Blues v Chiefs: Player ratings from Super Rugby Pacific final

Patrick Tuipulotu was rightly lauded as a hero at Eden Park. Photo / Photosport

The standouts and strugglers from the Blues’ crushing win over the Chiefs at Eden Park.

Blues

Stephen Perofeta - 8

Safe when he needed to put boot to ball and elusive on the occasions he opted to keep it in his grasp.

Mark Tele’a - 7

Didn’t appear do anything significant enough to lose or gain points, probably because tracking 40-plus players while banging away on a keyboard is impossible, but was certainly involved.

Rieko Ioane - 7

Harmonised well with his elder sibling for a second try brought to you by the Blues Brothers. That alone was worth seven points.

AJ Lam - 8

Stuffed the stat sheet with ball in hand — beating seven defenders while making 67 metres on 12 carries — and chimed in with the all-important fifth try.

Caleb Clarke - 9

Score a hat-trick in a final and it’s an automatic nine — those are just the rules. Each was a close-range finish but a close-range finish was exactly what was required to finish from close range.

Harry Plummer - 9

Showed greater composure and direction to outshine his opposite number on both sides of the ball. Belied the sodden conditions by landing all sevens attempts from the tee, although he really should do a good job when it’s wet given the surname and everything.

Finlay Christie - 8

Picked the right pass almost every time the ball was in his secure hands, with the pinpoint cutout option for Clarke’s third try a highlight. Even won a ruck penalty to snuff out the Chiefs’ best chance in the opening half.

Hoskins Sotutu - 8

Seemed to take to heart his coach’s words about there being “no prizes for artistic display”, punishing his opponents’ bodies while regularly charging over the gainline. Showed some artistry in the air to steal a lineout.

Dalton Papali’i - 7

Never as visible as his loose-forward cohort but still part of team who scored 41 points in a final so the No 7 banks the standard seven.

The Blues Brothers celebrate their triumph. Photo / Photosport

Akira Ioane - 9

Led his team with 18 carries and grabbed the first try in his last game for the Blues, showing sufficiently safe hands to ground. Handling was even better to offload while tumbling into touch for the second. Conceded a couple of penalties if you were nitpicking like a weirdo.

Sam Darry - 7

Beat one defender and committed one turnover. Name might have been said one time by commentary team.

Patrick Tuipulotu - 10

Tested out that poor knee by making a bone-bruising bust with his first carry, setting the tone for the ultimate captain’s knock. Played on after adding an ankle injury to his troubles shortly after the break. Apparently impervious to pain and lauded as a superhero when he finally gave his body a rest.

Marcel Renata - 7

Who says rugby has too many stoppages? Never been said by anyone on player-ratings deadline, that’s for sure. More stoppages, please.

Ricky Riccitelli - 8

Flawless with his lineout throws. Missed a handful of tackles but didn’t seem too costly in the grand scheme of things.

Ofa Tu’ungafasi - 7

Part of a stable scrum negated well by the opposition. Replaced early in the second spell, unable to find a cure for what had visibly ailed him late in the first half.

Reserves:

Kurt Eklund - NA

Joshua Fusitu’a - 7

Angus Ta’avao - 7

Josh Beehre - 7

Adrian Choat - 7

Taufa Funaki - 7

Bryce Heem - NA

Cole Forbes - NA

Shaun Stevenson and the Chiefs were second best. Photo / Photosport

Chiefs

Shaun Stevenson - 2

Turned up to the Garden of Eden and delivered a performance worthy of Dante’s Inferno. Threw away an early opportunity with an over-exuberant cutout pass; coughed up a high ball to grant the Blues another golden chance; made only six metres and completed just three tackles despite spending much of the match on defence. Yikes.

Emoni Narawa - 5

On the positive side, recorded the most running metres of any Chiefs back. On the negative side, that was 34. Missed a couple tackles, too.

Anton Lienert-Brown - 6

Produced the Chiefs’ only magical moment to set up what might have created a definitive new definition for ‘consolation try’ as substitute Simon Parker crossed late.

Rameka Poihipi - 4

Haven’t we as a society moved past assigning human beings a numerical value? So cold, so impersonal. Hope no one is rating these ratings.

Etene Nanai-Seturo - 4

Botched a potential counter-attack by slicing his kick out on the full while heading for a significant halftime deficit. That summed up a Chiefs attack that would have given coach Clayton McMillan *groans in advance* the blues.

Damian McKenzie - 3

Never imposed himself in the manner he had for most of the season. Missed half as many tackles as he made (10). Fortunate to escape after gifting the ball back to the Blues late in the opening spell. Less fortunate in…every other area.

Cortez Ratima - 4

No variation to spark a limited Chiefs attack, never threatening to snipe around the edges as the Blues defence was allowed to settle into a comfortable night’s work.

Wallace Sititi - 8

Only special players can shine on a losing side in a match like that. Broke through the defence with his first carry before proceeding to impress every time the Chiefs were wise enough to give him possession. And led both teams with 22 tackles. In a way, he was a winner. In another, more accurate way, the Blues were the winners.

Wallace Sititi was the best of a bad bunch. Photo / Photosport

Luke Jacobson - 6

The oft-penalised loosie was pinged at a bad moment and allowed the Blues an early chance to build their lead. Battled manfully but spent most of his time being admonished for his team’s poor discipline by ref Nic Berry.

Samipeni Finau - 5

Whenever you read player ratings and see a phrase like ‘performed core duties well’ that means the rater didn’t really notice the player.

Tupou Vaa’i - 5

Performed core duties well. Conceded a couple of penalties. More observations as they come to hand.

Jimmy Tupou - 6

Tackled himself to a standstill and added a lineout steal for good measure. If extra marks were awarded for preventing a 31-point loss from becoming at least a 34-point loss, Tupou would collect.

George Dyer - 4

Took a seat in the naughty chair as the Chiefs showcased a worrying addiction to infringing. Missed too many tackles to hinder a desperate defensive effort

Tyrone Thompson - 3

First start of the season and it showed. One wayward early throw turned over possession inside his own 22, allowing the Blues to snag their second try. Tough ask to come in from the cold like that. Hopefully warmed by a stop at KFC on the trip back over the Bombays.

Aidan Ross - 5

Scrummaged well enough as the Chiefs held their own. Presumably. Who really knows what goes on in there.

Reserves:

Mills Sanerivi - NA

Jared Proffit - NA

Reuben O’Neill - NA

Manaaki Selby-Rickit - NA

Simon Parker - 10

Xavier Roe - NA

Quinn Tupaea - NA

Daniel Rona - NA