Heem’s hat-trick hurts ‘Horror-tahs’
Contenders or pretenders? The jury remains out on the Blues in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman after a second straight bonus-point victory that was nowhere near as impressive as their opening one.
Leon MacDonald’s side did the business in the end against the woeful, winless Waratahs, eventually kicking clear to a 48-21 victory behind a magnificent hattrick from wing Bryce Heem yesterday that banked the full batch of points for the second week on the trot. They are now 2-0 for the new competition, with 10 points.
Sure tougher stuff is to come, with the Brumbies, Reds and Force ahead, and it’s looking for all money as though a cleansweep might be required to earn a spot in the final as the Kiwi teams continue to dominate.
But after their inconsistent Aotearoa competition, the Blues have at gone back-to-back with a degree of swagger (they opened with a 50-3 humbling of the Rebels) that has them right where they need to be after two rounds.
On the other hand, they were less fluent, less efficient this week, and they took some time to break down the resistance from a game, if fallible, Waratahs outfit who have now lost a record 10 straight Super Rugby matches this year. They were better in the second half, and good enough to pounce on the opportunities dished up by their generous opponents, but the review will still show plenty of areas where they need to get better.
Heem was outstanding for the Blues as he continues this latecareer resurgence back on home soil. His hat-trick of tries was a fitting reward for a busy match in which he showcased his mix of power, speed and skill, running for 181 metres all told. Young fullback Zarn Sullivan also continued to impress in just his third outing at this level, while halfback Finlay Christie was sharp again. Rieko Ioane had one or two misfires, but collected one fine try and gobbled up 115 metres with ball in hand.
Up front the home scrum was again dominant, hooker Kurt Eklund strong, lock Gerard Cowley-Tuioti steady and captain Tom Robinson industrious. Akira Ioane had his moments too, but might have made more of his rare start at No 8.
The Waratahs played better than their abysmal record suggests, with busy loosehead prop Angus Bell and combative halfback Jake Gordon the best of the visiting crop. They have a lot to do to arrest this decline, but there at least seems to be some fighting spirit in their ranks.
It was anything but a convincing first 40 minutes from the Blues who had been charged with showing some consistency in the wake of their impressive opening effort in Melbourne a week ago.
Instead, MacDonald’s men stuttered their way through the first half against a side riding a nine-match losing streak in 2021. They scored three tries, conceded two and were anything but impressive as they took a 22-14 lead into the sheds that left a lot to be desired. Heem, arguably the most impressive player on the paddock through the opening 40, scored the first try and created the second for the Blues as they cruised to a 15-0 lead inside the first half-hour. The resurgent wing (with 98 first-half running metres) showed nice individual skill to dot down in the eighth minute, then put skipper Robinson in 19min later when he very much made the most of a charge-down deflection that fell right into his hands.
But the Blues had been somewhat messy between those scores, blowing one cast-iron chance when TJ Faiane banged a crosskick into touch, and then saw the visitors run in two quick tries in three minutes to charge back into the contest, at 15-14. Prop Bell notched the first with
an all too easy run off a short ball from 22 metres out, and halfback Gordon the second from an intercept just the other side of halfway. The improvement did come in the third quarter, with an early Rieko Ioane try, when he dashed away from a ruck nearly 40m out, and a penalty try from a collapsed scrum saw them out to 36-14.
Hooker David Porecki got one back for the visitors, but the Blues sealed the deal by putting Heem away for his second and third scores on a memorable night for the veteran wing.