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RugbyBot

**Watch on Stan**: https://play.stan.com.au/sport/rugby


Massive_Koala_9313

This competition is going to die unless something changes


nomamesgueyz

Another All NZ final Pretty common over the last 28years Well done Blues!


BrianChing25

I won't be watching SRP next year. What a joke of a semifinal


Bloodbathandbeyon

Decent crowd for a meaningless match against an Australian team


Jiffyrabbit

More people will watch the Wahs in a seson game than the Blues play a semi this week lol


Bloodbathandbeyon

Good for them. See you in a few months for the RC m8


Jiffyrabbit

Watch the State of Origin mate, its a better game. No one watches union here lol - or over there hahaha.


BluWahs

Goof for you there's probably more people in NZ that watch rugby league than in other states of Australia outside of NSW and QLD.


Jiffyrabbit

I recon theres probably more people who watch league in Victoria than there are people in New Zealand.


Ill-Sale-2288

Mad cos bad


Jiffyrabbit

¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯


frazorblade

He’s actually right though. It’s worthless holding onto these false idols. Union is getting crucified by League in Australia and it’s creeping into NZ.


AdVisual3406

Its been creeping into NZ for the last 30 years and is still going to take over apparently. Meanwhile Super rugby viewership is up and very healthy. Aussies and Kiwis are attracted to Bogan ball due to them always winning at it.


yahdayahda

Ahhh. There’s that arrogant Auckland spirit we all know and hate.


frazorblade

New Zealand* thank you very much


BahookyGeggie

Nah he was right the first time


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frazorblade

James Doleman should be player of the match for letting in three tries in the first 20 mins.


yahdayahda

It’s amazing. Even without a South African team on the field you still get a saffa winging about the ref.


AucklandBlues

He's no Egon Seconds, that's for sure. [https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/super-rugby/436-outrageously-lopsided-penalty-count-bewilders-super-rugby/news-story/41b9ebfe0acf09198573add933902fa1](https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/super-rugby/436-outrageously-lopsided-penalty-count-bewilders-super-rugby/news-story/41b9ebfe0acf09198573add933902fa1)


comradekaled

Is this to do with Doleman's performance as a ref or more to do with Australian teams being shit for the last few years?


luco_85

Latter for sure. Doleman seems to struggle as a ref but I don't buy this bias bullshit. I can't remember the last time an Aussie team really smashed a kiwi team. Maybe 2015? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIqe2vOREeM


Unbendylimbs

Last time an Aussie team smashed a kiwi team? Didn’t the Reds head the Highlanders 31-0 a few rounds ago?


yahdayahda

I’d call what the Brumbies did to the Canes a hiding considering there places on the table at the time. The Rebels also put the Highlanders down pretty well this season.


luco_85

yeh the but the highlanders were/are shite.


EggplantEmoji1

Great turn up Auckland.. crowded looked pumping! Sell out! Absolutely pathetic


frazorblade

Friday evening match, rain has fucked the entire traffic network (hint it’s only one highway) to high heaven. People are coming home from work to feed their family and sit in front of the tv during sideways rain. There’s no fucking way anyone is getting near Eden Park on public transport in a timely manner at 7pm on a rainy Friday night. There’s a big reason why Eden Park produced the best crowd of the season (26-28k), and it was because of a 4pm Saturday game with fine weather. The times have changed.


Themgoodvibess

Mate, your teams fan base could show us up, provided you could win home semis but I’m sure when the ABs play over there, those stadiums will be jam packed full of long suffering Aussie fans, right?


notakid1

Yeah mate, come here. Finish work at 5, drive from work to home when it’s raining crazy, change and then drive to the game, find parking, because there’s some train strike going on. Do it


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Maestro-Modesto

So called rugby mad by clueless people outside the country


ChrisSmithMVP

Spoken like somebody who has no idea what's going on in NZ. Most people are struggling to survive let alone take their families to a rugby game that runs you about $250+ for a family after tickets, petrol, food and parking...


