's got connections to previously.
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: Him and Steve Hanson might be out of a job
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: come the end of the season. There Toyota teams.
• 31:16
  Speaker 3: Not going to flatter I or they're lost on the
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: weekend as well. I mean, who ideally is going to
• 31:21
  Speaker 3: form the basis of this Australian New Zealand team, Probably
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: around the vicinity of sixty to seventy percent Australians by
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: the sound of it, and they'll be wide to Wallaby
• 31:29
  Speaker 3: squad members you would expect maybe Michael Hooper comes back
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: for it. But who would you have there is dream
• 31:35
  Speaker 3: New Zealand targets.
• 31:37
  Speaker 4: Well, Fuzzy dropped a few big names, didn't he. Aaron Smith,
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: Richie mo Wonger, Nathan Cleary.
• 31:43
  Speaker 3: That was I'm not sure the Panthers were releasing from
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: around whatever it is of the nral To.
• 31:48
  Speaker 4: I'd be shocked to see that happen. It would be
• 31:50
  Speaker 4: great to see Joe Marnhu in that team. I think
• 31:52
  Speaker 4: there'd be a lot of interest in that, particularly in Australia.
• 31:56
  Speaker 4: I think there would be a desire from Aaron Smith
• 31:58
  Speaker 4: and Richie Warner to play in that fixture. They can't
• 32:01
  Speaker 4: play international rugby as it stands, and they are still
• 32:06
  Speaker 4: competing still in particular, still still got it. And the
• 32:12
  Speaker 4: big question for me is there's there's going to be
• 32:16
  Speaker 4: need that there will need to be some big sums
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: of insurance because these guys rich and along is on
• 32:21
  Speaker 4: upwards of two million a season with Tshiba and his
• 32:28
  Speaker 4: Someone's going to need to ensure him.
• 32:30
  Speaker 3: How does it work when South African players go back
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: and play for their country from Japanese they must be ensured,
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: I would guess.
• 32:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I guess they have to release them, don't they
• 32:40
  Speaker 4: because it's a regulation.
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: They don't have to release these players because it's an
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: invitational teams.
• 32:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah, And I guess when they signed them it would
• 32:47
  Speaker 4: be on the proviso that they're not playing international rugby.
• 32:50
  Speaker 4: So I think there would need to be a deal broken.
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: From a spectacle point of view, great, the more quality
• 32:59
  Speaker 4: former international players you can have in that team, the better.
• 33:03
  Speaker 4: When this ficture was announced, people talked about all Blacks
• 33:09
  Speaker 4: being involved, and that was never going to happen because
• 33:11
  Speaker 4: it clashes with the All Backs playing France. And so
• 33:14
  Speaker 4: then you're looking at second tier, well not second to
• 33:18
  Speaker 4: you're looking at super rugby players potentially who but even
• 33:22
  Speaker 4: then are they going to be released from MPC teams
• 33:25
  Speaker 4: at that time?
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: Well, July and then it's two weeks out, three weeks
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: out from the start of the NPC, you know, pre
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: seasons and full swing there.
• 33:31
  Speaker 4: Yeah, maybe you could get a Shan Stephenson who's possibly
• 33:35
  Speaker 4: going back to Japan.
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: Well, you might lean up Foster, might lean on some
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: of those connections, you know with all Blacks that he
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: had that are no longer being selected by the All
• 33:43
  Speaker 3: Black like Christie for example.
• 33:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's going to be a barbarians type team, is it?
• 33:47
  Speaker 4: And I think they'll play that way. So it should
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: be a hell of a spectacle. And it would be
• 33:52
  Speaker 4: great to see Aaron Smith and Richard Wonger link up
• 33:54
  Speaker 4: because from a viewing point of view, we don't get
• 33:56
  Speaker 4: to watch Japanese rugby.
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: Nobody has the rights to I think it's on rugby passon.
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: You get one game a week and it's their peckers
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: to who you see.
• 34:04
  Speaker 4: So it's a very interesting plot line to see who
• 34:08
  Speaker 4: who in Foster can ken Dragon.
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: The Penrith Panthers play the paramount of Eels that weekend.
• 34:14
  Speaker 3: They probably don't need clearing to get past the Eels.
• 34:17
  Speaker 3: So maybe maybe Fozzy can get on the phone to
• 34:21
  Speaker 3: Ivan and just work out some sort of deal.
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Brad Thorne's not coaching.
