Northland's Tom Robinson captained the Blues in their excruciating loss to the Hurricanes.
Photo / Tania Whyte
Northland's Tom Robinson captained the Blues in their excruciating loss to the Hurricanes.
Photo / Tania Whyte
The Blues blew it, losing by one point to the Hurricanes, 33-32. They blotted their copybook by exploding in the last minute of play — just when they needed composure but more importantly, making first-up tackles to keep the Hurricanes pinned in their own half with time almost up.
Just as it happened on so many occasions in the past, those traits disappeared and became as elusive as Moby Dick.
The player who garnered the most interest in the Blues debut, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, slipped off a fend by Canes' centre Bailyn Sullivan who sent workaholic Ardie Savea galloping down the right wing in the most epic finish of this brutal encounter in Dunedin on Saturday.
Savea even had the chutzpah to step infield, brush off the last defender, before touching down right behind the post to send his players and the coaching staff into delirium, while the Blues were left to ponder what might have been.
The Canes showed resilience, belief, a composed final minute and a lot of bravery and brilliance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
For a large part of this enthralling clash, it looked the men from Auckland would stampede and bulldoze their way to victory in a display of shock and awe.
Played at break-neck speed, the meeting between Tom Robinson-captained Blues and Hurricanes not only had all the hallmarks of the sort of entertainment rugby fans crave for but kept fans wondering how the best team on the park hobbled off it so dejected in the end.
Individual brilliance aside, the influence of Northland-based players in the Blues was phenomenal. Particularly Josh Goodhue who put on a man of the match performance.
The tough-as-teak lock ruled the skies, and looked very much like a one-man highlights reel for most of the 80 minutes.
His lineout steal off a Canes throw at the stroke of halftime deep in the Blues half put paid to any chance the opposition had of taking the lead at the breather. Goodhue worked well in tandem with the vastly experienced and another standout Luke Romano, capped 32 times by the All Blacks and played 137 Super Rugby in a box-office career with the champion Crusaders.
Romano provided the heft to Goodhue's athleticism in the Blues engine room and hit rucks and put the shoulder in in tackles that are a staple of the former All Blacks repertoire.
Northland lock Josh Goodhue was a standout performer for the Blues in an epic clash against the Hurricanes.
Photo / Michael Cunningham
There was considerable interest in the debut of Romano and the wondrously talented Tuivasa-Sheck who amassed 195 appearances in the NRL and 20 caps for New Zealand in Rugby League.
He showed his attacking elan and made a number of incisive runs down the midfield channel as the Blues opted to play at pace and used to good effect damaging ball runners Caleb Clarke and Mark Telea on the wings.
Robinson, wearing the captain's armband in the absence of an injured Dalton Papalii, led the heavy artillery upfront alongside Adrian Choat and Hoskins Sotutu that forced the Canes to make a mountain of tackles in the opening quarter.
The Northland Taniwha's innovative ability to support his own bodyweight, latch onto ball and snaffle possession at tackle situations will form an indelible feature of the Blues campaign deep into this competition.
Suddenly, his team showed glimpses of the wildly successful Blues side during Super Rugby's formative years and played with played with an overt sense of desperation befitting of their Super Rugby Aotearoa champion title they won last year.
They brought a tightness, urgency and accuracy and physically attacked the Canes in a way that forced them to play behind the gain line for prolonged periods.
But the Canes had a knack for getting back into the game and had plenty of men capable of turning the match on its head.
Salesi Rayasi scored a hat trick, including one on the fly when his team was gaining ascendancy and the game looked to open up deep in the last quarter.
A beautifully balanced runner from deep, he has the ability to step off both feet and not lose pace.
Joe Schmidt's influence with the Blues in how they played on Saturday was there for all to see. Just as Wayne Smith's time with the Chiefs worked a treat with back-to-back Super Rugby titles in 2012/13.
The Blues need to close out games against quality sides.
