Return of Folau expected to give Blues hell

Israel Folau’s keenly-watched return to action from injury this week may well coincide with the end of Australia’s embarrassing Super Rugby drought against New Zealand teams.

The Brumbies’ 21-8 home loss to the Crusaders on Saturday made it 36-straight wins for Kiwi teams against Australian sides.

If that streak is to be broken it must surely be when the Waratahs host the hapless and injury-ravaged Bluesl.

The Blues’ record against their four New Zealand conference rivals is so bad that the joke goes they should be relegated to the Australian conference.

Coach Tama Umaga’s team has gone two seasons – 15 derby games in all – without defeating a Kiwi rival and had injured superstar Sonny Bill Williams (wrist) among 17 players not available through injury last week.

They have a 2-7 record this season, having become the first New Zealand team to suffer a home loss to Argentina’s Jaguares, while the Waratahs have been the pick of the Australian teams. NSW, who will be rested after a bye, were the last team to defeat a Trans-Tasman rival, in May 2016, when they smashed the Chiefs.

While the Kiwi hoodoo remains, the Queensland Reds pulled off an almighty upset by beating the Lions to keep their season alive. Queensland led 24-0 at halftime against last year’s finalists and received a standing ovation from the Suncorp Stadium crowd.

The South African conference leaders bounced back to give Reds a fright before the hosts hung on to claim a 27-22 victory.

‘‘We’re not an 80-minute team yet,’’ Thorn said. ‘‘It was just good seeing them turn up and play.’’

The fourth win of their campaign lifted the Reds to 17 points and above the Brumbies on the Australian conference table.