The Blues have their Super Rugby Pacific championship rivals where they want them – no doubt underestimating the heck out of a franchise that hasn’t lifted the main piece of silverware for more than two decades, and frankly doesn’t look like doing it in 2023.
It was a defiantly upbeat Leon MacDonald who reflected on his team’s unconvincing, and unwieldy, end to the regular season with a 16-9 Friday night victory over the Highlanders that could be generously described as a tough watch. It was a vastly inferior, but decidedly gritty visiting side dragging a far more talented and complete rugby team down into the gutter for an unsightly slugfest.
Supposedly 17,000 fans turned up at Eden Park to watch, and they’re probably entitled to wonder about value for money on the back of a one-try encounter in which the referee whistled 30 penalties and both teams indulged in a bizarre scrumfest which seemed to do no one any favours. The Blues also picked up a worrying injury to All Blacks wing Caleb Carke (described as a quad haematoma) who left the stadium on Friday night in a moonboot.
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Blues coach Leon MacDonald has plenty to ponder heading into a quarterfinal matchup against the Waratahs.
For all the lack of aesthetic qualities to this 10th victory of the year for the Blues, which earns them a home quarterfinal (likely next Friday night) against the Waratahs, MacDonald seemed to have no issues with the stilted nature of the performance as the Blues enter the playoffs about as far removed from last year’s tsunami of form as you could get.
Yes they have some individuals playing well, with Mark Telea (another big night with 121 metres carried and 13 defenders beaten), Rieko Ioane (97m and 9 tackle-busts), Fin Christie, Bryce Heem and Hoskins Sotutu (the latter two absent Friday) in promising nick, Ofa Tuungafasi and Nepo Laulala stepping up their impact and others more than capable of doing similar. They also have the game-changing Beauden Barrett set to return after a fortnight off.
But there is a discernible lack of rhythm and flow to the Blues game at present, and they’re notably failing to cash in on long tracts of dominance. At a time when finals mode needs to be engaged, they’re more clumsy than clinical.
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Blockbusting wing Mark Telea is on top of his game for the Blues, even if his team is struggling for premium form.
Sure, they’ve won seven of their last eight around their second defeat to the Crusaders in Christchurch on May 15, but it’s been patchy as they’ve mixed piecemeal efforts against the Drua, Moana Pasifika, Hurricanes and now ‘Landers, with better showings against the Rebels, Tahs and Reds (sensing a pattern here?).
Even MacDonald had to concede Friday night was an “ugly” victory.
“In the first half our discipline was keeping the Highlanders in the game, but in the second half we went to that scrumfest and the game lost its shape and went messy and scrappy,” he said. “Our guys looked frustrated and probably started to lose patience on attack, and we ended up stumbling home.
“It was a little bit frustrating, but a win’s a win. We’re at that part of the season now when it’s all about winning rugby.”
However the All Blacks assistant coach-elect was adamant his team banked some positives.
“In the first half the interplay between our backs and forwards was really good, and some of the ball-carrying from big men like Nepo and Ofa, on the back of some good play where we got ball to space, was as good as we’ve done all year. But just our ability to finish off … stopped the gap from getting big enough for us to play with a bit more freedom.
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Blues fullback Zarn Sullivan scrambles for the ball against the Highlanders at Eden Park on Friday.
“The scoreboard wasn’t what we wanted, but we closed out the first half a lot better this week, and when we were able to use the ball we had a good balance between taking it to the edges aligned with being physical and direct, along with some smart kicking at times. There was a lot to like.”
Right …
MacDonald did concede it was a vastly different formline with which his team entered these playoffs, and he put some of that down to a lack of cohesion created by constant lineup changes.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries and changes, and cohesion at times hasn’t been there. I thought we were pretty good today, and we’ve got Beauden coming back and Bryce to come back, and though our games haven’t been perfect, we’re in a good position with pretty much a full squad to pick from.
“We’ve just got to make sure we’re better than the opposition. Do we have to be a lot better than tonight? Yeah, we do. We’ll be frustrated with parts of our game, but we’re getting the job done. We’re winning, and that’s the main thing in this game.”
There’s a touch of Ian Foster about MacDonald’s defiance. Let’s see if there is a little more substance to his vision, coaching and motivational abilities.
