NPR

Lovely kicks from Kemara

Saders ahead 14-7 at HT.

Kiwias wrote: Fri Apr 18, 2025 7:08 am Hotham looking better and better

Yep, he's a keeper. May even overtake Ratima as Roigard's regular back-up.

Exquisite pass from Havili to Jordan for the try

This whooping and hollering with the whole team running in to high five each other after a penalty is getting fecking annoying.

Saders prevail 25-22.

Sweet kick by JOC to win the game for the good guys. What a cracker ding-dong battle that was!!!

Sadrs a little bit lucky to come away with that.

Guy Smiley wrote: Fri Apr 18, 2025 8:54 am Sadrs a little bit lucky to come away with that.

We rode our luck a bit but I'll take the points. That last scrum was a thing of beauty.

ScarfaceClaw wrote: Fri Apr 18, 2025 8:40 am This whooping and hollering with the whole team running in to high five each other after a penalty is getting fecking annoying.

It's not helped at the ground with the announcer getting into the act at the same time "it's tough conditions out there" after a miss. "Blah, blah, after the penalty", "Everybody sing!" as BB is getting ready to take a conversion. Drove me nuts.

Tough in the conditions. Dalton looked good while he was on. If he could have stayed I think the Blues get the win. Crusaders defense good but helped by the Blues not executing when they had opportunities.

On a filthy day and lousy conditions, against a strong opponent that played damned well, I was happy to see the Crusaders grind out a tough win. Kemara was a bit unstable tonight and we are lucky to have JOC coming off the bench. The line outs were scrappy for both teams but our tight five bossed the scrums and the back row held their own against a strong Blues back row. Newell is a bloody monster. It would have been easier had Havili stayed on as he was playing very well.

I thought Newell went well, but think perhaps the a little too much being made of that last penalty. Yes it was good , but he was scrumming against a kid, and Blues loosies looked to be not putting in weight and to be just hanging on to cut down JOCs option for a droppie. I was absolutely expecting a penalty.

Thought Papali'i played very well, and had the better of Blackadder. No disrespect to Choat, but the Blues' loosies weren't nearly as effective after he went off.

One thing that strikes me as a constant with these games is the amount of niggle that goes on between players. I noticed it in the first game between these two sides, along with the regular throwing the ball away by Blues players when the whistle goes against them. Haven't noticed Crusaders players do that but that's not to say they don't, just that the camera hasn't caught it if they do. We saw Taylor getting into Segner's face after he conceded a penalty (and the almost immediate payback from Segner winning one back soon after) but there was a lot of it going on among the forwards... along with the celebrations when they did win a penalty. The aforementioned whooping, high fiving and general fuckarsery that seems to be a feature of this fixture.

I dunno whether it's a sign of personalities over performance, I personally don't like it and I think it's a distraction. Too often there's a 'payback' element where either team gets one back and the niggle ratchets up a notch or two... my preference is always to let actions speak louder than words but that's a bit idealistic I know. There's a nice counter to this too... there were plenty of camera shots that showed players from both teams having extended chats during the breaks.

Jeff Wilson is an absolutely shit house commentator. Last night we learned through his depth of experience that a score close to half time would, in the context of the game, be pivotal going into half time.

What a fucking muppet.

Dan54 wrote: Fri Apr 18, 2025 8:20 pm I thought Newell went well, but think perhaps the a little too much being made of that last penalty. Yes it was good , but he was scrumming against a kid, and Blues loosies looked to be not putting in weight and to be just hanging on to cut down JOCs option for a droppie. I was absolutely expecting a penalty.

I agree that the Blues loosehead at the end is a new kid but Newell started so was in his 80th minute of playing time, yet still had the energy to destroy a young buck

Kiwias wrote: Fri Apr 18, 2025 11:04 pm

Dan54 wrote: Fri Apr 18, 2025 8:20 pm I thought Newell went well, but think perhaps the a little too much being made of that last penalty. Yes it was good , but he was scrumming against a kid, and Blues loosies looked to be not putting in weight and to be just hanging on to cut down JOCs option for a droppie. I was absolutely expecting a penalty.

