There’s signs of life in the Blues
Do you hear that? It’s the sound of a rusty bandwagon slowly squeaking into life.
The Blues won a game, but not just that, they put the Super Rugby-leading Stormers to the sword on their home turf with a 33-14 win yesterday.
English back Joe Marchant scored two tries, while their forwards matched the physical Stormers pack.
The win came against a team which had demolished a rusty Hurricanes outfit 27-0 in round one, so credit must be given to Leon MacDonald and his men.
The bonus-point moved them eight points clear of the bottom of the New Zealand conference, where the Highlanders sit on five points after their horror 28-22 loss to the Rebels on Friday night, although they have played one fewer game.
The match was marred by a horrific and likely seasonending injury suffered to Highlanders captain James Lentjes.
The flanker was taken to Dunedin Hospital after badly breaking his leg during the first half of their disappointing defeat.
The Blues’ win sets up a tantalising matchup against the Hurricanes in Wellington next Saturday.
The Canes easily dispatched of the Sunwolves 62-15 in Napier on Saturday afternoon as South African winger Kobus van Wyk ran in a hat-trick on debut.
That wedged them in nice and tight with the Crusaders and Chiefs at the top of the conference with the same number of games (four) played.
After the Blues, the Hurricanes play both of those tabletoppers in a season-defining stretch of their campaign.
The Highlanders start their South African sojourn next weekend, but get the relative gimmie of the winless Bulls first up. If they can’t beat them, then it’s curtains for their season.
The Crusaders host the hapless Reds, while the Chiefs travel to Wollongong to take on the Waratahs, who secured their first win of Rob Penney’s reign when beating the Lions 29-17 on Friday.
Elsewhere in round five, the Sharks and Jaguares kept the pressure on the Stormers at the top of the South African conference.
The Sharks produced a fine performance to knock over the Reds 33-22 in Queensland, while the Jaguares were much too strong for the winless Bulls in Pretoria, running out 39-24 winners yesterday.