Under-pressure Blues get the job done in Tokyo
Redemption might be stretching it, but the Blues have returned to the scene of one of their darkest moments and found a welcome ray of light for their 2018 Super Rugby campaign.
Let’s hold off with the party hats and streamers for now, for this season still has a way to go before it can be termed on track, but the Blues can at least celebrate a much-needed 24-10 bonus point victory in Tokyo over the Sunwolves that doubles their win tally for 2018.
It wasn’t always pretty but Tana Umaga’s under-pressure side delivered when it mattered in the second half to roar back from a 10-5 deficit, keep their hosts scoreless after the break and breathe some much needed life back into their campaign.
Their 2-5 record, and 12 competition points, still have them bottom of the Kiwi conference. But they are now five points closer to a top-eight spot than they were coming in to the weekend.
They buried the ghosts of their 2017 debacle at the same Prince Chichibu stadium when they were humiliated 48-21 by the Sunwolves in their season finale.
‘‘We definitely had a reminder about last year and that brought some pressure to us this week to rectify that result,’’ Umaga said.
‘‘At halftime we talked through what was needed around the breakdown and looking after our ball more. One of the pleasing things is that the team made those adjustments and really controlled the second half into the wind.
‘‘We kept the ball and showed patience and kept our error-rate down.’’
The Blues were much, much better over the run home than they were in a wayward first 40. Wing Jordan Hyland enjoyed his first start at this level with two welltaken tries, Rieko Ioane was a constant danger once the possession flowed his way, Michael Collins was sharp at fullback and up front the Blues got plenty from the 50-game Patrick Tuipulotu and, once again, the rampaging Akira Ioane at No 8.
Umaga praised all his newcomers, with Hyland the standout, but centre Orbyn Leger and replacement lock Ben Neenee also brought just what was asked from them.
‘‘Jordan was a handful on the wing and Orbyn is a young player who works his butt off and makes good decisions,’’ added Umaga. ‘‘And when Ben came on, we asked him to bring some energy, and he did that.’’
The slow-starting Blues had made predictably hard work of their first 40, trailing 10-5 at the break after a half featuring a try apiece but all too little of quality from the visitors.
The Sunwolves made much of the play for the opening 40 and their up-tempo, ball-in-hand approach clearly unsettled the visitors who struggled to find their rhythm early on.
The Blues’ start was unsettled by an early yellow card for lock Tuipulotu for a late hit on Kotaro Matsushima, though they survived that period with just the three points conceded for the initial offence.
But the home lead grew to 10-0 just past the opening quarter when centre Timothy Lafaele finished a nice break from Kiwi Hayden Parker. At that stage the Blues were staring down their worst nightmare, though a try to wing Hyland a dozen minutes from the break eased those concerns a little, and halved the deficit.
Stephen Perofeta had sparked the opening with a breakout off turnover pill and was on hand to provide the wide pass to the Northland wing that gave him the space to bump off two would-be tacklers and charge in for his first try at this level.
Still, the Blues had to be better when they returned after halftime.
Fortunately they were, with early tries to No 8 Ioane (his seventh of the season) and replacement loose forward Dalton Papali’i allowing the visitors to ease out to a 19-10 lead inside the first quarter of an hour.
For the Blues it’s now all about backing this up.
Blues 24 (Jordan Hyland 2, Akira Ioane, Dalton Papali’i tries; Stephen Perofeta 2 con) Sunwolves 10 (Timothy Lafaele try; Yu Tamura pen, Hayden Parker con). HT: 5-10.