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‘It’s a graveyard for Aussie teams’: Blues brace for Brumbies’ ‘real test’
In a battle between two top-three teams in Super Rugby Pacific, Saturday’s blockbuster between the Blues and Brumbies looms as a “good test” for both teams less than two months out from the playoffs.
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Auckland’s Eden Park will host a highly-anticipated mid-season clash between two great Trans-Tasman foes with both the Blues and Brumbies currently equal on 27 competition points.
Both teams have only lost one match from their seven starts so far, but another defeat could prove costly as the race for a top-two finish and possible home semi-final continues to heat up.
Captain Ryan Lonergan returns to an otherwise relatively settled Brumbies outfit who are looking to beat the Blues in Auckland for the first time in more than 10 years. The Brums broke a similar losing streak away to the Highlanders in Dunedin earlier this season.
Without first five Stephen Perofeta or All Blacks halfback Finlay Christie, the Blues will have their work cut out for them as they look to prove to the competition that they are indeed one of the teams to beat at this stage of the season.
“This is a real test for both sides. ‘Let’s see where we’re at’, that’s what this game is. Let’s see where we’re at right now in this competition,” former Wallaby Mat Rogers said on Stan Sports’ The Night Before Gameday.
“We’ve got seven rounds to go. It’s tough to maintain that intensity for seven weeks into finals and then to taking out the premiership.
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“So, this is a good test to see where they’re at.
“Of course you want to play well but you want to be at your best in seven weeks’ time when the finals start. They’re both building but they’ve both been playing great rugby.
Head-to-Head
Last 5 Meetings
Wins
4
Draws
0
Wins
1
Average Points scored
29
16
First try wins
40%
Home team wins
60%
“Eden Park, oh geese, it’s a graveyard for Aussie teams.”
Team captain Patrick Tuipulotu and World Rugby’s 2023 Breakthrough Player of the Year Mark Tele’a have been named to return for the Blues after missing the win over the Western Force.
Coach Vern Cotter has made four changes to the starting side with Marcel Renata and Bryce Heem also joining the run-on side.
The Blues’ line-up packs plenty of punch, including the all-star backrow trio of Akira Ioane, Dalton Papali’i and in-form Hoskins Sotutu. Caleb Clarke and Rieko Ioane will take the field a threatening backline.
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“We need to go above and beyond that, no disrespect to the Force, but we’re coming up against a set piece-oriented Brumbies who are playing really well,” captain Tuipulotu said, as reported by Newshub.
“This is pretty much our test match.
“As we come up against these top teams we’ll really gauge where we’re at,” he added.
The Brumbies have made three changes to their First XV. Cadeyrn Neville comes in at lock, Jahrome Brown at opening flanker, and captain Ryan Lonergan at halfback.
But for the most part, this is a very consistent Brumbies outfit. Coach Stephen Larkham has selected the same front-row, and Noah Lolesio will steer the team around the park as the first-choice fly-half once again.
While the Blues are widely considered the favourites, the Brumbies will be full of belief as they look to shock the Super Rugby Pacific competition in Auckland.
Comments on RugbyPass
Couple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
8 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
5 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
4 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
3 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
3 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
4 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
4 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
200 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
8 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
8 Go to commentsProbably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
200 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
200 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
5 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
200 Go to commentsBrett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
5 Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
8 Go to commentsHow did it end a draw. South Africa didn’t score any points as far as I can see
8 Go to commentsNo doubt this will be a fantastic occasion and I plan to be there, but I think the bean counters have won out over the rugby brains. In my opinion, it is foolhardy to give the Black Ferns the experience of playing in front of 60,000+ at Twickenham a year before they might be playing there in a World Cup Final. Better to play France at Twickenham and Black Ferns at Kingsholm. The difference in takings would be miniscule.
1 Go to comments