Shark attack leaves Blues a bloody mess
It is time to face some cold, hard facts. That Blues’ revival, that great turnaround we keep hearing about from within a camp that talks a lot better game than they play, ain’t happening this year. Again.
That much seems clear after yet another disappointing, disjointed and downright deflating performance as coach Tana Umaga’s men crashed to their fourth defeat in five matches this season, clouted 63-40 by a dialled-in Sharks side that made their Kiwi hosts look, at times, like second-rate fools last night at Eden Park.
Home fans still in town over Easter seemed to have the life sucked out of them by yet another sub-par effort from their men, as the Blues season officially reached crisis point. The hosts did run in six tries, but that was the extent of the positive stuff.
They also conceded a half-dozen and gave too many chances to the deadly boot of visiting flyhalf Robert du Preez who collected 38 points via a try, seven penalties and six conversions. The Blues remain rooted to the bottom of the Kiwi conference with six points, while the Sharks improve to 13 with their second victory of 2018.
Not that we should really have been surprised. The Blues have now won just one of their last 12 against the Sharks, and one of their last six against the South Africans in Auckland.
Umaga had talked in the lead-in about the need to start better, and to bring the urgency from the off. Well, clearly those urgings fell on deaf ears, much as his game-plan often seems to, with the Blues finding themselves in yet another tight spot after the opening 40 minutes.
The Sharks scored two tries to one and feasted on their opponents’ errors and ill-discipline to slot another four penalties enroute to a 26-7 halftime lead. It was clinical and commanding stuff from the visitors, as much as it was pretty sub-standard fare from the hosts. Lock Ruan Botha scored the visitors’ first try, 10 minutes in, when he rumbled over all too easily off second phase from a scrum, and flanker Jean-Luc du Preez had the second, seven minutes from halftime, again off set-play when inside centre Andre Esterhuizen shrugged off Jerome Kaino’s tackle attempt and fed his No 7 in time to make mincemeat of Sam Nock and Michael Collins on a bullocking run.
Fullback Collins had got the Blues on the board just past the first quarter when a superb breakout involving the Ioane brothers, Melani Nanai, James Parsons and Josh Goodhue finished with Collins being put across unmarked wide on the right. Nanai limped off with an ankle injury after that score, forcing a backline reshuffle that saw T J Faiane come in at second-five and George Moala move to the left wing.
Akira Ioane nearly had his sixth try of the season, but just put his foot in touch when crossing wide on the left, which summed up a half in which the Blues missed 10 of 41 tackles attempted.
Home hopes soared early in the second half when Sharks wing Sbu Nkosi was yellow-carded for a high hit on Moala and the Blues sparked into life with three quick tries while he was sitting to grab an unlikely 28-26 lead.
They were quality scores, with Akira Ioane getting that sixth try of the season, finishing a move he started by rumbling it up off the tapped penalty, big Patrick Tuipulotu busting two tackles wide open on a 40-metre run to the line, and Stephen Perofeta displaying his brilliance with a dazzling 55m jinking run off a deflected kick.
But No 8 Lubabalo Mtembu charged across off a nice offload from his No 10 in the 57th minute to put the Sharks back in front, 33-28, before du Preez extended that to 40-28 with a seven-pointer courtesy off some good work from lock Stephan Lewies and flanker Jean-Luc du Preez.
Then it just got ugly. Dead-eye du Preez slotted two more penalties, Blues wing Jordan Trainor was sent to the sinbin and Sharks replacement Kobus van Wyn raced in for the visitors fifth sevenpointer to complete the rout.
The scoring wasn’t finished, but by the time Rieko Ioane, George Moala and visiting fullback Curwin Bosch raced over late, the contest certainly was.
(Ruan Botha, Jean-Luc du Preez, Lubabalo Mtembu, Robert du Preez, Kobus van Wyk, Curwin Bosch tries; Robert du Preez 7 pens, 6 cons), (Michael Collins , Akira Ioane, Patrick Tuipulotu, Stephen Perofeta, Rieko Ioane, George Moala tries; Stephen Perofeta 5 cons). HT: 26-7.