Blues hold on to beat Bulls
Finally, some light respite for the Blues.
Eden Park continues to be a source of magic for John Kirwan’s men but their 23-18 win over the Bulls also featured some the qualities needed to turn this troubled franchise around.
Sure, this season is a writeoff, but you wouldn’t know it to see the effort of the Blues players last night.
They were far from perfect. But they were tenacious. They refused to give up, despite being on the wrong side of territory and possession for much of the match, and their reward was knocking over one of South Africa’s best teams this season.
Three games at Eden Park for three wins. This was backs-tothe-wall stuff.
During a week in which pressure and speculation intensified on Kirwan, the only downside for the Blues was a mounting injury toll also grew.
Already without Jerome Kaino and Charles Piutau for the remainder of the season, the Blues saw stand-in captain Steven Luatua helped from the field with a suspected dislocated shoulder injury after 54 solid minutes. It was a concerning sight for the former All Blacks loose forward.
The was nothing pretty about the Bulls but it rarely is with this team. One-dimensional rugby is their bread and butter. They used their big boys to work up the field and challenged the breakdown with vigour on defence.
Just as he will be for the Boks later this year, star pivot Handre Pollard is crucial to the Bulls game-plan. After challenging the line and popping a nice offload he laid on a try for second-five partner Jan Serfontein in the first half.
The Bulls set up camp in the Bulls half, enjoying mountains of possession. Lolagi Visinia’s piece of individual explosiveness, which saw him beat lumbering prop Marcel van der Merwe on the outside, and Ihaia West’s boot were the only things that kept the Blues in the match.
Somehow, Kirwan’s men led 16-13 at the break.
From there they grew into the match; they came out and stuck to their task.
Luatua put his body on the line until he left the field; Akira Ioane did the same. Tony Woodcock and Charlie Faumuina absorbed plenty of big body clashes round the fringes. Once again, George Moala was powerful in midfield.
Fittingly it was Moala’s late try that allowed his men to hold on. Maybe, just maybe, there’s some pride left to play for.