Canes appeal as probable finalists
Blues also impress after copping angry halftime team talk from coach Cotter
New Zealand’s big guns in Super Rugby Pacific were blazing last weekend, while the torturous season for the Crusaders hit a major speed bump.
Backlash can be brutal
After the Hurricanes lost to the Brumbies last week, it was probably inevitable the Waratahs would feel the sting of a reaction in Wellington, and the 41-12 victory for the Canes was a powerful statement. The match was basically won after 26 minutes, with the Canes ahead 26-0.
Leading the charge were captain Billy Proctor, loose forward Peter Lakai and fullback Ruben Love. Centre Proctor dashed in for the first try, then offered Rolls-Royce service to the men outside him. Lakai was a jumping jack in boots, almost impossible to contain. Love again showed he has a heart the size of a house, which means he’s never afraid to use his wide range of skills to take on whatever challenge faces him.
The stars are surely aligning
With just four rounds left in pool play, it would be astounding if the Canes weren’t playing the final in June.
Their game with the Blues at Eden Park on Saturday afternoon has everything going for it, from the form teams clashing to rugby being played in daylight.
Cliches can be true
There’s rarely been a match where the tired old line — a game of two halves — applied more than in the Blues’ 38-11 victory over the Rebels.
The Blues went to Melbourne riding high, snapping at the heels of the Hurricanes. Last week, the Rebels were humiliated 39-0 by the Crusaders. But amazingly, at halftime on Friday night, the Blues had only a tenuous 12-11 lead.
There was gutsy play from the Rebels but a bigger issue was unfocused defence by the Blues. Some of their best forwards, such as Hoskins Sotutu and Dalton Papali’i, were bland versions of their usually dynamic selves.
But in the second spell, the real Blues emerged, staunch on defence and dominant up front, to the point where their last three tries came from forward mauls.
Feeling the burn
Rugby nostalgics who thought redhot halftime team talks had gone the way of dial-up internet will be delighted by the fact Blues coach Vern Cotter apparently revived the art in Melbourne.
“He ripped us a new one,” was how wing Mark Tele’a summed up the changing-shed blast, which was followed by the dramatic secondspell revival. Generation Z players may not be as easily offended as some suggest.
Worst moment
The dazed look on Rieko Ioane’s face after a 39th-minute high-speed head clash was a reminder of how an injury in a contact sport can be just a split second away.
The big guns are blazing
The Chiefs’ 56-7 caning of the Force in Hamilton was a reminder not to write off a team in which the talent runs from a sizzling back three to a tight five that grows more dominant by the week.
There were, however, concerns for the Chiefs. Damian McKenzie failing a head injury assessment after he was buried by 123kg Force lock Izack Rodda in the lead-up to Daniel Rona’s 55th-minute try was one.
Seeing steely flanker Samipeni Finau wincing his way to the sideline in the 23rd minute with his left arm in a sling after a high speed collision with Force loose forward Reed Prinsep was another.
In very different ways, McKenzie with his flair and Finau with his physical prowess have been key players in the Chiefs holding strongly to their top-four placing.
Every game is like a final now
Grim times for the Crusaders, who desperately needed a win, not a heartbreaking 33-28 loss to the Reds in Christchurch. To claw their way into the knockout section, they’ll need to win at least three, if not all four of their remaining regular-season games.
Is such a near miracle possible? It might be. But a vital issue now is for the injury list to shorten, so hardnosed battlers such as Scott Barrett and Ethan Blackadder are there to make sure the forwards aren’t struggling, as they were against the Reds. The breakdown was ruled by the Reds, with flanker Fraser McReight my man of the match for his brilliant technique and huge workrate.
David Havili at first-five still looks a good idea. Harry Wilson’s 62nd-minute chargedown of Havili’s clearing kick for a vital Reds try did not negate what was generally a composed performance.
Shining in the rain
Unfortunately, one of the reasons tropical paradises are so beautifully lush is that as well as sun, there are plenty of downpours.
So in Nuku’alofa, for the first Super Rugby game in Tonga, the Highlanders and Moana Pasifika found themselves part-time body surfers on the soaked pitch.
The Highlanders’ 28-17 win was what the form book would have predicted. Less expected might have been some handling and passing that rose above the conditions.
A special hand, too, for Moana’s fullback William Havili, who scored a classy try in the 26th minute and was surprisingly secure fielding high kicks, defusing what amounted to a rugby-ball-shaped bar of soap.