Blues celebrate a try against the Highlanders. Photo / Photosport
Blues celebrate a try against the Highlanders. Photo / Photosport
OPINION
Huge promise from the Blues and the Hurricanes leads six rugby talking points.
Memo Brumbies: Trouble’s on the way
The Blues began their season with 70 minutes of scarily efficient, dynamic rugby as they demolished the Highlanders 60-20 in Dunedin. There were 10 minutes before halftime whenit seemed the Highlanders might make a miracle comeback, but the Blues regrouped and clamped a vice on the game so tight the ‘Landers resorted to jittery, wild-eyed passes that were meat and drink to the potent Blues. Veterans Patrick Tuipulotu and Beauden Barrett stood out in a crowded field of outstanding Blues. Tuipulotu is in his 10th season for the team, but played with the commitment and energy of a kid in his debut game. The only thing better than Barrett’s all round game at first-five was his goal kicking, which was just one shot in nine off being perfect. The Brumbies, who play the Blues next Sunday in Melbourne’s super round, should be very afraid.
Blues wing Mark Telea was never in a national secondary school or age group team. He’s blazed his own career path by becoming the most difficult New Zealand wing to tackle since Julian Savea was in his prime at the 2015 World Cup. Telea, at 94kg, isn’t massive by today’s rugby standards, but he brushes off defenders as easily as he’d swat away pesky sandflies. In Dunedin his running was often breathtaking. In the 78th minute he started a move that led to a Rieko Ioane try by stepping, fending, and shrugging off four defenders. There was a time when the call in the All Blacks was “give it to Jonah [Lomu]”. All going well the catchphrase in France at the end of the year might be “give it to Mark”.
Mark Telea fends off a defender. Photo / Photosport
Next up, angry Crusaders
The Highlanders are a better side than they were made to look by the Blues. Composure is an elusive quality, and it’ll be needed in Melbourne on Friday when they face a Crusaders team stung by their one-sided loss to the Chiefs. For the Dunedin faithful a glimmer of hope may be that coach Clarke Dermody is both a Southlander and a prop, so he springs from two groups to whom hysterical reaction is a foreign emotion.
As skilled as he is strong
Hurricanes centre Billy Proctor was a constant threat to the Reds, as the Canes swept to a 47-13 victory in Townsville, but the lasting memory of the match will be the touches provided by hooker Asafo Aumua, who played the second half after Dane Coles handled the first 40. Aumua filled his usual busy, bruising role in the close quarter battles, but it was his skill with the ball that impressed even more. He revealed his inner centre three-quarter with first, a bursting run to set up halfback Cam Roigard for a 53rd minute try. Then, at the 71 minute mark, Aumua delivered a perfectly timed pass to Julian Savea for the wing to dash to the line. The new guard of New Zealand hookers, Aumua and the Chiefs’ Samisoni Taukei’aho, are ensuring the position is in safe hands.
Delayed action
It wasn’t all razzle dazzle when the Fijian Drua edged past Moana Pasifika 36-34 at Mt Smart. The first five tries in the game came from forward grunt and rolling mauls. But from the 35th minute, when the Drua’s second five-eighths Iosefo Masi ran in a try like the Olympic sevens champion he is, the fireworks began. When the attack fuse ignited, the daring, gifted running was sensational. The second season for both teams promises to be infinitely more rewarding than the battles they had last season.
Don’t look
If you’re tempted to hunt out a replay of England’s 20-10 victory over Wales in Cardiff, don’t be. Former England player Stuart Barnes politely suggested there was an “austerity of ideas” in the game. That’s hardly fair. Both sides varied their tactics. Sometimes the inside backs stopped kicking with their right foot and used their left.