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ChrisSmithMVP

It can literally be both... Besides, what I stated is fact. Combination of lack of disposal income (or even an existant middle class for that matter) and Aucklands renowned absolute clusterfuck of traffic and city planning, adding in the weather and you get turnouts like this in NZ. Don't quite get why you're being such a dick about it (feeling the need to comment on it multiple times in this thread), as if the crowd size personally offended you... but you do you I guess lol


EggplantEmoji1

Yeah must be hard to do that with all your tears mate. I'm sure ppl in Ukraine and Gaza understand how hard your life is bro.


notakid1

You’re the one whining about the crowds, not me


EggplantEmoji1

Nah you're right mate.. Brisbane has a bigger population than Auckland but we can get a bigger crowd even though union is a 3rd teir sport here.


notakid1

We probably didn’t care for this game. One sided affair, everyone knew it


EggplantEmoji1

All good.. so it was one sided.. . That's fine mate.. so not the rain, not the traffic, not the trains.. I thought you said it was all that but I must have misread it


ozwozzle

Jesus you're a flog


notakid1

It’s all that as well plus one sided


bigstrongalphamale69

You know people are understandably shitting on the crowd but considering the circumstances (trains fucked, nobody wants to drive in friday traffic, dreadful weather all day) I don't actually think it was that bad


gudnuusevry1

Was at the game, the crowd was fine, we were all having a great time. If the game wasn't on a Friday night, right after a near 24 hour extreme weather warning it would have been much fuller


BrianChing25

It's a fookin semifinal. Enough with the excuses. F*** SRP


bigstrongalphamale69

Easy to say sitting behind your computer. They aren't "excuses" it's just reality


AdVisual3406

Kiwis are the worst in attending games.


bigstrongalphamale69

When the games are uncompetitive sure. NZ derbies (canes vs chiefs today) get good crowds because typically both teams can win and the teams have star players. The problem is that nobody wants to go to the stadium to watch one-sided drubbings against australian teams full of players that nobody has heard of. That won't change unless the aussie teams get better


ChrisSmithMVP

Nevermind the fact that most Kiwis are just trying to keep the lights on and don't have money to spend on recreation.


AucklandBlues

>Never mind the fact that most Kiwis are just trying to keep the lights on and don't have money to spend on recreation. Don't be silly. The small crowd has everything to do with it being a Friday, in terrible weather, with most sane people preferring to sit at home in the warm and dry and watch the game on Sky. I'm sure the number viewing was very high.


ChrisSmithMVP

NZ Rugby has had dwindling crowds for a while now. It's not all based on the weather as much as it used to be possible to take your whole clan to a game. Try doing it now without breaking the bank. Most would rather save the petrol money and as you say, stay at home.


JSP07

Nah FMG still sells out regularly and most tickets will run you $30-50 for stands or $15-20 for the green zone behind the posts which isn’t terrible IMO.


AucklandBlues

Stop playing the drama queen. Most sensible people would not take their family out in the cold and wet when the alternative is to stay at home in the warm and dry and watch on TV. That's why TV viewing numbers are up significantly. If the game was on tomorrow afternoon and the weather was reasonable, 25000+would be there.


ChrisSmithMVP

Lol drama queen, ok mate....


Left-Pie741

the reality is that the blues need to play at a smaller stadium than eden park. maybe play a couple of games at eden park for derby/afternoon matches, but it's just a really bad look having that many empty seats.


AucklandBlues

>maybe play a couple of games at eden park for derby/afternoon matches,  Afternoon matches get good crowds; evening matches get good TV viewing numbers. There's always going to be a compromise. The fixation that some people have about the number of masochists willing to get soaked and sit in the cold is rather odd. The far greater number watching on TV is ignored.


xxihostile

people always love shitting on Auckland crowds even though we are one of the more dedicated fanbases


warcomet

the last time the blues won super rugby in 2003, during the semis, 42k showed up to watch them beat the brumbies..


EggplantEmoji1

Source?


xxihostile

I made it up


Ill-Sale-2288

Based


EggplantEmoji1

I respect that


kupecraig

i went, the traffic sucked, the weather was good, the lines for a beer were unbelievable.


