It’s sometimes hard to keep up with the news pouring out of Canesland.
Who else was gobsmacked that King Carlos is coming as assistant coach?
And as one rugby writer laid it out, outgoing coach Chris Boyd was on the outer and “sour”.
On whether he should have been enticed into staying on another year, it’s moot.
Yes, Boyd’s reign has delivered our first ever championship and he’ll be a legend forever for that.
But the idea of keeping the same management team in place ad infinitum doesn’t always pay dividends. Not everyone is Alex Fergusson or Arsene Wenger.
So change with continuity – Plumtree after all remains – could be the right strategy to build a Hurricanes dynasty of titles.
If it doesn’t Boyd will become even more of a legend for fans to remember.
As for another bit of news, do you really believe the NZR statement about Brad Shields being cleared for picking by England? The NZR apparently had a great case to stop it happening but decided to make an exception.
Cases shouldn’t be fought on individual cases but on the precedents they set, I would have thought. As for Eddie Jones, what a great message you send to your own tight forwards if you pick a guy pretty much sight unseen.
And you better return him uninjured, ready for some real rugby.
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I don’t want you to use the C-word. I certainly won’t be.
But what’s with the Crusaders disciplinary record so far this Super season?
They’ve fashioned a pretty good record where it matters – in the wins column and in the bonus
points, and not to labour the point, are now clearly the main threat as usual to the Canes.
Yet there’s a niggle and you have to wonder if it will come back to bite them eventually.
Just wander over and see the stats (I’m using the Fox Sports Lab ones) and the Saders have notched up 8 yellow cards this season. That’s the worst of any side but has yet to be fatal to them in any match.
A couple of other numbers. They’ve conceded 98 penalties, and won 93 – so they’re more sinning
than sinned against. That’s turned into 11 actual penalty goals conceded.
The worst offenders if you are wondering are the Rebels, who have conceded a whopping 114
penalties, and only had 87 awarded to them, a deficit of 27 that has actually turned into 12 penalties scored against them.
From which you’d conclude the Rebels are conceding penalties in a smarter fashion or less costly
fashion than the Crusaders. So big ups to the Rebels, for finally winning at something.
The Canes, by comparison, have managed one yellow card. They have won 99 penalties and conceded 88. They are good boys, and the refs are liking them.
This is plain weird, after many seasons where you kind of feel the refs didn’t like the Canes that
much. So first question is whether the Crusaders are using creative defence more than other teams.
Possibly. And are they flirting with danger – are they now subconsciously on the refs mind as a team that’s pushing the limit.
OK, there’s any number of other theories, like the refs have been especially mean to the Red and
Blacks.
So let’s watch the rest of the season and see if this is a trend, or just a statistical spike. If it’s the
former, can the Crusaders minimise the penalty count when it really will count, in the crunch games to come.
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Are you a bit grumpy that we let the Lions escape a bonus point spanking? And is that irritation
really justified.
It depends on whether you think the Lions are much cop this season – if so, then it was a good solid win, albeit with lots of shaky stuff thrown in.
If not, then it’s frustrating to not bag a five point win. I can’t decide.
As the coaches say, lots of work ons. And who better to work on than the mighty Blues. I might have said don’t rush back TJ but you know, I think I’ve changed my mind.
So, I will be grumpy if they can’t win and win well at Eden Park. It’s needed – the Saders have closed the gap to just two points on the table (if you take their extra game played into account) and are just doing a bit better with the bonus points.
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Seriously, are we really debating still whether Ben Lam deserves a crack at the black jersey?
I saw one writer argue that NMS is still ahead in the pecking order.
No offence to Nehe but he’s just back from injury and yet to light things up.
The other guy? Well, not many wingers are nailing hat-tricks right now.
Kevin is a lifetime Hurricanes fan. He and his partner are on a two-year Volunteer Service Abroad posting to Vanuatu's Espiritu Santo island. He's working on a project to build a South Pacific World War 2 museum on the site of an enormous Allied base on the island. Check it out at www.southpacificwwiimuseum.com