Blues plan to out-scrum Crusaders on way to victory
The Blues are quietly confident they have the pack to put pressure on their Crusaders counterparts, a traditional area of strength for the red and blacks, at Eden Park tonight.
Certainly they appear to have a scrum that could cause Scott Robertson’s side, who are now without All Blacks such as Sam Whitelock, Owen Franks, Kieran Read and Matt Todd, a few issues. The performances of the Blues’ set piece against the Chiefs and Waratahs suggests that is the case.
In what must be described as a minor revolution at the franchise, the hard-nosed attitudes of forwards coach Tom Coventry and scrum coach Ben Afeaki, along with the power of All Blacks Ofa Tuungafasi and Karl Tu’inukuafe, plus Sione Mafileo and Alex Hodgman before his knee injury, have combined to make the scrum a real weapon for the Blues.
They should have few issues using their scrum as a platform to attack off their own ball and, after hurting the Waratahs in this area last weekend, they may seek to unsettle a side who were dominated by the Chiefs pack in the second half of their loss in Hamilton. In the first half of their come-from-behind win at Eden Park in round one, the Chiefs’ scrum was consistently stuck in reverse.
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“They’ve still got plenty of All Blacks and we’ve still got plenty of respect for that pack,” hooker James Parsons, starting for the first time this season following a back injury, said.
“Codie Taylor is pretty exceptional and you’ve got Scott Barrett there and some young fellas putting their hands up like Tom Christie who is performing well. They’ve got plenty of quality across the board… we know they love coming up to Eden Park and stamping their mark.”
And yet, the Blues, with skipper Patrick Tuipulotu in the second row, will have a few marks to stamp too.
“There have been some promising signs,” agreed Coventry. “Over the last couple of games we’ve been pretty strong at scrum time, that’s been going pretty well. We’ve been able to use that as a platform to attack off.
“We need to be tidier with our lineout and make sure that’s as accurate as the Crusaders’ lineout is, which they pride themselves on.”
The @BluesRugbyTeam have won just two of their last 28 matches against fellow NZ teams. Will they improve that statistic on Friday night at Eden Park against @CrusadersRugby? #SuperRugbyhttps://t.co/McU7lGlFlj
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 12, 2020
The Blues lost four lineouts in their loss to the Chiefs and only one to the Waratahs and the Crusaders will likely subject them to a stern examination here – all the more reason for Parsons to come in. Tuungafasi joins him in the No 3 jersey after some good early-season form from Mafileo.
“Ofa was mighty when he came on last weekend and offered what Ofa does; he’s pretty physical around the field and his mobility was good,” Coventry said. “He’s scrummaging well and he’s replaced Sione who is doing a good job there as well.
“JP with his experience and knowledge of these games – it’s a no brainer for me; get him involved in those opening stages which will be pretty fierce I’d imagine.
“They’ve shown for a while now that when they’re under the pump they go to their scrum. They go to their lineout and try to pick penalties off it. They try to find faults in your concentration levels so we need to be right up there throughout the match.
“It would be nice to turn the tables a little bit, wouldn’t it – but we’ll just be looking for parity and see what happens in that battle.”
This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and is republished with permission.
Comments on RugbyPass
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments