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Blues captain embraces Pita Ahki’s 'different perspective'
By Henry Lee at Eden Park, Auckland
Blues and All Blacks XV captain Dalton Papali’i was not shy in complimenting Pita Ahki’s positive influence on his team, after their narrow 19-15 defeat against the Chiefs at Eden Park on Saturday night.
The Chiefs’ bench came in clutch against the Blues, running in two quick tries after an error-ridden opening 25 minutes for both teams in Auckland.
Vern Cotter’s Blues were in the fight for long periods of the round one fixture, and had the ball on the edge of the Chiefs’ 22 while they were leading in the second half.
The Chiefs then managed to stop that opportunity, before icing the game with tries from both Samisoni Taukei’aho and Cortez Ratima.
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Ahki, who played for the Blues thirteen times across the 2014 and 2015 seasons, took no time in getting started with ball in hand, running straight at the Chiefs defence on multiple occasions.
The 33-year-old midfielder made ten carries on the night, breaking a number of tackles on the way, often getting over the gain line for the Blues off first-phase attack.
In Saturday evening’s post-match press conference, Papali’i was full of praise for the experienced second-five, where the All Black told reporters that Ahki “looks 21 out there”.
“He’s massive, you can look at his resume, what he’s done overseas, and played with some pretty quality players, and played in a pretty tough competition,” the Blues captain said.
“So for him to come him to come back home, you can just see when he speaks, everyone listens, and his words are powerful, he’s experienced and you can see he looks 21 out there.
“He’s fit, he’s ready to go, he’s powerful and he’s just been a big addition for us, and especially being in the whole preseason, where the All Blacks aren’t in there for a lot of the preseason.
“So his voice has been massive, and he’s a bloody awesome addition to us, and it’s good to have him back home.”
Ahki’s experience from in France and overseas will be crucial for the Blues in 2026 after long-time centre Rieko Ioane made the move to Leinster for a season-long sabbatical.
Papali’i acknowledges that Ahki’s perspective on the game has helped him in many ways, and it’s only the first game of the season.
“He looks at the game differently, he’s not very out there spoken, but one thing that I really respect of him he comes in when I talk to the team, and then he’ll come and have a one-on-one with me and just talk about, what if we do it this way or that way?
“So his words are powerful and everything he says it’s pretty gold to me. So like I said, he has a resume overseas it speaks for itself, and he’s played with some pretty top quality players over there.
“He’s got a different perspective of not just how New Zealand players play, but what other teams do, and that can only benefit us in a good way.”
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