Aussie Corner - Week 2

[Guest mattsthebest]

I've opened the thread today with the intention of discussing tonights game between the Crusaders and the Blues, in Super 12's. The Crusaders started their campaign last week with an embarrassing loss to the Waratahs. What must be said about the game is that the Crusaders looked very short of intencity, creativity and ideas when going forward. They were very flat footed moving forward, and really struggled to get over the advantage line. Often they were more interested in kicking the ball away then using the strenghth of their forwards to create momentum. The greatest concern would have to be that they missed something like 30 odd tackles, and let players like Grey, Tiquiri and Rogers run right through them with relative ease. A repeat of last weeks performance will certainly cost them another game. On the other hand the Blues also were far from impressive , when you consider the amount of talent that makes up their team. We know that they are always going to be dangerous on the counter attack, as they showed early on against the Brumbies, but defensively, which is so important when playing away from home, they were well below their best. Also out wide they weren't clicking, which could be put down to the fact that Muliaina was played out of position to accomdate for the inclusion of Rokocoko. Anyhow, alot can change in the space of a week and so I'm willing to put what happend last week aside. Besides this game is a derby game in New Zealand and a game that should bring the best out in both sides. In terms of the advantage you'd have to strongly favour the Crusaders after last weeks embarrassment. Also they have the advantage of home ground and the Blues have had to fly back from Canberra after playing one of the toughest games of their lives. The heat and humidity in Canberra should have taken alot out of the Blues players, even though they've had 6 days to recover. A final point also worth mentioning is that the Blues, yet again, are a strong public play here, with alot of punters backing the Blues to beat the Handicap of 5.5 - 6.5 pts. That works in my favour because backing the Crusaders at home on the handicap looks to be a good play, after all things considered. Any thoughts or questions are welcome.:cheers

[Guest JohnZA]

Aussie Corner - Week 2 Sorry mate, looks like great minds think alike, i just opened an aussie corner myself 5 mins after you did. Perhaps next week i'll open it as Aussie Corner AFL 6/7 March04 and you do Aussie Corner Rugby 6/7 March04. What do you reckon Matty??