Hoskins Sotutu continued his form resurgence in another statement performance from the Blues pack. After being cast aside last year, the former All Blacks No 8 has made his presence felt this season to send Scott Robertson a consistent message.
Dynamic Hurricanes No 8 Brayden Iose and Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson are other compelling All Blacks candidates at the back of the scrum – and Ardie Savea will return from Japan in time for the test season – but with another two tries, turnovers and prominent with ball in hand, Sotutu ensured he remains at the forefront of the national conversation.
With eight in 2024, Sotutu sits equal with Andrew Blowers (1996) and Akira Ioane (2018) for most tries by a Blues forward in one season.
On the back of a supremely dominant forward display that featured strong, direct ball carrying, clean-out work and a maul that delivered two tries, the Blues notched their fifth win in succession – and their 10th straight victory at home.
While the opposition left a lot to be desired at times, in their last four games the Blues have conceded 24 points while scoring 172.
Such a lopsided ledger fully justifies their status in second place, five points behind the unbeaten Hurricanes.
“There’s a bit more confidence growing with these games and that’s important. There’s some good things and we need to keep that going,” Cotter said. We’ll park this one, which is great. We’re going away for our next two games so that’s a bit different.
“We play the Hurricanes when we come back from Australia so we can use those two games to try get better and see if we can get to their level. They’re setting the standard we need to get to. We’ll just work away quietly and look forward to the test in three weeks’ time.”
Under Vern Cotter the Blues pack is unequivocally their unapologetic lethal weapon. Five of their eight tries came from the low numbers tonight to further reinforce this strength.
The Blues made light work of the Brumbies from the outset to power out to a 24-0 halftime lead and never look back.
By the final quarter the Blues had broken any sign of the Brumbies resistance to regularly bust them up the middle and cause damage with repeat offloads.
“I put it down to the coaches having faith in us and Paul Tito doing some massive work with our lineout,” Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu said. “There’s that part of it. That style of game suits our forward pack. We know when we get a roll on and we’re feeling good that confidence plays a big part in how we go.
“The challenge for our Blues side is when we play well how do we back it up.”
With Stephen Perofeta, Zarn Sullivan and Finlay Christie to return from injury in the coming weeks, the Blues are fast forming a serious title charge.
There was a sense that the Australian teams had improved this season after recording six wins – one less than their total from last year – against Kiwi opposition. This blowout, though, points to a stark reality check.
The Brumbies were their own worst enemies at times by committing fourteen turnovers which left them attempting to live off scraps of possession. Making 150 more tackles than the Blues is never a recipe for success.
While the Blues diet of Australian opposition continues with a trip to Brisbane next week, it doesn’t get any easier for the Brumbies with the league leading Hurricanes awaiting in Wellington.
Blues 46 (Hoskins Sotutu 2, Caleb Clarke, Dalton Papali’i, Taufa Funaki, Ricky Riccitelli, Kurt Eklund tries, Harry Plummer 4 con, pen)
Brumbies 7 (Luke Reimer try; Noah Lolesio con)
HT: 24-0
