Umaga’s men own worst enemies
NOW Tana Umaga knows how so many of his predecessors felt. Helplessly sitting in the Eden Park coaching box, he watched the Blues self implode to effectively gift wrap the Highlanders victory last night.
Minus Sonny Bill Williams, for the first time this year Umaga rolled out his strongest team. It featured eight past or present All Blacks in the starting side, not that you’d know it by the errorriddled performance.
Don’t let the 16-12 scoreline fool you, the Blues never deserved to be in this match. Every half break came with a forward pass or knock on just around the corner. It was a fitting finish, Patrick Tuipulotu dropping the ball two metres out from the line after the Blues hammered away in search of a great escape.
‘‘Please play some rugby,’’ one punter urged, such was the lack of entertainment late into the game.
That mattered not to the Highlanders, who scored the only try. They came to Auckland with a plan to break their duck after two losses to start the season.
Already down on troops, the gritty southerners lost Waisake Naholo to an upper leg injury after 15 minutes, Lima Sopoaga with the same time to play, copped an 81st minute yellow card to Gareth Evens, and still found a way to hold on. Now they’re right back in the hunt.
How long ago the Blues’ round one win over the Rebels already seems. The last two weeks they’ve been brutally exposed by the Chiefs and Highlanders, and now have some serious regrouping ahead of next week’s trip to face the Crusaders in Christchurch.
The Highlanders arrived with a plan to kick, kick, kick, turn the Blues around and let them try run it back at them. While some of the execution was missing, on the whole it worked.
The tactics should not have surprised. The Highlanders always use the boot to play for territory and back their chasers to bring the pressure. They are more than happy to play without the ball and let the opposition make mistakes. And on this night, the Blues were more than happy to oblige.
Matt Duffie aside, the Blues back three struggled to make smart decisions, and get to the ball on the full. Ihaia West had a night to forget, dropping three bombs and standing too deep in the pocket but he was not alone. Michael Collins lost two high balls, and Rene Ranger was