BLUES BLOW IT
Chances wasted in season opener
The Blues suffered an excruciating defeat to the defending champion Crusaders in a cliffhanger finish which will hurt new coach Leon MacDonald but leave him optimistic of better nights head.
With two minutes remaining, Blues replacement Harry Plummer missed a penalty from 40m out which would have sealed a remarkable comeback victory for the Blues, who were down 12-3 at halftime and seemingly out of the match.
Sometimes hope is the cruellest thing and this will hurt the players and their long-suffering supporters. The Blues’ winless streak against New Zealand teams now stretches to 20 matches — their last derby victory was in round one of 2016 — and this could hardly have been closer.
The miss was tough on Plummer but he missed an earlier one, too, and at this level, they all add up.
It was a strange old game and one which neither side seemed to know how to win. Probably muscle memory got the Crusaders home because they were matched up front and occasionally dominated but had a little too much class in the backline.
They were awarded two penalty tries by referee Nick Briant — one for a collapsed maul for which impressive blindside flanker Tom Robinson was sinbinned, and one for a collapsed attacking scrum, but they earned the ire of the official, too, for constant second-half offending and replacement hooker Ben Funnell was yellow carded after the break.
Elsewhere, there was little between the teams apart perhaps from Crusaders backs Braydon Ennor, George Bridge, David Havili and especially wing Manasa Mataele, who scored two tries.
Down at halftime, the Blues roared back into it via the extremely good Akira Ioane, and a try to replacement prop Ofa Tuungafasi, which allowed the hosts to take the lead.
But as they generally do, the Crusaders hit back straight away via Mataele before the Blues threatened a grandstand finish when halfback Augustine Pulu went over.
Loose forward Ioane, celebrating his 50th game for the Blues, was a standout and appeared to want to get his side home by himself, such was his impact. And when Tuungafasi and fellow All Black Karl Tu’inukuafe joined the fray on 50 minutes as the Blues laid siege to the Crusaders line,
the momentum shifted considerably.
By this stage, the crowd had found their voice and it was all the visitors could do to stay in the game as their previously impregnable defence started leaking tackles and then tries.
The returning Ma’a Nonu played the full 80 minutes and should be pleased with a typically blockbusting performance which included a run over the top of Richie Mo’unga and a bone-shaking tackle on Jordan Taufua.
Blues skipper Patrick Tuipulotu was good, too, as was new boy Robinson, the abrasive Northlander with the shock of red hair who is set to impress hugely this season.
They were good, and had to be to get this close to the Crusaders, who were without All Blacks Sam Whitelock, Kieran Read and Codie Taylor.
In this case, they weren’t quite good enough, but the signs are there that a derby win is not far away.
MacDonald’s arrival has clearly made a difference. It’s still very early days, of course, but what the Blues do appear to have is a genuine willingness to work hard for each other on defence, and, on the other side of the coin, they probably have the best attacking loose forward in the competition in Ioane.
Crusaders 24 (M. Mataele 2 tries, 2 penalty tries) Blues 22 (A. Ioane, O. Tuungafasi, A. Pulu tries; O. Black pen, con, H. Plummer con). Halftime: 12-3.