Blues' unsung hero: 'You've got to give a bit of credit to Jonathan Ruru to be honest. He did 4.13 last time.'
Rugby’s first tentative steps towards next month’s anticipated return brings several new norms but also the realisation from a performance perspective that what worked before should eventually work again.
That’s the hope for the Blues, anyway. Regressing after finally turning the corner this season is not an option.
Training in smaller bubbles; preparing for same-day return flights to matches and playing in large venues with no crowds all require significant adjustment as New Zealand’s five franchises returned to work this week.
Despite the many varied challenges, Blues hooker James Parsons explained his new-found appreciation for the game.
“You don’t know how good something is until it’s taken away from you,” Parsons enthused.
The compressed four-week window before Super Rugby Aotearoa starts puts the focus squarely on conditioning. In this regard, star recruit Beauden Barrett immediately set the bar with his club record 4 minute 12 second Bronco test that turned heads around the globe on Monday.
“To do a PB shows he’s all in,” Parsons said. “I can’t speak on behalf of the other boys but what it said to me is he’s sent a real message that he’s here to do the business.
“Look, it might not be an outcome straight away but he’s given himself the best possible chance to perform in a Blues jersey and that’s what I as an individual, a fan, player I really appreciate so he’s certainly got my respect for doing that on day one.”
Barrett beat his previous best by seven seconds and he was no doubt inspired after being pushed all the way by Blues halfback Jonathan Ruru.
“It doesn’t sound like a lot but that’s a helluva effort. You’ve got to give a bit of credit to Jonathan Ruru to be honest. He did 4.13 last time so 4.12 is impressive but we were blown away when Jono did that last time. Beauden did beat the record, but Jono got left behind there a little bit.”
Two months away from the team evoked fears many players would struggle to maintain fitness standards. Training alone will never produce the same results as intensely competitive professional environments but, on the whole, Blues forwards coach Tom Coventry appears satisfied by the state of the squad.
The break allowed props Karl Tu’inukuafe and Alex Hodgman to recover from calf injuries while the Blues have welcomed wing Caleb Clarke from New Zealand sevens duty and fellow finisher Tanielu Tele’a who was troubled by a shoulder complaint.
With a near fully fit squad, by the time the Blues host the Hurricanes at Eden Park on June 14 competition for starting spots will be fierce.
For now, the most pressing challenge is delicately progressing contact without risking injuries, and regaining lost muscle mass in such a short space of time.
“That’s probably the biggest concern,” Coventry said. “The conscientious ones have been getting stuck into the weights in their garages and backyards. There’s been a little bit of a drop off in that [muscle] area but I don’t think it’ll take us too long to get them back into shape with the weights. In four weeks we should be back to where we finished.
“We relied heavily on what the boys have done over the course of the lockdown. They’ve had a lot of autonomy to get the training done by themselves. You’d think being away from the environment that would be a disastrous thing but they’ve actually been really good and knuckled down. They’ve come back into the club really well-conditioned.”
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Coventry hopes to somehow minimise the strange element of playing behind closed doors.
“It will be very unusual. I think they’ll put us in the big grounds because it will be easier to make it secure and manage.
“We rely heavily on our crowd and at times they get you through the tight matches so it’s certainly going to be a level playing field. I’m hoping we can adapt quickly to that and put performances on the board regardless.
“We’re very conscious that we need to be on top of this and crystal clear about what we’re doing because we don’t want to stuff this up. It is important for us and for the country and sport. We’re role models for others that come after us. ”
Parsons and the Blues senior leaders have quickly reinforced standards and the need to regain the training edge that propelled the team to second in the New Zealand conference with five wins and two losses prior to lockdown.
To a large degree that momentum has been lost, but in their second year under head coach Leon MacDonald the Blues now have a clear blueprint and understanding of the way they want to play.
Barrett’s numbers suggest they will, in fact, be an even stronger unit.
Comments on RugbyPass
More useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
22 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
1 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
22 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
21 Go to commentsWho the heck is Billy Fulton?
13 Go to commentsCale has all the potential no doubt. So has Harry Wilson except for his dumb arse coach over the last few years who told him just to run at brick walls all the time. Valentini would be devastating at 6. As he was until some idiot thought oh yeah, move our best player to another position. Not mentioning any flightless or thank you names of course. I very much dislike claiming one player is the saviour, because injuries are so prevalent in the game these days as the players are bigger and faster, so the discussion should be who are at least the best two players in one position. For me it’s Harry Wilson and Cale at 8 at the moment with Valentini or Hooper from the Brumbies at 6. Great options. Seru Uru should be in the reserves too. A game changer.
21 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a card waiting to happen, Cane has been out with injury as well as playing in Japan, I think they’ll go with in-Japan-but-still-the-man Savea. Samisoni Taukeaho will be Captain after 2027, so he might get some Captain minutes against an Italy or Japan.
13 Go to commentsDissapointed that after 7 years Crusaders could not have found a coach that believed their system and improved on it. What was he expecting?
6 Go to comments