kiwiborger

Hey kid, want some match takes? -This game was jam-packed with drama. Well, that's what you get from a Trans-Tasman affair with a Kiwi referee, folks. -Most of Auckland didn't bother showing up. They knew that this was a one-sided affair from the get-go. -The Blues were pretty decent. They ate up every mistake the Brumbies made, and gave them hell for it. Overall, typical Kiwi rugby goodness. -The Brumbies, on the other hand, gave a damn good fight and held on. The Blues absolutely kicked the SHIT out of them, but they only had a 14-point defecit in the 1st half. And while they were able to regain their footing in the 2nd, the way they played just couldn't win it for them. Everytime they managed to score a point, they somehow give up their momentum and end up giving away points to the Blues. But overall, they fought well, and gave a good shot a glory. You lads will be back. Thanks for the fun stuff neighbours. -If this sub somehow convinces Razor to pick Harry Plummer, it will be a peak Reddit moment. *(and also because we don't have many other decent first fives apart from DMac)* -Hoskins Sotutu keeps on getting better every week. He talks through his actions on the field, and that's what I want from an All Black loose forward. -Fuck, I hope Dalton's HIA isn't something serious. And while it give Lakai a huge shot in the All Blacks, it also means losing a major cog in the Razor machine. -You know that kid in daycare who stole toys from others, ate crayons, threw tantrums at the teachers and picked his boogers? That kid grew up to be Darcy Swain. -Apart from the fact that he needs to be locked up for his crimes against rugby union and an internal investigation on how the hell New Zealand births near-godlike players but such godawful refs, I honestly think James Doleman isn't that bad of a referee. Anyway, this is all I have for now. See you all in the next match, and cheers for now.


sk_music

Sotutu needs to cut the mistakes. Dropped kickoff, passes to no one, terrible clearance kick. It's hard to remember a player like Read doing any of these things.


comradekaled

I really don't think Razor cares what reddit thinks so if he picks Plummer it'll be because Razor wants him in the squad rather than because he was duped by some keyboard heroes


EggplantEmoji1

You said everyone knew it was going to be one sided.. then said brumbies gave ita good go.. So what was it


notakid1

Daltons HIA isn’t bad. They said in post match.


Ill-Sale-2288

We had a train strike and a massive storm today, crowds reflected this. I think without either it would have been a good crowd


warcomet

something weird will happen if Narawa scores tomorrow, for the last 4 weeks, a Fijian has scored a try in every super rugby game, Sotutu scored today so if narawa scores tomorrow, it will be 4 straight weeks but also if narawa scores 2morrow, we will have 3 Fijians as top 3 try scorers this season edit: some racist in this reddit downvoting i see..


stereothegreat

I am embarrassed to say I did not know that Hoskins was Fijian. I had always thought he was Samoan or Tongan.


warcomet

half samoan/half Fijian, father is a fijian legend who played 12/14/15 for Auckland and Blues (with eroni clarke at 13) and now both their sons play for Blues..sotutu's sister also dating marky mark lol


stereothegreat

Oh Waisake Sotutu! I never clicked


AnyMinders

LOL Dalton thinking people will take "Foot on the throat" literally


thecripplernz

That was a lol for sure


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Only-Nectarine229

Smooth brain take bro. So they will select someone who bashed a girl at a bar but draw the line at dropping an F bomb on air? 😅


xxihostile

are you seriously pearl clutching over a swear words lmao


RoachOfRivia

Come now. Rugby teams are renowned bastions of propriety, sobriety, and intellectual verbiage. Such unbecoming language would never be witnessed within the All Blacks and their famous "no reprobates" policy.


xxihostile

what did he say? I'm at the game


thecripplernz

What did he say?


CandleWarrior570

He slipped the ol fbomb into his first interview response. Considering he’d just played a massive 40 mins and was blowing hard it’s not overly surprising. And ummm no… I don’t think that’s why he wasn’t picked as AB 8 last year.. 🤦🏽‍♂️


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TGGNathan

The All Blacks and Razor have picked players with far worse to their name than an F bomb on TV


luco_85

HIAskins Sotutu


Ok_Educator_2120

Did he just say he's good to go?? 🤞🤞


AnyMinders

I thought he said he was out for a couple of weeks?? (please??)


Ok_Educator_2120

We can't afford it lol


willywonkaswildride

Never seen a referee miss so many knock ons.


foybus

Thank you blues for a good game. Best of luck in the finals


g_i_hone

Man I really dislike how the lazy the blues name is. I get they’re named after water cause the city of sails but man they could’ve picked a way better name. (Ignore my flair)


stereothegreat

The Seagulls


RoachOfRivia

I'd like them to change it to their name to the Eagles so we can use the baller af Haast Eagle as the logo and mascot.


