Blues player ratings vs Highlanders | Super Rugby Pacific
The Highlanders were put out of their misery this evening after being thumped by the Blues 35-6 at Eden Park.
A shaky start saw the hosts trail by six points after the opening quarter, but a reckless tackle from Andrew Makalio gave them a numerical advantage for 20 minutes and the difference proved decisive.
They finished the match with five tries and denied the visitors any chance they had at ending their season on a high note. The Blues’ quest for a ‘real’ Super Rugby title now only requires a further two wins.
Here’s how the Blues rated:
1. Alex Hodgman – 5/10
Found himself backpedalling at the set-piece for the first time in a few weeks. The pressure subsided when Andrew Makalio was given his marching orders, but he made sure to make up for the poor platform with strong carries and hits.
2. Kurt Eklund – 5
The Highlanders’ security at their own rucks negated his ability over the ball, although this didn’t stop the rake from sticking his head in dark places. Nailed his throws and chopped anything that ran at him.
3. Ofa Tu’ungafasi – 4
Outmuscled by fellow All Black Ethan de Groot at the set-piece and was pinged twice for inaccurate action at the breakdown. Made way for Nepo Laulala in the 54th minute.
4. James Tucker – 3
Penalised three times in 40 minutes of play, the last of which cost his team a chance at bagging points. A forgetful evening for one of the Blues’ most consistent in 2022. Pulled for Luke Romano at the interval
5. Tom Robinson – 7
The hardest man to miss with his notorious red locks. Pulled down the majority of their lineouts and was relentless in all other facets from beginning to end.
6. Akira Ioane – 7
A physical presence on both sides of the ball. Was denied a try by the TMO before streaking away for his side’s first points. Looks to have one hand on a starting spot in the All Blacks with his form and Ethan Blackadder requiring medical attention.
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7. Adrian Choat – 6.5
Occupied the seven jersey with Dalton Papalii requiring surgery for appendicitis. He may not be as inspirational as their skipper but he did well to replicate his skipper’s typical output on defence. Had only one miss from 14 tackle attempts.
8. Hoskins Sotutu – 8
The pick of the Blues’ big men. Was constantly powering his way over the gain line and laid on a lovely pass to RTS in the lead up to Barrett’s second dot. Like Choat, he only had one missed tackle but finished with three fewer successes.
9. Finlay Christie – 6
Only found his rhythm late in the game with all the handling errors in the opening spell. Service was snappy but Fakatava was still the pick of the two. Will need to step things up to have any assurance of retaining his place in the national set up.
10. Beauden Barrett – 7.5
Was responsible for two decisive blows either side of halftime. Dashed past Ethan de Groot en route to his first score and was in the right place at the right time to cross the chalk a second time. His contestable kicking also caused issues for the Highlanders.
11. Mark Telea – 5
Not afforded as many touches as we have come to expect from slippery outside back. Still managed to elude the grasp of two Highlanders and was faultless in his efforts without the pill.
12. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck – 6
You could stick this guy in a phonebox and he’d still be just as difficult to tackle. Danced his way around seven defenders and couldn’t believe his luck after cutting back infield in the 70th minute and having a clear run to the line from 25 out. Still has some work to do with his defensive reads, though.
13. Rieko Ioane – 7
Continues to go from strength to strength. After making his name as a regular on the scoresheet he has evolved his game to be just as notable with setting up his teammates, another two try assists tonight, and locking up his opposite.
14. Bryce Heem – N/A
Departed with an injury just before the half-hour mark.
15. Stephen Perofeta – 7.5
Another composed performance from the All Blacks hopeful. Has a knack for injecting himself at the right moments and shaking off the first defender. Clocked up the most run metres of anyone on the park and was perfect off the tee.
Reserves:
16. Soane Vikena – N/A
17. Karl Tu’inukuafe – 6/10
18. Nepo Laulala – 6/10
Stamped his dominance by winning two penalties with two huge shoves at scrum time.
19. Luke Romano – 6/10
Swapped places with Tucker at the break and added some much-needed punch.
20. Josh Goodhue – N/A
21. Sam Nock – N/A
Chalked up 50 games for the Blues when Christie left the field in the 65th minute.
22. AJ Lam – 5
Thrown into the action earlier than expected as Heem departed with a knock. A quiet night with the ball in hand but picked up his sixth meat pie of the season following a drop from Marty Banks.
23. Zarn Sullivan – N/A
Subbed in for Rieko Ioane with 10 to go. Secured one peach of a 50-22 with a top-spinning punt.
Comments on RugbyPass
I think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to comments