Hoskins Sotutu and the Blues are moving on to the Super Rugby final. Photosport
Hoskins Sotutu and the Blues are moving on to the Super Rugby final. Photosport
Eight talking points heading into the final of Super Rugby Pacific.
The final rugby needs
Super Rugby, struggling since 2007, at last has a beacon of light to look forward to.
The only thing that could make the final at Eden Park between the Blues and the Crusaders on Saturdaybetter would be an afternoon kick-off. Everything else is there.
Who could guarantee a winner? The Crusaders showed in their 20-7 defeat of the Chiefs they'll always find the energy for one more tackle, while the backbone Leon MacDonald's installed in the Blues has never been better demonstrated than by how they gritted their way to a 20-19 win over the Brumbies.
What can be guaranteed is another riveting round is coming in the intense rivalry that ignited way back in 1998 when the Crusaders pulled off what remains the biggest upset in the history of the competition by beating a brilliant Blues team that boasted 14 All Blacks, and was coached by Graham Henry.
Jack Goodhue of the Crusaders celebrates a try in the semifinal win over the Chiefs. Photosport
When Super stars collide
Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo'unga both played such massive roles all over the park in their semifinals you could have sworn some mad scientist had slipped clones onto the field with them.
Mo'unga was extraordinary in Christchurch, fearlessly running his team out of trouble, setting up tries, making key tackles, and goal kicking like a laser-guided machine.
Amazingly Barrett was just as stunning at Eden Park, his fearlessness matched by his skill. How their clash on Saturday pans out may be the deciding factor in the final.
The Brumbies' fierce halfback Nic White said before the game "need to focus on doing what we know works, and let's stick at it and stick at it."
As tedious as they are to watch, lineout drives work for the Brumbies, and if there was ever a blueprint for the Crusaders, it was the fact two late tries off drives almost won the day at Eden Park for the men from Canberra.
Quote of the semis
Referee Ben O'Keeffe to White: "Don't yell at me or I'll reverse the penalty."
One that got away
As Brumbies inside centre Irae Simone blasted 40 metres to a remarkable try just two minutes into the Eden Park semifinal you saw the sort of explosive play that Ma'a Nonu once brought to the All Blacks.
Born in Auckland, raised in Auckland, schooled at Mt Albert Grammar, where he played alongside Jack Goodhue, the Simone household were, nevertheless, staunch Wallabies fans. When he was 11 they filmed Irae saying he wanted to be a Wallaby.
Good on him for realising his dream, but if he'd changed his mind before moving to Australia and playing tests, how open would New Zealand rugby arms have been to a block-busting midfielder like him?
It'll be the scrums, not an earthquake
Blues tighthead prop Nepo Laulala has had a mixed season, but his return to the front row on Saturday night was a triumph. Packing down against James Slipper, a 110-test veteran, Laulala spearheaded the destruction of the Brumbies scrum.
Under the guidance of a largely unsung hero, astute forward coach Jason Ryan, the Crusaders' scrum is a weapon too, as the Chiefs discovered in Christchurch. The scrums in the final should threaten the Richter scale.
There's no question that Scott Robertson's boundless enthusiasm helps make him a great coach, but so does his ability to shrewdly read a game. One subbing, of hooker Codie Taylor, was injury driven, but running on forwards from his bench early in the second half made sure that players in the defensive line stayed fresh as the Chiefs gradually ran out of steam.
The wayward wind
A wind like an icy razorblade blew straight off the Alps and down the ground of Orangetheory Stadium on Friday night. The Chiefs won the toss and chose to play into it.
If a fiercely parochial crowd wasn't enough to make sure they knew they were far from home, when they started the second half, as their coach Clayton McMillan ruefully noted after the game, even the elements conspired against them. What had been a near gale calmed to not much more than a breeze at their backs in the second half.
