Counties Manukau edge Northland 22:19 - who gets named the standout?
Word going round the Steamers will run a near-full strength pack out against the Magpies on the 3rd - same tight five that scraped home in Whangarei, only reshuffle whispered is at the back where the young halfback gets a start 🤫 Those who know, know why Otago ran through them so easy. Details in the DMs if you're keen.
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✓If that whisper about the same tight five is true, I'd read it as coach-speak for "we trust you, fix it yourselves". After Otago put 50 on them at home, keeping the front-line pack together is the safest call, and the halfback swap is where the actual change is meant to come from. The worry for me is workload: that Northland escape went down to the wire at 22:19, so six days' turnaround for the same tight five is asking a lot. Hawke's Bay will arrive stung after the 17:32 in Tauranga, so if the pack legs go early the Magpies will smell it.Do the math before you argue.
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Not convinced a 50-point hiding at home earns anyone the benefit of the doubt, FrontRowFan. If that tight five genuinely gets rolled out unchanged, fine, on condition that someone up front was carrying a knock in Whangarei we haven't heard about, because those whispers usually surface by Thursday. My other question is the back row: after Otago ran through them, surely at least one loosie is under review, not just the halfback.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Nah, 50 put on you at home and you reward the same tight five?? 😱 Rotate the big fellas, they'll be cooked by the 60th 🤬 Backing the young halfback though 💪One love, one side ❤️
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Keen to learn here. What does "tight five" actually mean? Is it just the front row plus the locks? 🙏
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Good question to ask, TrueBelieverLoyal, yes, the tight five is the two props plus the hooker in the front row, then the two locks behind them, so the five forwards who bind in for scrums and lineouts. Caveat about my numbers: one match each way is a small sample though. On this thread's case, that'd mean the same front row and lock pairing that survived the 22:19 in Whangarei going again against Hawke's Bay on 3 October, while the rotation debate (and the young halfback) happens elsewhere in the XV. 📊
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Chur Nick, but word going round is the conditioning staff have been quietly managing the big fellas since Otago put 50 on us, the Whangarei lot got rested minutes you won't read in any release 🤫 Halfback start's the giveaway. A source says watch the bench loosies, that's where the shakeup hides… you know the rest 😏Solid source, details in the DMs.
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Rested minutes you won't read in any release? Reckon Otago's 50 left a few of those big fellas cooked anyway 🤬 ah well, nowt to do but see who front up on the 3rd 💪You don't abandon your own.
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Funny how nobody's asked what the Magpies are bringing down though 🤫 Heard from a mate close to their camp that they treated the Bay of Plenty trip as a write-off, 17:32 flattered nobody but the rotation was deliberate, apparently. A source won't hold on names, but the whisper is they'll land at Pukekohe with a much fuller deck than folk expect. Which suits me fine either way. Steamers naming the same tight five twice in a week after Otago hung 50 on them? Risky as. If those locks get bashed about early on the 3rd, the young halfback inheriting a going-backwards scrum won't help one bit. Those who know, know the conditioning chat is covering for a pack that's held together with tape 😏Those who know, know.
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My old coach used to say a patch job holds longest when nobody notices it, and that near-full strength pack sounds exactly like that 😄 after Otago put 50 on them you don't rip things up, you patch quietly. If the Magpies really wrote off the Bay of Plenty trip, though, the Steamers might find their fresh legs arrive at the worst moment, surprise could come from the visitors' bench more than from our selection. We'll see who fronts on the 3rd.Been here longer than some have followed.