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Blues keep Chiefs scoreless to go to top of Super Rugby Pacific

By Alex McLeod
(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

The Blues have underlined their status as title contenders by keeping the Chiefs scoreless in Hamilton to move to the top of the Super Rugby Pacific table.

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Leon MacDonald’s side walked away from FMG Stadium Waikato with a 25-0 drubbing of the home side despite conceding a slew of penalties that resulted in three yellow cards.

Nevertheless, the Blues held firm to register their most impressive win of the season against a Chiefs side that was depleted early on when star midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown left the field with an apparent shoulder dislocation.

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First to strike with a penalty goal on the back of some set piece dominance, the Blues were forced to defend their 13-0 lead late in the first half when Luke Romano and Sam Nock were brandished yellow cards, reducing their side to just 13 men.

In the lead-up to and during that passage of play, the Chiefs piled on the pressure with wave after wave of attack, which the Blues largely defended simply by giving away penalty after penalty.

The hosts looked to have finally taken advantage of their numerical mismatch when Samisoni Taukei’aho crossed for a try from a lineout move on the stroke of half-time.

However, he was somehow denied by Ofa Tu’ungafasi, who made a heroic tackle to force a spillage over the tryline and ensure his side headed into the sheds with their buffer still intact.

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That capped off a good opening stanza for the Blues, who – despite their ill-discipline – scored the only try of the half when Tom Robinson crashed over between the sticks after Kaylum Bosher was sin binned for a dangerous tackle on Josh Goodhue.

The Auckland-based side’s ability to capitalise on a numerical advantage was something the Chiefs couldn’t replicate early in he second half, even when both Romano and Nock were still out of action.

An individual piece of brilliance by Etene Nanai-Seturo looked to have changed that when he danced through an array of defenders to score under the posts, but that try was scrubbed out due to obstruction.

Moments later, Romano and Nock returned to the field, and the visitors made the hosts pay upon their return to full-strength.

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A stunning break by Mark Telea from well inside his own half instigated a highly-threatening attack that Rieko Ioane almost finished off were it not for a fantastic tackle from behind by Nanai-Seturo.

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In the next phase, though, Beauden Barrett lofted an inch-perfect cross-kick to Robinson, who charged down the right-hand sideline and latched onto the ball in the Chiefs’ in-goal area to extend his side’s lead to 20 points.

Desperate to get themselves back into the contest, the Chiefs continued to fling themselves into everything on attack, but just lacked the level of execution to put the Blues to the sword.

Even when reserve prop Marcel Renata became the third Blues player to get yellow carded, the Chiefs still couldn’t manage to cross the line successfully.

Nanai-Seturo appeared to redeem himself by sliding over in the left-hand corner, but a last-gasp tackle by Telea was enough to get his opposite’s elbow to graze the in-goal touchline.

Instead, the Blues struck again through replacement wing AJ Lam to put the game out of reach, and that deficit could have been even larger had Stephen Perofeta landed a drop goal attempt that rattled the upright.

Such dominance from the Blues after playing for 30 minutes without a full complement of players against one of their title rivals must surely verify them as legitimate championship contenders.

That much is even more impressive given they were without the likes of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Caleb Clarke, Akira Ioane and Nepo Laulala.

That sets up a blockbuster top-of-the-table clash against the Crusaders in Christchurch next Friday, while the Chiefs will look to bounce back against Moana Pasifika the following day.

Blues 25 (Tries to Tom Robinson (2) and AJ Lam; 2 conversions and 2 penalties to Stephen Perofeta)

Chiefs 0

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Trevor 53 minutes ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 4 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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