With the Blues on fire and Ardie Savea speechless, the weekend of Super Rugby Pacific had plenty of talking points.
In Christchurch they're circling the wagons
Mark down Good Friday night for a game in Christchurch between the Crusaders and the Blues that will not only be a massiveclash, but also a chance to preview what will probably be the final of Super Rugby Pacific in June.
The Blues hit the form of their season when they beat the Chiefs 25-0 in Hamilton. There's a tenacity that has replaced the occasional lapses in concentration that plagued the Blues for nearly two decades.
They needed all that grit. The scoreline indicates an easy victory, but the Chiefs fought tooth and nail at Waikato Stadium, with three tries only disallowed after examination by the Television Match Official Richard Kelly.
Once again Chiefs co-captain Sam Cane was fearlessly effective. And their left wing, Etene Nanai-Seturo, a sevens silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics last year, showed such blinding speed he was able to do something I can't remember seeing any wing in rugby manage. In the second half Nanai-Seturo caught up with, and tackled, Rieko Ioane, who has been clocked in a Bledisloe test running at 38.5km/h.
A touch of genius helps too
As well as steely resolve on defence by all the Blues, Beauden Barrett, whose game in general was top class, took the match out of reach in the 52nd minute. His kick for Tom Robinson to score was near-perfect. With Stephen Perofeta's conversion it was 20-0 to the Blues, and, as hard as the Chiefs fought, a comeback victory became an impossible dream.
Ardie Savea had a lot to say after the Hurricanes lost to the Crusaders. Photo / photosport.nz
Last year it would have been different
Hurricanes captain Ardie Savea was, "lost for words" and "broken hearted", after no penalty was awarded in the last lineout in the last minute of the match in Wellington, won 24-21 by the Crusaders.
On the field Savea begged referee Brendon Pickerill to refer to his TMO what Savea reasonably saw as a lineout infringement. Savea's opposing captain Scott Barrett jumped against him and Barrett's arm, with the benefit of watching television replays after the game was over, certainly appeared to have hooked Savea's arm.
If Savea, as the Canes captain, had been making his frantic appeal last year in Super Rugby the TMO would have been brought into play. In 2021 World Rugby experimented with a captain's referral. In the first 75 minutes of a game only foul play, or a dispute over a try could be appealed. But in last five minutes any infringement could be questioned.
The captain's call was quietly dropped because it was decided too much time was wasted with it. On Saturday night Savea was more than emotionally justified in his pleas for a TMO appraisal. But Pickerill and his assistant referees on the sideline didn't see any offence live, and in 2022, by the cold letter of the law there was no second chance to get it right.
The ending aside, it was a nail biter
The controversy over the last lineout overshadowed what was a terrific battle, with the lead changing seven times.
For the Crusaders there was the heartening sight of Braydon Ennor, plagued with everything since 2020 from a serious knee injury to appendicitis, running freely and making thundering tackles.
For the Canes the experiment with Jordie Barrett at second-five looked well worth persisting with. There were reminders in open field play of what makes him such a good fullback, but he's also a clever footballer with keen spatial awareness, a tremendous asset in any midfielder.
Rhys Marshall of the Highlanders scores a try against Moana Pasifika. Photo / photosport.nz
Aren't the wings supposed to be the glamour boys?
The Highlanders scored six tries as they defeated Moana Pasifika 37-17 in Dunedin. The second was scored by hooker Andrew Makalio, and the fourth and the sixth by his replacement, Rhys Marshall. The leading try scorer in Super Rugby this year is Blues hooker Kurt Eklund. Last year the second-highest scorer was Crusaders hooker Codie Taylor.
As someone who as a general rule of thumb has always believed front rowers are the heart and often the brains of a rugby team, all power to the happy hookers, most of whom have scored by rumbling along at the back of a maul from a lineout near the line.
A try is a try, but hand on heart, if you had the choice between watching a sweaty shoving match between 16 players, with the ball often hidden from sight, and a flashy wing dashing down the sideline in the open air, which would be the try you'd prefer to watch?
