Blues head coach Leon MacDonald has reasons to smile. Photo / Photosport
Blues head coach Leon MacDonald has reasons to smile. Photo / Photosport
COMMENT:
What is it that wins Super Rugby championships? I'd wager it's a talented squad and management team, luck, consistency and excellent leadership but also the desire to, for example, make a tackle when your lungs are bursting and there is little expectation on you to do so.
Straight afterthe Crusaders outlasted the Reds in Christchurch on Friday, former All Blacks lock Ross Filipo used a highlights clip on social media to point out an individual defensive effort from the home side which escaped the attention of the commentators and probably most viewers and spectators, too.
It was that of reserve prop George Bower, and while he failed to stop wing Henry Speight from scoring a try in the final eight minutes which threatened to turn the game on its head, that he started his covering run after a lineout on the Reds' 22m line and had the pace and will to get back and attempt to stop one of the quickest players on the field spoke volumes about what he and his three-time defending champion team are about.
Bower was always behind the ball but always in the fight and on a different night may have been in a position to stop the try. As it was, Speight fended off his despairing dive and went over in the tackle of rival wing Sevu Reece.
"Just wanted to highlight why [the Crusaders] are consistent contenders," Filipo wrote.
"Look at the work rate of their reserve prop #17 - where he starts, the effort he applies and where he finishes in that passage of play. Respect."
Bower's effort won't have escaped the attention of coach Scott Robertson and while the red and black machine has yet to hit top gear – and overall this was an underwhelming collective performance - the commitment of players such as their No 17 suggests there will be no shortage of effort as they attempt to find solutions.
All of which brings us to the Blues and their famous victory over the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday, a win which snapped an unsuccessful away streak against Kiwi teams which stretched back to the start of 2013.
Blues winger Mark Telea scores against the Hurricanes. Photo / Photosport
This was the Blues' third successive victory and they did it four days after arriving back from South Africa.
They are now sixth overall on the table and should fancy their chances of beating the Lions at Eden Park on Saturday afternoon. The Johannesburg-based team have won only once this season and were taken apart by the Rebels in Melbourne at the weekend. Heck, even the Waratahs have beaten them.
A playoff place appears a real possibility. Are the Blues championship material? Probably not due to the points listed right at the top. They probably don't have the depth to go all the way this year and they don't have enough leadership in crucial positions, but there are increasing hints they are travelling in the right direction.
Blues head coach Leon MacDonald has reasons to smile. Photo / Photosport
Their 33-14 victory in Cape Town over the previously unbeaten Stormers was one of their most significant wins in years and they backed it up by withstanding a huge amount of pressure from the Hurricanes at Sky Stadium and watched as the home side self-destructed via the dismissals of Tyrel Lomax, Vaea Fifita and Jordie Barrett.
Coach Leon MacDonald understandably bristled afterwards in the press conference when he was asked whether the red card for Lomax "saved" the Blues. "I'd say we had better discipline," was his short reply.
But perhaps even more encouraging for him and his side was the tackle by flanker Blake Gibson on Hurricanes' first-five Fletcher Smith at the end of the first half. Another try would have undone a brilliant defensive effort from the visitors and it looked likely when Smith darted away only to be bowled by an incredibly determined Gibson.