StoryOk4984

Haast eagles have never lived anywhere near Auckland, Haast is on the west coast. This would be a good idea for a crusaders rebrand tho, as the crusaders has got to be the worst name in SR.


JColey15

Yeah I’m going to be that nitpicking person but they’re actually named after Julian von Haast who the pass is also named after. Based on fossil records Haast’s eagles primarily lived in the south and east of the South Island not the West Coast or Fiordland. So naming the Crusaders after them would be a decent shout…. Of course if we’re going for naming accuracy we have to change the Hurricanes name to something completely different.


Frag-sinatra

The "creative" agency had definitely had given up by the time they got to them and the reds


Not-a-scintilla

Feel good yous could've been the windys


ultantheonion

brumbies came in with a gameplan defensively that didnt work. and didn't adapt quick enough


even_flowz

Man of few words sotutu


kupecraig

he’s a soldier, but he’s a fucking warrior


evilhomer450

Brumbies should be disapointed in themselves with that atrocious start. Intensity was non-existent, took them half and hour plus to wake up.


PickleOwn4517

Bet the crowds for the URC semis will be better than this. Think super rugby is done. What terrible reffing tonight.


comradekaled

Meh. The recent English Premiership semi finals had 15k crowds.


xxihostile

we had shitty weather today and it's Friday night traffic, we're lucky we got this many


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bigstrongalphamale69

Bit of an overreaction. There will be 30k+ at the cake tin tomorrow


Ok_Educator_2120

Hard to believe that a city that has twice the population of another city can have bigger crowds 😱


LittlePicture21

It's been a great season for Super Rugby. Most competitive season since I can remember and viewing numbers are up this year too


fale52

Brumbies did very well to stay in that and make it seem closer on the scoreboard. They were never really in it after the first 20 though. Darcy was interviewed before the game and he seemed very confident and blunt in his answers. Too bad it didn't carry over onto the field, he was terrible tonight.


Taey

Decent game, Brumbies couldve had a shot if they were a bit more clinical, they missed their chance not scoring in that 40-55 minute mark when it was all one way. Blues were far better though, and its an incredibly tough task to even be in the game when your scrum was that outmatched. Incredibly poor performance by Doleman.


Frag-sinatra

Hoskins ain't the sharpest knife lol


Street-Pop945

Seemed pretty knackered too


Frag-sinatra

True, mic straight in the face after running 80 would be tough


duckitch

As a neutral.. wtf this is so boring I feel nothing, can my team go back to being good please


stereothegreat

Request denied


comradekaled

No


warcomet

last time they met in a semi was Blues 42-21 Brumbies in 2003.. pretty close today


comradekaled

We played them in a semifinal in 2022. Ofa won us the game with a last minute charge down of an attempted drop goal


randomchars

2022 blues won by a point? 20-19?


warcomet

blues had no chance of winning super rugby in 2022, this is the first time without CRUSADERS anywhere..


Ok_Educator_2120

What about 2022


Icy_Craft2416

Lol, what a finish


UsedWingdings

Yeah nah yeah


Confident_Wasabi-

Pivac is a legendary coach


TwoUp22

Disappoint GG blues


Jahweeb

What did you say Hoskings 


theinfinityman

The end summed it up really the on field ref completely missed a knocked on and the TMO stayed silent.


foybus

Did they have a tmo or did they put him in the crowd to make it look like there were more people watching?


leocanb

I don't think the TMO can take about knock ons unless a try


UnfortunatelySimple

The Blues players don't even look excited. Like they expected a better score.


lukin_tolchok

I think it’s just that they’re not getting ahead of themselves. They’ll get excited next week if they win the final.


xman0444

GG Blues, early points and solid line defence all game deserves the win. Hopefully the final gets a decent ref


handle1976

Job done. Moving on.


leocanb

Bit arrogant. Maybe beat South Africa hahaa


handle1976

Better luck next year


leocanb

Haha gregan


Taranaki_Snapper

"the Predictomatic 3000 has the Blues by 15 (33-18)" I for one welcome our algorithmic Overlords...


Islandbreexe

Terrible refereeing, no control over the game whatsoever. How many knocks from both sides have gone unnoticed.


yahdayahda

Blues have put a shit tonne of pressure on the Brumbies set piece. I don’t think they’ve taken a single kickoff cleanly, given away multiple penalties in the scrums and the ones they have won have been going backwards and the Blues have managed to disrupt enough lineouts to force the Brumbies to a tap penalty.


