Sam Darry in action for Canterbury. Photo / Photosport
Sam Darry in action for Canterbury. Photo / Photosport
The Blues could be poised to unleash one of their prime offseason recruits against the Highlanders at Eden Park on Sunday afternoon.
Height is a rare commodity in New Zealand rugby. The Blues, therefore, caused quite the stir when they plucked Sam Darry from the Crusaders' finely tuned system.
LeonMacDonald was so keen to secure Darry's 2.03 metre frame that he offered the now 20-year-old prospect a three-year deal with the Blues before he had played a provincial match.
After spending two years in the Crusaders academy, Darry knew his path to the starting red-and-black second-row was blocked by All Blacks Sam Whitelock and Scott Barrett, with Quinten Strange also in the mix.
Despite the promise of significantly more game time Darry's move north, away from the proven championship-winning Crusaders, turned heads to leave Scott Robertson among the frustrated Christchurch fraternity.
Since shifting north late last year Darry has quickly settled into his new team, moving in with Blues loose forward/lock Tom Robinson and impressing captain Patrick Tuipulotu.
"He's very young but very mature at the same time – it must be something about those Cantabrians," Tuipulotu said. "He's not scared to pipe up and he's always offering input. That's what you want in any player coming through. He's got a lot of insight. You don't need to tell him twice to do anything, he knows what he needs to do, he's been in the professional environment for a couple of years now with Canterbury.
"It's good to have some tall timber up here. I can't remember the last time we had someone over two metres in our lineout. It's a pretty good option for us."
Indeed some eight years ago, former All Blacks lock Anthony Boric was the last two-metre presence to stalk the Blues lineout. Before him you have to go back to Ali Williams, who last featured for the Blues in 2007.
With the Highlanders using their lineout as an attacking weapon – kicking to the corner and attempting to rumble over their favoured pet play - this week may be the perfect opportunity to inject Darry's potentially disruptive height into the mix.
"It will be a good contest, I'm looking forward to it," Tuipulotu said. "In the past we've had troubles with our lineouts against them so there's been a lot of onus on what we do there whether it be option-taking or where we are on the field. We've got a good plan coming up."
Sam Darry in action for Canterbury. Photo / Photosport
Not required for the Blues' opening round win over the Hurricanes in Wellington, Darry's sizeable frame was impossible to miss as he took a significant part in Wednesday training at Alexandra Park.
While Darry will be expected to continually add bulk, Tuipulotu revealed his locking partner has already packed on muscle during his time in Auckland.
"He's put on five or so kilograms. He's definitely a hard trainer. He's living with Tom Robinson so those two together will definitely make for some good gains in the gym. Tom is also a good role model in terms of being a professional and with him being a Blues man through and through, it's good for Sam to get around him and find out the ways."
Returning from a unique bye round, which involved the team remaining out of Auckland during the week-long lockdown, second-year skipper and new father Tuipulotu is demanding more than the Blues' rusty first-up effort against the Hurricanes.
"We won but it wasn't up to our standards. We know we can play a lot better so that's a good motivator for us going into this Highlanders week."
With the Blues boasting eight All Blacks and one Samoan international in their pack this year, Tuipulotu admits there are no excuses for the forwards not consistently fronting.
"There's no treading around it we know we've got a strong forward pack; we know we've got a good scrum. It's important for us to know that. You can't go onto the field and umm and ahh about whether you want to scrum. We know we can do it every scrum. We've also got a strong maul so we understand if we get our set piece right it can be really dangerous.
"You can't stress it enough - a good set piece will give you a good platform and with a good platform, you can pretty much do anything. The Crusaders do the simple things well. We all strive to be like that. They are the bar at the moment. Their last performance against the Hurricanes just showed how clean and crisps things can flow off your set piece."
