At Eden Park, there was hardly an area where the Blues weren’t bettered. The Blues’ lineout was overwhelmed, they were dominated at the breakdown, and their All Blacks three-quarters trio couldn’t match the attacking flair of Will Jordan, Sevu Reece and Chay Fihaki.
When Fihaki was subbed off, the irrepressible Macca Springer took his place with consummate ease and scored a dashing 64th-minute try as if to prove he belongs at this level.
The Blues’ injury list is now a serious problem for Vern Cotter and his coaching group. The timing of Beauden Barrett’s hand injury could hardly have been worse, sidelining him just as he was hitting a real vein of form. Perhaps even more problematic is the ankle injury to captain Patrick Tuipulotu.
It’s not just his physical presence, as impressive as that is, that they’re missing, but he’s the coolest head in the team, and there were times in the Crusaders’ game where there were hints of near-panic without him.
Rarely has a team needed some medical miracles more than the Blues do as they go into a bye week.
A veteran and a rookie shine
Having lauded Crusaders captain David Havili’s golden form last week, I won’t beat the drum for him at length again, except to say he stepped up another notch at Eden Park. His name must surely be firmly inscribed in the All Blacks selectors’ notebooks.
And if there’s a left-field selection, Crusaders halfback Kyle Preston has been a revelation. Preston performs all the basic tasks his position demands, but, rather like All Blacks incumbent Cam Roigard, he also has the reflexes, strength and speed to be a constant attacking threat.
Edged out
Quite reasonably, the return of Blues No 8 Hoskins Sotutu, and his efforts to recapture the attention of the All Blacks, has been a continually interesting story.
What might not have been expected was that the form back-rower at Eden Park was the Crusaders' Christian Lio-Willie. Sotutu’s campaign is likely to depend on how well the whole Blues pack perform in the games ahead.
Recovery across the ditch
The ejection of a Melbourne team from Super Rugby Pacific has had a more dramatic effect on the competition than anyone could have imagined. Six rounds into a 16-round schedule, three of the top five teams are Australian sides.
So, as disappointing as the Highlanders’ 29-23 loss to the Reds in Dunedin was for fans in the deep south, it wasn’t actually against the form book.
As you might have expected, the Landers captain Timoci Tavatavanawai was dynamic at the breakdown and plunged over for a 14th-minute try to get his side back in the contest, after the Reds had raced out to an early 12-0 lead.
What was notable about the second-half surge that took the Reds to victory was how their game was basically built on the back of a dominant scrum. Given the expertise of the Landers’ coaching staff, especially former Southland prop Craig Dermody, there’s likely to be some intensive work on scrummaging in Dunedin this week. There won’t be much respite at scrumtime next weekend when the Highlanders travel to Canberra to play the Brumbies.
Hard times
Moana Pasifika’s rocky road continues, losing 50-35 to the table-topping Chiefs in Pukekohe. The loss certainly wasn’t the result of a lack of courage from Moana. Down 43-7 at halftime, a less gutsy team than Moana might have been humiliated.
Instead there was a second-half comeback so good that it denied the Chiefs a bonus point. It doesn’t get easier for Moana, who next Saturday night face the Crusaders in Christchurch.
