Live game Chiefs vs Saders

Link to live game Saders vs Chiefs

Hal f time, Saders up 13 points to 8. Saders won a powerful scrum & scored a converted try in the last minutes of the half.

 JW
Sorry - but the game so far was a crock of errors on both sides and the Crusaders managed to donate a try to the Chiefs.   The scrumming of the Chiefs was pathetic.   I was hoping for much more than I saw - best sleeping tablet I have seen for a long time.  The line-outs on both sides were also messy.   

 A good series of plays from the Chiefs to start the half but came to nothing. First game of the season CleverMike, skills not all there yet.
Chiefs score! 15 to 13 Chiefs.

 Saders score off a line out. T ry 18-15. Game is warming up now.

 Chiefs score a try after some good handling in the forwards & backs. Kick is good 22-22 to Chiefs. 12 mins to go.

 Cane scores a try off the line out. Chiefs had some good handling lead up to the try. 27-21 Chiefs. One minute to go.

 Chiefs win it. Congrats to the boys! 
Saders looked ok. Saders need to take it up a gear early in the season - slow starts never help.

 N ormal service has resumed JW......

Yup mate, normal service

 Th e second half was better than the first one.  Damian McKenzie was very good - but the game was still of a below-par standard for the two teams involved.  

 CleverMike, first game of the season & it is a very long season. Will be interested to see how the SA teams play

 JW - sure I grant that aspects of the game could get better.  But scrumming cannot get better - if it is weak now it will be weaker later in the season as well and the Chiefs look like crinkle paper when it comes to that.
I have already cut badly into the Lions.  Some aspects of their game was pathetic - but those can be changed by tweaking the team.   Basically their forward play was not as poor as the case was of the Hurricanes specifically and also the Chiefs.
The game that was very interesting was the one between the Blues and the Highlanders.  There also the Blues forwards really won the game for them.   
It is wonderfu l to have strong and fast backline players - but they can only function if they get good balls from their forwards and even the Highlanders did not have that benefit - that was why they lost.  
        

 CleverMike, there is less reliance on the tight five these days - it is not a prerequisite for winning. Good teams can have a balance this is why kiwi teams won the S15 and the RWC. 

 Maybe you are right - but the general rule is for backlines to get good balls to function properly - if they don't they lose.  Too little focus is placed in NZ on that facet of the game - so they are not as good as they claim to be.   You have to have a balance - if one of the two aspects goes missing - you find that teams generally get problems.  Both aspects must function properly.   
Lets remember the Springboks under Meyer - they could not perform because of a game plan totally concentrated on forward play.   In the WC the Aussies concentrated on backline play only and they ultimately came short as well.   
Some of the players who were key to the AB's successes have gone and the rest are not good enough to produce the required level of performance.
  

 CleverMike, yes we agree on the fact that teams need balance. All pack & no decent backs doesn't guarantee a win & neither does all backs & useless forwards. Kiwi teams expect their forwards to be mobile & have good ball handling skills so they don't select forwards that are only good at the set piece.

 Agree - but to get that balance is very difficult.  Some players are good ball handlers and useless in Tight 5 play and vice versa.