• 34:26
  Speaker 3: It's still right, all right, let's get into our tepic Liam,
• 34:29
  Speaker 3: shocking weekend for you. Thanks one of five. You picked
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: the Chiefs correctly, everything else wrong, remembering that we picked
• 34:36
  Speaker 3: everything diametrically opposite last week.
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: Yes, I'm just trying to give you a chance this year.
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: Too many beatdowns, Yeah, reads Crusader's task Force, Thank you
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: very much. Four or five. I have the lead by
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: four nineteen versus fifteen. Who do you picked this week?
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: In our first four game round? Liam? And it starts
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: on Friday night? Hurricanes, Waratars Love and gold Sport and
• 34:58
  Speaker 3: iHeart Radio.
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: Well, no, everyone's missed the Hurricanes.
• 35:01
  Speaker 4: So great to have the cane train back and I'll
• 35:04
  Speaker 4: be steamrolling the Waratas and Wellington.
• 35:07
  Speaker 3: I can't see the Wartars winning that one, despite the
• 35:09
  Speaker 3: fact they did get over the Brumbies. Rumbies into the Highlanders.
• 35:13
  Speaker 3: Hard place to go on Camber, isn't it.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, tough one, but Brumbies for me.
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm going to pick the same on that front. Crusaders,
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: Mona pacifica christ.
• 35:24
  Speaker 4: I am feeling a strong connection to Moana this year,
• 35:26
  Speaker 4: but look from a tipping point of view, going to
• 35:29
  Speaker 4: have to.
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: Well, I can't go against Okay, we're all the same.
• 35:32
  Speaker 3: Red's Force will.
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: Be cheering hard for Moana.
• 35:34
  Speaker 3: Just for the record, please don't Red's Force Brisbane reads.
• 35:40
  Speaker 4: Yeah, the Force, It's not going to get you much
• 35:43
  Speaker 4: in the multi force.
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: Well, okay, all right, upset time blow Dollie and the
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: boys are going you look at the way they played
• 35:51
  Speaker 3: against the.
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: Drawer last night and Lea McDonald do you trust that's right?
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: Absolutely? Always have always Well Rugby Direct m VP Metal
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: voting time. Let's go rook at the table Actually na
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: way out on top. On eight there is a five
• 36:05
  Speaker 3: way tie for second. Ardie save Quinti, Pie Will, Jordan Duplessy,
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: Confi and Damian McKenzie and what make that seventh alone
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: in seventh's miracle Fi Lungey. So there's your top three
• 36:19
  Speaker 3: ish as it stands my top three this week, I'm
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: going first, Liam, you are any more? And Nonu the
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: Crusaders hooker. Thought he was excellent on the weekend, remembering
• 36:26
  Speaker 3: that he is the third choice hooker for the Crusaders
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: with George boll out, Cody Taylor ruled out during the week,
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: Brody Mcalster left in the off season. He's taken his
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: opportunity and taking it really well. So he gets my
• 36:39
  Speaker 3: three points. David HARVILLI gets my two thought he was
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: really positive as we've touched on before. And Gideon Rampling
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: from the Chiefs, who I thought was electric in midfield,
• 36:49
  Speaker 3: especially that first half, gets my one point.
• 36:52
  Speaker 4: This week we'll got the same one and two just
• 36:56
  Speaker 4: on the Crusader's hooker. Another one that you've recruited from
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: outside your region. Smart recruit good counties, boy, so recruit
• 37:06
  Speaker 4: maybe produce some of your own for a change in well.
• 37:08
  Speaker 3: You know, James Mullens from the Kanbury region has gone
• 37:11
  Speaker 3: up to Auckland, so it's all about sharing it around.
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: Nice Auckland products.
• 37:15
  Speaker 4: There's been many of them over the years, Non Berryman
• 37:19
  Speaker 4: RP norm and in one point I'm giving to Peter
• 37:22
  Speaker 4: Humung and Jensen great scend back on the park and
• 37:25
  Speaker 4: long way that continue.
• 37:26
  Speaker 3: So we've got the same two and three, same big
• 37:29
  Speaker 3: weekend for the Crusaders. That special from you to see
• 37:31
  Speaker 3: that limb.
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: Ah yes credit weird credits too, you.
• 37:34
  Speaker 3: Know, yeah, absolutely right. That'll do us for another week
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: of Rugby direct. I thanks to Larson Bars English for
• 37:39
  Speaker 3: putting us together, and thanks of course to Abbit Health
• 37:42
  Speaker 3: tackling all your aches and pains from sport and work.
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: For more from News Talks ed B.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Listen live on air or online, and keep our shows
• 37:53
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