Blues bring out the best in Chiefs
The last time the Blues beat the Chiefs the All Blacks had bombed out of five successive World Cups, Sam Cane and Brodie Retallick hadn’t debuted in Super Rugby, and the likes of Damian McKenzie and Rieko Ioane were negotiating schoolwork and driver licence tests.
One Tana Umaga was even starting at second five-eighth for the Chiefs way back on that night of March 26, 2011, when Luke McAlister kicked a penalty to give the Blues a 16-13 win at a rain-soaked Eden Park.
Eight years on, the Chiefs now own the longest unbeaten streak between any sides in Super Rugby history, having gone 14 games against their nearest neighbours without defeat – a record which goes on the line in the latest Battle of the Bombays in Hamilton tonight.
It’s a fixture which the Chiefs – formerly the unsuccessful little brother – have had the importance of drilled into them for some time, according to captain Brodie Retallick.
‘‘I remember when I first came into this team, and the likes of Tanerau Latimer and Liam [Messam] and those boys drove what the Chiefs-Blues rivalry is, they grew up around it, whereas I didn’t,’’ he said. ‘‘So it’s been great to buy into that, and we always want to get one over the Blues.’’
Despite the one-sided nature of the ledger, though, just one of the last eight games between the two sides has been won by more than seven points, with Retallick unsure how to explain his side’s historic ability to get the job done, or the Blues’ inability.
‘‘It’s hard to put a point on it, but I mean any game in this competition, and especially against a New Zealand team, is always a tough one, and generally reasonably close, so we’re expecting no different tomorrow.’’
And it’s a reinvigorated Blues side which will travel down State Highway 1. After starting the season with three defeats, they have now won four on the bounce – a feat they hadn’t achieved since that 2011 season, which was when they last made the playoffs.
Retallick felt it was the effort and physicality of getting over the advantage line which has been a key difference for the Blues this year.
‘‘I think they’ve been striking really well, especially off their set piece, like their lineout when they’re bringing Rieko [Ioane] and Ma’a [Nonu] in and getting them over the gainline,’’ he said.
‘‘And I think the physicality from the forwards has been huge defensively, and then you’ve got Akira [Ioane] and Patty [Tuipulotu] that are carrying the ball well and Tom [Robinson] with huge workrate.’’
It’s just the sort of stuff Retallick thrives on, so you can expect the well-rested skipper (after All Blacks leave then the bye) to be ripping in to nullify that threat.
His team are on a roll of their own, having been in an awful hole at 0-4, before drawing with the Hurricanes and nailing road wins against the Bulls and Jaguares before their week off.
‘‘There’s been a fair bit of pressure within the environment, so this week there’s been a better edge and great excitement, rather than the edge of worry,’’ Retallick said.
‘‘One of the boys touched on that when the going got tough a few weeks ago everyone dug in to get ourselves back to where we are. So we don’t want to let ourselves down again, in terms of what we’ve been doing on the field.
‘‘So I think we’re on the right track there and the boys are in a great head space. We haven’t performed too well on our home ground so far this season so we’re looking forward to going out there and putting a show on.’’
Indeed, with no wins from their past three in Hamilton, the Chiefs haven’t gone worse than that at home since a four-game stretch in 2010.
There’s a streak waiting to be broken, just which one it is remains to be seen.