I agree that the Blues loosehead at the end is a new kid but Newell started so was in his 80th minute of playing time, yet still had the energy to destroy a young buck

Critical scrum within kicking range after the siren. No way the Blues weren't competing. They got folded.

Dan's right though, the Blues loosies were virtually detatched from the scrum when the Saders put the weight on.

Gumboot wrote: Sat Apr 19, 2025 1:39 am Dan's right though, the Blues loosies were virtually detatched from the scrum when the Saders put the weight on.

Nah, they detached once the scrum was being dismantled.

Their hearts weren't in the shove. They were solely focussed on dismantling an O'Connor drop kick.

But hey ho, we got the right result in the end.

Coming up shortly, the Drua hosting the Tahs in temperate Lautoka, which will be a comfy 30 at kick off.

Big game for the Tahs - a win will put them up to 3rd on the table, at least until the Brumbies play MP later.

Gumboot wrote: Sat Apr 19, 2025 1:56 am Their hearts weren't in the shove. They were solely focussed on dismantling an O'Connor drop kick.

But hey ho, we got the right result in the end.

Coming up shortly, the Drua hosting the Tahs in temperate Lautoka, which will be a comfy 30 at kick off.

Big game for the Tahs - a win will put them up to 3rd on the table, at least until the Brumbies play MP later.

I'll give you that. Poor judgment on their half as I don't reckon JOC would have converted a droppie in those conditions

Drua are completely dominating the Tahs at the moment, leading 11 - 0, conversion to come

Drua win 28-14 with a penalty try at the death... and Suaalii copping a YC as a result.

Offside and onside in open play
10.1A player is offside in open play if that player is in front of a team-mate who is carrying the ball or who last played it. An offside player must not interfere with play. This includes:

a. Playing the ball.

b. Tackling the ball-carrier.

c. Preventing the opposition from playing as they wish.

d. Loitering in an offside position.

10.2A player can be offside anywhere in the playing area.

In rugby, the playing area is defined as the field of play and the in-goal areas, excluding the touchlines, touch-in-goal lines, and dead-ball lines. Essentially, it's the area within the solid lines on the field, but not including the lines themselves.

For those who wondered. I remember almost being assaulted for getting that one right 30 years ago

Moana Pasifika vs Brumbies just about to kick off in Pukekohe...

Brumbies score right on HT for a 5-0 lead.

Why the hell would you replace Pellegrini with Garden-Bachop at HT? Madness.

Brumbies win it 24-0.

Coming up next, the Chiefs hosting the Highlanders in Kirikiriroa.

The Chiefs will be filthy after last week's loss, so can't see them losing this one.

Chiefs definitely looking the more dangerous but Clan defense working pretty well.

Chiefs ahead 13-10 at HT.

The Clan refuse to die.

Crucial penalty after the HT hooter and a Chiefs player throws the ball away.


I dunno what it is about teams from the upper half of the North Island and dirty, niggly play like that but we servants of the game, we who offer witness, we see you.

Anton and Quinn show to resume in a few minutes. Been far too long since these guys paired up.

Gee, the Highlanders defence is suffocating.

Great 2nd half from the Chiefs. 33 points in all, for a 46-10 final score

Chiefs run away with it 46-10, after keeping the Clan scoreless in the second half..

That was an amazing second half by the Chiefs

Force vs Canes coming up soon in Perth.

Really want to watch this, but not sure I can keep my eyes open.

I love the match times in Japan -- this kicked off at 6:35pm.

Canes score and lead 5 - 0

Lovely set play from a 5m scrum and Force in under the posts. 7 - 5 to the Force

Was that the worst try-killing pass of all time?????

Kiwias wrote: Sat Apr 19, 2025 10:47 am Was that the worst try-killing pass of all time?????

Yup

Really fun back and forth between Forks and Canes.