British & Irish Lions tour '97 vs Natal

Huge hit by Linda Itunu at USA Sevens

Flanker gets away with sneaky slap

Rob Cook's bizarre kicking technique

Adam Ashley-Cooper's superman tackle

Richard Kahui makes another good hit

Top Five 'Don't Argues' of All Time

Justin Marshall over advertising boards

Opeti Fonua smashes Chris Masoe in 2010

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Carlos Spencer highlights from the Blues' 2003 winning season

Super Rugby kicks into gear again soon as the focus shifts down south, with rugby fans spoilt for choice over the next few months. Here's a look at one of Super Rugby's greatest ever players, in one of his best ever years. 

This video was posted earlier today on the official Blues website and while it's got some questionable music and no original commentary unfortunately, it's still worth having a look at as it shows some of Spencer's most memorable moments in that famous blue jumper.

In 2003 the Auckland Blues won the Super 12 title, and their team was littered with talent, particularly in the backs. Joe Rokocoko had one of his best ever years, and as if that wasn't enough to deal with for opposition defenders, they also had a guy named Rupeni Caucau to contend with.

Doug Howlett, Rico Gear, and Mils Muliaina were also floating about, not to mention Spencer, who controlled the ship beautifully from ten and thanks to his formiddable forward pack, had a platform from which to launch their lethal back division.

Spencer ran circles around the opposition and had one of his best ever seasons, producing moments of magic that will never be forgotten by those who were privileged enough to watch him at play. Those who have followed his career will fondly remember him as one of the greatest entertainers the game has seen.

Nowadays King Carlos is giving back, and doing a great job, as backline coach at the Lions in Johannesburg. Enjoy the video, and check out the related posts for more Spencer magic.

Courtesy of theblues.co.nz

Posted at 6:24 pm | 14 comments

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Viewing 14 comments

philthy February 08, 2012 8:46 pm

Great clip of one of the players I followed when I started playing rugby. Bit of a doug howlett highlight clip as well!

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RamRugby10 February 08, 2012 8:57 pm

NZ is a little behind when it comes to pop culture... I think this song just came out last month... Top of the charts for 4 weeks running!

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sithepie February 08, 2012 9:27 pm

Incredible hands, what a player.

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Dutchie February 08, 2012 10:38 pm

I think questionable is an understatement, but otherwise a great clip from a great rugby player

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Tom February 08, 2012 11:21 pm

Nothing questionable about Carlos Santana on guitar. Legend.

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gar1990 February 08, 2012 11:23 pm

i don't know if its because of the ..questionable music.. but he just makes everything look soooo effortless

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Canadian content February 09, 2012 12:15 am

fantastic player, textbook on always having two hands on the ball, unfortunately he was a lil too in love with the slight
of hand and occasionally threw the ball away necessarily, as the video displays

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cheyanqui February 09, 2012 12:35 am

As great as any other Kiwi flyhalf has been in the professional era, give me King Carlos anyday.

Carlos Spencer may have had a few shockers, but no matter what, he always entertained.

As great as Dan Carter may be, he's predictably predictable. Carlos Spencer was always predictably unpredictable.

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cheyanqui February 09, 2012 12:43 am

CanCon -- great point. Two hands on ball is such a vitally important skill, as it actually creates space (keeps defenders having to respect your passing options). Few people do it -- I think because they are more concerned with getting that little fraction of an increase in their foot speed.

It brings up an interesting decision -- what should national team coaches / selectors measure when they time players at camps?

You could argue that you could time them running the 40 metres:
No ball in hand
Ball in one hand
Ball in both hands

it may matter less for wingers (two hands on the ball is less of a concern for wingers), -- but perhaps it's a good measurement for 10-12-13, as well as sevens players.

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Aussie February 09, 2012 8:24 am

As an Aussie, whenever I hear Carlos Spencer I think 'Stirling Mortlock Intercept' :P

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coops February 09, 2012 2:29 pm

So free.

On his day, an absolute genius.

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7-9-12 February 09, 2012 4:14 pm

I'm not denying he was an awesome player but it felt like for a large portion of these highlight he just ran laterally, and by chance found a mismatch against a forward.

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Dan Withers February 10, 2012 12:04 am

2003 Was the year of Carlos Spencer. He was in the form of his life! The video does show some amazing young talent around him though, Rockococo, Howlett, Gear. There was so many. See if you can find the highlights of the game Vs the Crusaders that year? Not the final, but the round robin game. It was spectacular, went down to the wire with the blues winning by scoring a classic Spencer full length field try. Crowds havnt been this thrilled until the Reds 2011 premiership, Just goes to show that the right man, in the number 10 jersey with the right team in the right form is unstoppable. Onya Carlos!

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