Chiefs vs Blues takes: The All Blacks lock hierarchy, Blues tease playoff mode

The Chiefs absorbed some early pressure from the Blues in their round 16 contest, but ultimately proved their class by winning nine tries to five in Hamilton.

There was no reward for the hosts aside from some positive energy heading into the playoffs, with their No.2 seed cemented while the Blues were fighting to host next week’s qualifying final. That makes the 25-point defeat all the more disappointing for the Aucklanders.

The Chiefs will now host the Reds next week in the two-vs-five matchup, and the Blues will return to Christchurch for the three-vs-four showdown.

Here are some takeaways from the match.

Fixture

Super Rugby Pacific

Chiefs

59 - 34

Full-time

Blues

All Stats and Data

The All Blacks lock hierarchy

Scott Barrett is out, Fabian Holland isn’t expected back until the South Africa tour, and Patrick Tuipulotu has played five games this year and is now back on the injury list with a neck issue. New Zealand’s lock supply is not in great shape in terms of availability.

Tupou Vaa’i, the country’s best second-rower, is available, but the All Blacks will need someone to partner him and someone to offer back-up on the bench. Last year, when injuries struck, it was Josh Lord starting alongside Barrett in the UK, with Darry, who had returned from a significant injury layoff during the NPC season, stepping in for two bench appearances. This year, that hierarchy may have shifted.

If Tuipulotu’s fit, his impact and experience off the bench have proven to be invaluable. That should make it a straight shoot-out between Lord and Darry for the starting role in July. Vaa’i will most likely be running the lineout, so it comes down to who contributes more around the park.

Both players are 25 years old, listed at 203 cm and around 110 kg, though one suspects those weights might be somewhat outdated. Darry’s physical presence, leadership, durability and engine are better than Lord’s. Where Lord has his counterpart beat is X-factor — which won’t sway Dave Rennie — and the fact that the Chiefs’ lineout and scrum were stronger than the Blues’ on Saturday evening, even without Vaa’i. The latter fact will most certainly play into national selectors’ thinking.

When push comes to shove, this writer would give Darry the nod as the more consistent and meaningful contributor this season.

The load Darry has shouldered for the Blues this year is not to be underestimated; he’s the only player to have made more than 100 carries, has made 34 more tackles than the next man (Anton Segner), has made the most lineout takes and played the most minutes of anyone not named AJ Lam.

He won’t be tasked with being such a focal point in the All Blacks’ pack, but at least we know he’s capable of doing it.

Blues tease playoff mode

The opening 25 minutes in Hamilton featured the most aggressive Blues team around the breakdown we’ve seen all year. Whether it was power or pace, the Aucklanders were contesting, disrupting, and winning the ball at ruck time.

Anton Segner was again delivering as a fetcher, while the likes of Darry, James Mullan and Torian Barnes were throwing themselves into the contest and making the Chiefs’ rucks scrappy and difficult.

The team couldn’t maintain that pressure and fell away in the match as they eased off the gas.

Last year, the Blues put together an underwhelming title defence campaign, but did peak at the right end of the season, beating the No.1 seed Chiefs in the qualifying final. Could they put together something closer to an 80-minute performance next week in Christchurch with the breakdown intensity we saw early in Saturday’s game?

If they can cause problems for the team with the second-best ruck success rate in the competition, surely they can make life difficult for the side with the worst ruck success rate in the competition, the Crusaders.

That said, the defending champions have never lost a home playoff game.

Chiefs’ set piece making timely statements

Last week, the Chiefs were dominant against an international front row with the second-best scrum in Super Rugby. This week, they were again surging forward at scrum time.

The same story played out with the lineout: The Chiefs made life difficult last week for the Crusaders, who also own the second-best success rate in that area, and followed by keeping the Blues to just a 64 per cent completion rate in Hamilton.

The Blues had gained 342 metres from mauls this year coming into round 16, 115 more than any other team in the comp. But the Chiefs have the higher maul success rate and didn’t let the Blues use their strength on Saturday.

These are the areas of the game that come to the fore in finals footy, and the Chiefs are making their mark where it counts.