Leaders caned in Canberra
Canberra might already not make too many ‘must-visit’ lists, and the Hurricanes won’t be scrambling to get back there in a hurry.
No, not at all, when the team from New Zealand’s capital city endured yet another painful trip to the Australian equivalent.
Flying high at the top of the Super Rugby Pacific ladder with an 8-0 record, the Canes were brought back down to earth on Saturday, as new coach Clark Laidlaw tasted defeat for the first time in a 27-19 loss to the Brumbies.
GIO Stadium has been a graveyard for the Canes, with this their sixth-straight loss at the venue and ninth in their last 10.
Included in that is the painful memory of successive quarterfinal defeats there the past two seasons, while in the 2021 trans-Tasman competition their penultimate-round stumble cost them a place in the final.
Fortunately for Canes fans, their side is unlikely to have to head to the ACT again this year, though with their aura of invincibility now shattered, there is still a job to be done over the final five weeks of the regular season to stave off the chasing pack.
The Hurricanes are still at the top of the standings, but now hold only a one-point lead over the Blues, while the Brumbies and Chiefs have crept a bit closer to lurk six points and nine points back from the leaders, respectively.
There are massive away derbies to still come against the Blues (round 12) and Chiefs (round 14), as home games against the Waratahs, Moana Pasifika and the Highlanders loom as vital.
But after what had been the Canes’ best start to a campaign, opposition sides will be buoyed by seeing them toppled, and may just sense a slice of vulnerability.
Was it all down to the absence of Asafo Aumua, then? The dynamic hooker had featured in all eight previous games. Maybe Cam Roigard’s sidelining is now starting to have a real toll? Perhaps it was heavy legs after the Fiji heat the week prior?
Maybe a mixture of all of the above? What’s more clear is that the Canes will be treating the result as a timely wake-up call.
Here come those Crusaders
That was rather more like it from the seven-time reigning champions, wasn’t it?
Under-seige and bottom of the ladder, their 39-0 blitzing of the Rebels indicated the big red-and-black engine is starting to rev up, with Scott Barrett back in the driving seat and leading the charge superbly.
Fittingly, on a night of utter scrum domination, where the Rebels hooked their entire front-row, including their captain, after half an hour, even Owen Franks got in on the tryscoring action − his first Super Rugby meat pie in some 4943 days (since 2010).
The Crusaders now sit three points outside the top-eight and with David Havili also making his comeback from injury, and Codie Taylor likely to return from his sabbatical and face the Reds this weekend, they will be making some teams above them rather nervous.
Sotutu’s storming form continues
Once upon a time there was a man by the name of Scott Robertson who used to make a living in the back-row with his size and speed, often in the No 8 jersey.
Fast-forward a quarter of a century and the now All Blacks coach will no doubt have the heart warmed by the continued stunning form of the Blues’ Hoskins Sotutu. The 25-year-old has admitted the double-snub of last year (All Blacks and All Blacks XV) “lit a fire” for him and, boy, has he been some kind of man on a mission.
Doubts around whether his hot early-season form could continue have been blown away, after he put in a monster showing in the Blues’ thrilling 41-34 win over the Reds, galloping for a whopping 128 metres on his 10 carries and crossing the line to remain top of the competition’s tryscoring list (nine).
Ardie Savea will return from Japan ready to front against England in July but in Sotutu there is X-factor aplenty for Robertson to play with.