The Crusaders celebrate Will Jordan's try against the Blues. Photo / Photosport
The Crusaders celebrate Will Jordan's try against the Blues. Photo / Photosport
Crusaders 42
Blues 19
Sound the alarm. The Blues’ title defence is officially teetering on the brink.
Those limited Blues fans who arrived at Eden Park full of hope the traditional rivalry with the arch-enemy Crusaders would ignite their side’s stuttering campaign instead endured a dispiriting watch.
Last year’s dominant surge to their breakthrough title is rapidly fading from view after the Blues suffered their fifth defeat in six matches to remain rooted near the foot of the Super Rugby Pacific table.
Few, if any, envisioned such a slide, but this was the revival of the bad Blues of old.
The Crusaders, by contrast, having secured their first away win since the 2023 Super Rugby final, indeed their first in nine attempts under Rob Penney, confirmed their resurgence is not restricted to the comforts of Christchurch.
In their one-point loss to the competition-leading Chiefs in Hamilton last week the Blues hinted they were improving and could, yet, resurrect their season.
On this evidence, though, they will seriously struggle to crack the top six playoffs. It’s not impossible but a long, long row to hoe with performances such as these.
Their worst start to a season since 2019 rolls on for the Blues, with the rot well and truly setting in.
It’s not just the fact the Blues lost again but the nature of the one-sided result that sparks major concern.
Sure, the Blues’ injury crisis is hurting their season. All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu (ankle) and starting hooker Kurt Eklund (groin) withdrawing late in the week to join Beauden Barrett, Ofa Tuʻungafasi, Anton Segner, Sam Darry, Ricky Riccitelli, AJ Lam and Zarn Sullivan on the sideline left influential holes.
Those late changes affected the Blues’ lineout issues but there is no excuse for basic handling errors from several senior figures and frustrating discipline that blighted the Blues’ work – Laghlan McWhannell’s unnecessary second-half yellow card for quick tap interference was a case in point.
“There are no excuses,” Blues coach Vern Cotter said. “We’ve got to be much better than that. We’re going to have a reset. We’re going to have to have a look at how we build games.
“We seemed to unravel. We didn’t have the thread tightened at key moments. We missed a bit of experience tonight. We’re hating losing at home and losing by that amount of points but we’ll use it as a vehicle to become better.
“Our rugby was scrambling catch up. It wasn’t constructed and built. We’re making games difficult for ourselves. I don’t want players to get upset or lose confidence because that’s when pressure comes on.”
The Blues were disjointed, directionless, down on confidence for long periods. Their only saving grace was Crusaders playmaker Taha Kemara missing three conversions, with the final scoreline flattering the Blues.
Last year’s title success was built on unflinching accuracy and an utterly dominant platform from the Blues’ forward pack. Hoskins Sotutu made his presence felt but the Crusaders flipped that script to largely do a number on the Blues’ under-strength pack, paving the way for their fourth win from five attempts.
The Crusaders celebrate a try for Chay Fihaki against the Blues. Photo / Getty Images
The Crusaders carved off metres at will to leave the Blues regularly on the back foot defending their line.
At the breakdown, the Blues were often beaten to the punch with nuggety Crusaders hooker Ioane Moananu earning two turnover penalties over the ball.
The Crusaders held the upper hand throughout and should have led by more than 20-7 at the break.
Dalton Papali’i opened the scoring after a Xavier Taele offload and James Mullan bust but, from there, it was all the Crusaders.
The visitors were lethal on the counter-attack from turnovers and had success up the middle of the park with their maul and powerful ball carries where Tamaiti Williams and Christian Lio-Willie were prominent.
David Havili’s strong midfield presence laid on Kyle Preston’s first try for the Crusaders.
The first of two strikes from recalled wing Chay Fihaki came directly from Stephen Perofeta dropping a high ball. And it was only desperate defence that prevented the Blues from conceding further blows with Will Jordan losing the ball close to the line.
With a dominant, front-foot platform the Crusaders’ quick ruck recycle allowed them to maximise and exploit space on the edge.
One of the many issues Cotter must address is the Blues failing to secure restarts. The Crusaders scored 40 seconds into the second half after Perofeta was forced into a scrambling clearance but this was not the only occasion the Blues left themselves exposed from this fundamental area.
The bye now comes at an optimal time for the Blues. They will hope to gain some influential bodies on the other side of that break and to regain some form of cohesion.
With the Hurricanes at Eden Park to follow, it’s fast entering now-or-never territory for the Blues to reach the playoffs.
“[Blues manager] Richard Fry said we haven’t done very well in the front nine so we’ll have to be much better on the back nine. We blew the card out on the front nine,” Cotter said.
“We need a couple of birdies. As much as we’re conscious of it we want a better performance. It’s not all bad but today was a rough day. This one is a good kick in the butt.
“There’s good players in the team and players that will come back in. These conversations will help us get a better performance.”
Crusaders 42 (Kyle Preston, Chay Fihaki 2, Tamaiti Williams, Tom Christie, Macca Springer, Will Jordan tries; Taha Kemara 2 cons, pen, James O’Connor con)
Blues 19 (Dalton Papali’i, Marcel Renata, Finlay Christie tries; Xavier Taele con, Harry Plummer con)
