Leicester Fainga'anuku of the Crusaders and Dalton Papali'i of the Blues. Photo / Getty Images
Leicester Fainga'anuku of the Crusaders and Dalton Papali'i of the Blues. Photo / Getty Images
Dalton Papali’i could not help but stoke looming hostilities with the arch enemy. Moments after the Blues dismissed the Waratahs to surge into the Super Rugby semifinals, revenge consumed Papali’i.
Memories of last year’s crushing final defeat remain fresh for the candid Blues skipper and his team. With a rematchagainst the Crusaders in Christchurch headlining the Super Rugby semifinals on Friday night, Papalii and the Blues would clearly love nothing more than to rectify their flop in last year’s big dance.
“I don’t think we need to change anything. I know the boys will be looking forward to it. There’s a bit of bad blood there with us and the Crusaders,” Papali’i said after the Blues battered the Waratahs into submission in their dominant 41-12 quarter-final victory. “We look forward to these big challenges. Going down there and getting one over them – you couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.
“It dates back years ago with the rivalry we have with them – the city boys going up against those boys from down south. It gets stronger each year. The blood gets a bit more boiled after a while. Just ask him.”
Papalii’s last remark was a nod to Blues coach Leon MacDonald who has freely admitted neither he nor Crusaders opposite Scott Robertson take losses against each other well.
Such a coaching faceoff - the final time MacDonald and Robertson meet in Super Rugby before joining forces with the All Blacks next year – is but one engrossing storyline that hovers over the semifinal.
In May this year the Blues were suffocated in their 15-3 defeat in Christchurch that featured a series of aimless kicks to try counter the Crusaders’ sustained defensive pressure. That result was merely the latest chapter in a grim record in the Garden City where the Blues boast one win in the last 19 years.
The Crusaders, following their quarter-final victory over the Drua, are also unbeaten in 28 home playoff games.
With those seemingly daunting records in mind MacDonald launched the first set of mind games by suggesting the Blues have nothing to lose, while admitting they did not handle the weight of pressure after riding a 15-match unbeaten run into last year’s Eden Park finale.
“That’s really exciting for us. We can go down there with a mindset to play and having a real crack at them,” MacDonald said. “That sits nicer with us than having the pressure of expectation. We’ll get stuck in and look forward to that.
“I was thinking ‘man I hope this isn’t my last day here’ and it’s not which is awesome. We’ve got another week and I’d desperately love another one past next week as well.”
Zarn Sullivan crosses for the Blues against the Waratahs. Photo / photosport.nz
The Blues were far from the complete package against the Waratahs, who limped into the quarter-finals after becoming Moana Pasifika’s only victims this year. After a scrappy first half the Blues were fortunate to lead at the break but as they gradually imposed their forward-led physicality, the Waratahs wilted.
“Some of our carry and breakdown work, which we’ve spoken about a lot, was excellent,” MacDonald said. “At the end of the game we were starting to get some massive metres through the middle. We’d broken them down and we were starting to get the rewards.
“It’s still not perfect but we’re getting down there and giving ourselves a chance to score which is much better than we’ve experienced a few weeks back where we weren’t creating a lot because we weren’t stringing phases together.”
MacDonald is hopeful Caleb Clarke will return from an ankle injury to take his place on the left wing for the Crusaders. With the Blues, barring Patrick Tuipulotu’s season-ending fractured arm, at full-strength at the right end of the season, a quiet sense of confidence is beginning to emanate.
“Beauden [Barrett] is hitting good form at the right time of year; Dalton probably had his best game of the year. Then there’s Nepo [Laulala], Rieko [Ioane] and Bryce [Heem] who was outstanding again for us.”
Downcast Waratahs coach Darren Coleman stopped short of tipping the Blues to pull off an upset against the Crusaders but after losing to both teams in the last three weeks, he believes MacDonald’s men are well placed to rattle the six-time defending champions.
“I feel like the Crusaders are limping a little bit - they’ve got a few injuries. I do have a feeling the Blues will go down there and give that a good shot,” Coleman said. “We felt the worst of it then. When they roll forward there’s so many big, talented ball carriers coming one after the other. They’re hard to handle.”
