Their underdog status, a belief they are finding form at the right time of year and the hefty Crusaders injury toll conspire to conjure a quiet confidence from the Blues as they attempt to defy the burden of history in their Christchurch semifinal.
Records alone suggest the Blues’ enthusiasm ismisplaced. The Crusaders are unbeaten in 28 home playoff matches, and with 17 wins from their last 18 games against the Blues, their favouritism is unquestioned.
This year the Crusaders are two-from-two against Leon MacDonald’s men, with the last meeting delivering a 15-3 victory at their notorious burial ground.
In a bid for inspiration the Blues this week welcomed Sir Graham Henry in for a pep talk about what it takes to win in Christchurch. Henry was preparing to assume charge of the All Blacks the one and only time the Blues trumped the Crusaders in a playoff match in 2003. Carlos Spencer, Mils Muliaina, Joe Rokocoko and Doug Howlett featured in the Blues backline that day, and MacDonald played for the Crusaders.
Two decades on, MacDonald hopes Friday is not the final time he leads the Blues and that they instead finally prove their worth in this entrenched rivalry to celebrate 26-year-old Rieko Ioane becoming Super Rugby’s youngest centurion.
“The challenge of going down there and potentially breaking that unbeaten playoff record is a big carrot and great motivation for us,” MacDonald said after making one change, recalling Caleb Clarke from injury on the left wing, to his starting team. “We’re confident. We’ve been building nicely and there’s a bit of continuity with our squad.
“We learnt a lot in the first two games with the Crusaders and the last time we were down there. They changed a lot of what they’ve done previously so that gives us a feel for where they’re taking their game. We feel we’ve grown a lot since last time we were there.
“Do we owe them one? Yeah, we’re desperate to win. We want to play to our potential and show everyone we’re a good team. I don’t think in our group we’re spooked in any way.”
With their spiritual leader Sam Whitelock and eight All Blacks including Ethan Blackadder, Joe Moody and Cullen Grace absent, and the Crusaders fielding a lightweight bench, the Blues will never get a better opportunity to storm Christchurch on such a significant occasion.
To achieve that they must vastly improve their tactical kicking from their last visit to Christchurch. In that defeat last month the Crusaders typically suffocated the Blues to force a raft of wayward, wasteful kicks. The Crusaders were helped by Dalton Papali’i’s red card – for his high shot on Richie Mo’unga – but MacDonald knows the importance of rectifying this area.
“You can’t not go down there and kick,” MacDonald said. “You’ve got to kick well, choose your times to kick and apply pressure. With their defensive wall they love you to play with the ball. They’d smother you that way. Kicking at the right times is really important and that’s something we’ve spoken about at length this week.”
History aside, the Blues’ confidence stems from the belief they possess the ability to strike the balance between set piece parity, tactical nous and utilising their attacking threats.
In recent weeks the Blues scrum has been an increasingly vaunted weapon and with Whitelock missing, their lineout faces less scrutiny. Defensively the Blues back their resilience and with ball in hand they have no shortage of dominant ball carriers.
Zarn Sullivan’s left boot should alleviate tactical kicking pressure on Beauden Barrett. Mark Telea is one of the competition’s most elusive talents. Clarke’s return injects another dimension to their aerial contests, too.
Talk is cheap. Christchurch on a cold, damp winter’s night is miles from a sun-drenched training day at Alexandra Park. A low-scoring battle of attrition is expected.
“It’s cold and greasy down there at this time of year. They’ve got a strong set piece, maul and scrum. When things get tough they go back to that and use it as a weapon. We’re pretty happy with where our scrum is at and our maul defence has been strong so those are areas we’ve got to back ourselves to take them on.
“You’ve got to have the perfect game to go down there and win. It would be amazing if we could get the win and create a bit of history. Any time you beat the Crusaders in Christchurch is special.”
Reaching the final, and ending Scott Robertson’s Crusaders tenure in the process, would be sufficient reward but Ioane’s record-breaking milestone adds another reason to front.
“There’s definitely going to be a lot of family down there,” Ioane said. “For the time being it’s about parking that emotion. It’s no fairytale night if we don’t get the job done first.
“Looking back on my earlier years [beating the Crusaders was] something that didn’t seem achievable at the time, we were just making up the numbers. Now we feel like we’ve got the team and belief.”
The time to walk that talk has arrived.
Blues: Zarn Sullivan, Mark Telea, Rieko Ioane, Bryce Heem, Caleb Clarke, Beauden Barrett, Fin Christie; Hoskins Sotutu, Dalton Papali’i (capt), Akira Ioane, James Tucker, Tom Robinson, Nepo Laulala, Ricky Riccitelli, Ofa Tuungafasi. Reserves: Kurt Eklund, Jordan Lay, Marcel Renata, Cameron Suafoa, Adrian Choat, Sam Nock, Harry Plummer, Stephen Perofeta
Crusaders: Will Jordan, Dallas McLeod, Braydon Ennor, Jack Goodhue, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Richie Mo’unga, Mitchell Drummond, Christian Lio-Willie, Tom Christie, Sione Havili-Talitui, Quinten Strange, Scott Barrett (capt), Oli Jager, Codie Taylor, Tamaiti Williams. Reserves: Brodie McAlister, Kershawl Sykes-Martin, Reuben O’Neill, Dominic Gardiner, Corey Kellow, Willi Heinz, Fergus Burke, Chay Fihaki
