On a rain-drenched night, they controlled the game at Eden Park from start to finish. They had stars all over the field, but my player of the match was their captain, Dalton Papali’i, who broke the Brumbies’ defence almost at will with his savage intensity. It was a brilliant burst by Papali’i that set up the first Blues try, to Hoskins Sotutu, and Papali’i didn’t ease up for the rest of the game.
Mark down the later afternoon game at Eden Park with the Hurricanes on Saturday May 11 as a clash that will almost certainly be a preview of the final in June.
Talent by the ton
If there’s one position where the All Blacks selectors have a huge field to choose from, it’s on the wing.
Mark Tele’a remains massively difficult to tackle, Emoni Narawa at the Chiefs is running hot and Sevu Reece has never been in better form.
Add to the inner circle of the gifted roster Caleb Clarke, who has regained the golden form that made him a test sensation in 2022. And after Blues halfback Taufa Funaki was sin-binned for a defensive offside against the Brumbies, it was Clarke who stood in at halfback, where he showed his skills range far beyond running as hard and fast as possible with the ball.
The nightmare continues
Having lived on and off in Christchurch for 15 years, I can vouch for the fact that rugby fans there are the toughest taskmasters in the country.
After the Crusaders’ 37-15 loss to the Western Force, which placed the Crusaders firmly at the bottom of the table, this will be a grim week at home for coach Rob Penney and his team.
There are a host of problems for them to address. The goalkicking was mediocre. Far too often there were handling errors. Late in the game there were two rolling maul tries for the Force that were aided by a lack of cohesive defence from the Crusaders.
It feels brutal to add pressure, but Friday night’s game in Christchurch with the Rebels looms as a showdown at the Last Chance Saloon.
The Crusaders slumped to another loss in Perth. Photo / Getty Images
They needed that lead in the second half to ensure their 38-15 victory. The temperature at kickoff at 7.05pm was 28C, with the humidity a sauna-like 86 per cent. Add in a hugely supportive local crowd of 15,474 people, and it took the class of a Canes side, who look more like title favourites every weekend, to stack up the early points.
The star of the show was centre Billy Proctor, who scored the first try in the sixth minute. In the 33rd minute he made a brilliant break from inside his own half, then fed T.J. Perenara, who sent Jordie Barrett off for the try of the match.
Still only 24, Proctor’s been a slightly unsung hero since he played his first match for the Canes as a teenager. He was in the All Blacks XV last year and his undemonstrative composure has hints of one of the great All Blacks centres, 1987 World Cup winner Joe Stanley.
Weirdest two minutes of the round
Ahead 28-12 at the 62-minute mark, two minutes later the Canes found themselves playing with just 13 men as first flanker Du’Plessis Kirifi and then lock Isaia Walker-Leawere were yellow-carded by referee Paul Williams.
Kirifi was binned for a high tackle and Walker-Leawere for infringing in a defensive maul near the Canes’ line. But the lack of poise didn’t spread and the best the Drua could manage with a two-man advantage was a penalty goal in the 69th minute.
Will the south rise again?
It started so promisingly for the Highlanders. There was the reassuring sight of Jamie Joseph overseeing training sessions. In coach Clarke Dermody, there was a Southland man as grounded as a strainer post on a Winton farm.
But the 31-0 loss to the Reds in Brisbane was a grim reminder that the heroic triumph of the title-winning Highlanders of 2015 is now a long way back in the rear vision mirror.
The defeat by the Reds was death for the Highlanders by a thousand little self-inflicted cuts. There were knock-ons, lost balls and errors of judgement. At Super level, self-belief is crucial. The glimmer of hope is that next weekend hosting the Force in Dunedin may be a chance for the Landers to regain some of the spirit of ′15.
Phil Gifford has twice been judged New Zealand sportswriter of the year, has won nine New Zealand and two Australasian radio awards, and been judged New Zealand Sports Columnist of the year three times. In 2010 he was honoured with the SPARC lifetime achievement award for services to sports journalism.