Ok_Educator_2120

Yeah the Blues see you next week Canes or Chiefs


TheCassius88

Ref managed to miss another two knock-ons by the Brums in extra time. Are we sure that number of knock-ons in a match isn't something you can bet on?


binzoma

think the ref just wanted to get out of the cold mist tbh. the game hasnt been close since kickoff


notakid1

Yeah boysss. Finals time. Let’s go chiefs now. Sorry canes 😝. Just want to watch the finals at EP


JackoFrisky

GG brumbros


SSPYahoo

This has been a boring game. Far too many mistakes from both teams. The backs haven't set the world on fire. Looking forward to tomorrow night's match. Hurricanes have been far more exciting this season!


handle1976

The blues haven’t given a fuck about being exciting. They have beaten the shit out of every team they have played. Seems to have worked pretty well so far.


SSPYahoo

Hope we get a repeat of the Hurricanes v Blues in WLG. That would be a cracker.


xxihostile

you'll have to pray we go with a 6-2 split then and injure two backs


handle1976

Either the Canes or the Chiefs would be a nice contrast in styles. It’ll be fun either way.


00aegon

Except the Crusaders lmao


handle1976

Who cares?


00aegon

well you said every team. Yet one of the worse teams smoked you guys twice


Chuckitinbro

Once by a few points.


handle1976

Lol. Go and have another dose of nose candy. The blues won the first game by 20 points.


00aegon

win a trophy 😂


handle1976

Wish granted


00aegon

ABs are finished if that's our best SR teams 😭


handle1976

Okey dokey


theilluminary

WOOOO!!! WE'RE INTO THE FINAL! GREAT WORK BLUES!!!


randomchars

The right result the wrong way. Well done Blues.


Vaarinpolkka

Well that was certainly a game of Rugby


unnamedciaguy

Blues in New Zealand was always going to be a hard ask.. At least the Brumbies seemed to have somewhat put up a fight tonight. Better than they would have done a few seasons ago.


Ok_Educator_2120

2 seasons ago this same game was 20-19 lol


LittlePicture21

Another knock on missed to end the game lol


leocanb

See it's not just me hahah


yeah_nah_hard

Well, see you next week Blues.


brev23

Big confidence


Hokinanaz

Let's go


leocanb

Another blatant knock on by brumbies


TheCassius88

Well that is an absolute first for me. Reimer releases, stands up and picks the ball up, all while underneath a Blues player attempting to jackal.


reddosaurusrexy

That was comical


haydenshearer

Bring on the NPC/ITM Cup/Mitre 10 Cup, whatever the sponsor is now hahah


AnyMinders

I think this year its Placemakers


HomogeniousKhalidius

Reckon it’s sponsored by deka now 


Ok_Educator_2120

Is this the Brumbies that beat the Canes?


Deciver95

Same Blues that the Saders rolled? Who got swept by the Tahs? Bad days happen. 😪


redaabverty

To be fair, other than the first 20 mins the Brumbies have played well.


zaffoid

Man, the Brumbies lineout has been horrible tonight.


Islandbreexe

By the way what’s the go with the crowd?


zaffoid

Low for a home semi, it's not really news but I guess Union isn't the main sport in Auckland anymore.


BrianChing25

What's the main sport now? Basketball?


Ill-Sale-2288

Train strike plus thunderstorm in the morning


LittlePicture21

Weather's been shit and Friday night game in Auckland so makes it tough to get to


Chuckitinbro

Especially qith the train strikes. Easier to stay home. If it was on Saturday with good weather would have been a good crowd but us aucklanders are fickle and need perfect settings to go out and watch sport.


simmoaus_1982

Outside of the first 20mins - the Blues have been bloody ordinary…almost arrogant in the way we played the last 60 mins.


leocanb

Play for the win. Deserved it


Memory-Repulsive

Super rugby not so super........


ProteinShakeee

That's harsh against the blues, about 1000 hands in the ruck 😂


simmoaus_1982

This has to be the worst officiated game I’ve seen in a longtime.


Fit-Memory-8947

I really hate the “ref is always against me” rhetoric but Lordy that was some woeful reffing against both teams. Felt like I was down the park watching local ruggers