Blues playoff hopes evaporate in draw
22 Blues 22 Bulls Listless hosts fail to put away Bulls in lacklustre match on wet Eden Park
Patrick McKendry
A late penalty miss by Blues first-five Harry Plummer means the Blues’ slim playoffs hopes are now all but over after their draw against the Bulls at Eden Park last night.
They appeared to have the game all but sewn up when Akira Ioane’s converted try put them seven points ahead but a try to first-five Manie Libbok with five minutes remaining, which he converted, put the visitors on equal terms.
However, in a spot of late drama in a match severely lacking it, Plummer had a chance to win the game for the Blues after a high tackle by Bulls wing Cornal Hendricks on Blues flanker Tom Robinson but he put a difficult chance wide of the posts.
This was an echo of his late miss against the Crusaders early in the season but he wasn’t to blame for that defeat and likewise the rookie shouldn’t be held accountable for this result. They matched the Bulls up front but again couldn’t find the finishing quality when it counted, a problem which has haunted them all season.
“We were our own worst enemy for the majority of that game,” Blues coach Leon MacDonald said.
“Good play and then error — it’s where we are at at the moment. We just can’t shake a team because we constantly make errors to keep them in the game. We’re hanging in there and they get that try at the end and that was it.”
It was a hugely disappointing finish for the Blues, who had to win to keep alive their slim chances of featuring in the playoffs.
But a draw was perhaps a fair result because neither side showed much quality during an average 80 minutes of rugby.
Pretty, this was not, and the modest crowd that braved the wet conditions may be thankful this will almost certainly be the Blues’ final home match of the season.
This was a game that had to improve after a first half which was not a good advertisement for the competition. The relatively low skill factor could be excused by the torrential rain that fell in the hours before kickoff and in particular just beforehand.
The lack of energy and enthusiasm was more difficult to understand. This was a crucial match in the context of both teams’ seasons — the Bulls are well in the playoff mix — and yet neither side showed a real desire to take the game by the scruff of the neck and the result was a tepid and often tedious to and fro between two teams not likely to feature at the pointy end of the competition.
Ofa Tuungafasi had replied to Hanro Liebenberg’s try from close range with one of his own and then Scott Scrafton followed suit after halftime as the Blues at least started the second half with intent.
But wing Hendricks’ kick and chase which bamboozled Blues flanker Robinson put the Bulls on even terms before Akira Ioane did what he is so good at from a five-metre scrum. It appeared this was a significant moment in the match but, alas for the hosts, disappointment was lurking.
The Blues aren’t completely out of the finals mix but must take maximum points from their remaining away matches against the Reds and Hurricanes, and on this evidence, they are extremely unlikely to do so. Blues 22 (Ofa Tuungafasi, Scott Scrafton, Akira Ioane tries; Harry Plummer pen, 2 cons)
Bulls 22 (Hanro Liebenberg, Cornal Hendricks, Manie Libbok tries; Libbok pen, 2 cons) Halftime: 10-8.
● The Waratahs kept their playoff hopes alive with a 20-15 victory over the Rebels in Melbourne last night.
A seventh-minute Adam AshleyCooper try gave the visitors a lead they never relinquished to secure a fifth straight win at AAMI Park.
Victory lifted the Waratahs from
13th to eighth, with five games still to play this weekend. They host the Brumbies in Sydney, then finish the regular season in Invercargill.