Brown’s tip on how to topple Blues
Scott Robertson is a smart man, but just in case he needed any help Highlanders coach Tony Brown has set out the, er, blueprint for defeating the Blues in Sunday’s top-of-the-table Super Rugby Aotearoa clash at Eden Park.
Brown’s Highlanders were not good enough to implement it on Sunday at Eden Park when the Blues ran away to a bonus-point 39-17 victory that could have been even more decisive but for a confounding TMO decision. That made it two from two for Leon MacDonald’s side in 2021.
But Robertson’s Crusaders, Super Rugby champions for four straight years under his watch, and 11 in total, are a different matter. They will head north for this clash of the two unbeaten sides on some roll of their own, having carved off three straight victories to open the season, including the
39-17 shellacking of the Chiefs at home on Saturday.
Brown’s Highlanders assistant coach Clarke Dermody had upset the Blues a little by his assertion in the leadup to last Sunday’s clash that it was like preparing to play a South African team with their ‘‘massive, massive pack’’. The Auckland outfit likes to think it’s a little more well-rounded than that.
And Brown’s response postgame, when asked his prediction for the big matchup on Sunday, continued along a similar theme.
‘‘Oh, they’re different teams,’’ said Brown. ‘‘If the Blues can use their power, be really good at the set piece, they can slow the Crusaders down. But the Crusaders play fast as well. It’s whether they can handle the speed of the Crusaders, or slow the game down.’’
Brown intimated the Crusaders would have their work cut out when he spoke about the efficient manner in which Leon MacDonald’s men imposed their will on his side on Sunday, with the statistics to back up his point.
‘‘Our discipline and mistakes [cost us],’’ he said. ‘‘I felt as though we gave them everything they wanted and we couldn’t play the game we wanted to play. For us to beat the Blues the game has got to be fast, and the ball has got to be in play up around 40 minutes.’’
In essence, said Brown, the big Blues pack, with that rotation of All Black props and powerful, ballrunning loose forwards, squeezed the life out of the Highlanders. ‘‘We were under so much pressure in the first half we couldn’t get anything going in our game,’’ he said.
. ‘‘The Blues dominated that first half and did a good job of it. We gave them the possession and gave them the penalties on the back of the possession, so that made it a tough first half for us.’’
The Crusaders, as indicated by Brown, possess the ability to play the game at speed and take the Blues out of their comfort zone. But they also have a pack more than capable of going toe to toe with the northerners in the muscular stuff.
Brown, meanwhile, is hopeful crocked star wing Jona Nareki will not be a long-term casualty after leaving the field late in the first half on Sunday with a ‘‘severe hippointer’’.
The Highlanders, 1-2 and five points on the ladder, have the bye this week and Brown hopes his inform speedster, averaging 138 metres a game before Sunday, will be available for the home clash against the Hurricanes on March 26.