By WYNNE GRAY - Blues v Reds
When Ben Tune skated across the Rotorua turf to score against the Chiefs last weekend it broke a drought going back to the 1999 World Cup.
The try did not bring victory for the Reds, but it ended a lull which began after Tune scored in the Wallabies' World Cup triumph against France in Cardiff.
It was a touchdown which reminded anyone who has followed rugby since the start of the Super 12 what a talented wing Tune is when he gets on the park.
But getting him into the Reds and Wallaby No 14 jersey has been the problem. Last season he managed only a game and a half of Super 12 and half an international.
Injuries have frequently interrupted the 24-year-old's career - annoying not just for himself but for those who warm to the thrill of his duels with the other world-class wings in the Southern Hemisphere.
When fit, the 39-test veteran has been the pick of the Wallaby wings and trouble for All Black foes such as Tana Umaga, Jeff Wilson and Jonah Lomu.
Tune is fit this season. Knee, ankle, jaw and muscle problems have been sorted, and he has worked out a routine which lets his problem knee cope with the demands of training and matches.
The wing, whose return to rugby continues tomorrow against the Blues at Albany, hopes he will see a little more ball under the new Reds coaching team of Mark McBain and assistant Roger Gould.
However, the last time Tune was at Albany with the Reds, two years ago, he and Blues opposite Doug Howlett saw little ball as the sides played out the first try-less match in Super 12 history.
"I think it is fair to say that in the past we have been very good defenders, but in the attacking stats we have been somewhere near the bottom," Tune said yesterday.
"We had a successful, solid style which got us to the semis twice, but no further.
"We had a gameplan to get us that far, but not to bury teams. Mark McBain has told us we have got to score tries to be up there in this competition because bonus points can be so important."
The Reds were like a few other sides at this stage - a little rusty and playing in patches, which Tune said contributed to their disappointing result against the Chiefs.
"On a two-week trip like this you would like to get at least one win, and that puts a lot of pressure on us for this match with the Blues. We really thought we had a better chance against the Chiefs. However, I think we showed we were a bit mentally soft in that game."
The Blues have also been working hard on that side of their game, looking to recapture some of that edge which made them such a difficult Super 12 foe in the first three years of the series.
Plans have been disturbed by injuries to Nick White and Mark Robinson, while No 8 Ron Cribb has done little practice this week because of the flu.
But the critical man for the Blues will be Carlos Spencer. Nothing changes there from week to week and, as a reflection of the five-eighths' contribution, the Blues have had a loss and a narrow win.
They want to get more ball to the flanks where they feel Howlett, Mils Muliaina and Orene Ai'i can do some damage, but working to some width will have to be planned and not some haphazard adventure.
The best intentions of both sides might, however, depend on their rapport with referee Tappe Henning and his rulings on the laws which have assumed the early Super 12 focus.
The Reds were bemused by some of Henning's rulings at Rotorua, but have had a week to think about their response, and the Blues have yet to encounter his 2001 style.
New Zealand's Super 12 squads
2001 Super 12 schedule/results
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