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Masterful performance: Otere Black reminds New Zealand that the Blues have three expert first fives on their books
That was a performance to remember for Otere Black – and it was a long time coming.
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The Blues got their Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign off to a dazzling start in front of a packed-out Eden Park with a 30-20 win over the Hurricanes, thanks largely to a career-best performance by Black, a man many had written off in recent weeks.
At perhaps the most pivotal moment in his young career, Black paid back the faith of Blues selectors to start in a match that was supposed to be all about Beauden Barrett.
The headlines on Sunday evening belong to the man from Manawatu who, with his 15-points and flawless kicking display, showed that he could make plays, time his passes to perfection, and run the backline at both first and second receiver.
There will be a lot of chatter about the influence that Barrett and Dan Carter had on the Blues’ big win, but to look past Black in that 80-minutes of rugby would be incredibly naive.
Some big metres from the Blues' big left wing – but was he the best on the park in their win over the Hurricanes? #SuperRugbyAotearoa #BLUvHURhttps://t.co/aRPx5MRUOE
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 14, 2020
The confidence that the 25-year old showed in his game today was remarkable; he was entirely unfazed by the massive crowd and bulky size of tacklers targeting him. Black, like most first fives, has never been the biggest man on the rugby field in any given game, but he never looked rushed in the showdown with the Hurricanes – which should remind rugby fans of other Kiwi greats to don the same number jersey.
Where Carlos Spencer was all about the razzle-dazzle during the Blues heyday, Otere Black plays in a style similar to that of an Aaron Cruden and new Blues teammate Dan Carter, with the ability to place kicks perfectly both in the air and along the ground without having to do anything flashy.
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Executing set piece or in broken play, Black also held the pass just long enough to give more room to his outside runners in the performance against the Hurricanes. Black can thank the hard work of his forward pack, particularly the impact of loosie Hoskins Sotutu, who cracked the line to give the Blues great go-forward ball throughout.
Oh, but the influence of Barrett and Carter? No, these are bits to Blacks’ game that he’s been working on for a long time.
Black deserves all the credit, you’d be hard stretched to find a better performance out of the 25-year old that matched today’s showing and its importance cannot be underscored enough.
Great things have been expected of the Black almost since he first caught the eye back in the green and white Manawatu Turbos strip. Following on from that, Black stood out for the New Zealand Under 20 side before losing some of his momentum when he started out his Super Rugby career with the Hurricanes – thanks, in part, to a run of unfortunate injuries.
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Cut from the same cloth as the likes of Ihaia West, Mitch Hunt and Josh Ioane, it was perhaps these three that many saw as bright talents for the future and who were lumped with lofty expectations.
Today, Black met and exceeded those expectations, and it’s truly fascinating that it came at this time in particular.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBZ2DRGgaAj/
All the headlines about the Blues ahead of Super Rugby Aotearoa have been about Barrett and Carter. Any talk about Black in the press has been around him being something of the unluckiest player in New Zealand Rugby, to have those two stars arrive in camp as he was preparing and finally ready to get concentrated time running the Blues backline.
It would’ve been an easy, perhaps even safer bet by Blues coach Leon MacDonald to have Barrett start at first five instead of Black or to do a straight swap of the two later in the match, especially considering the likes of Matt Duffie and Harry Plummer also being in the stable.
That, as it turns out, would’ve been a tremendous lost opportunity because the pairing of Black and Barrett seemed to gel without any issue whatsoever. What’s more, that pairing looked more fluid and certain for the Blues than the much-talked-about Mo’unga/Barrett combination at first five and fullback respectively ever did in 2019 for the All Blacks.
That should really say something about the merits of Black’s performance against the Hurricanes. It’s only early days in Super Rugby Aotearoa, but Black has already positioned himself as the first five of form.
Who would’ve thought that little over a week ago? Certainly not those who wrote Black off and painted Beauden Barrett as the great Blues saviour.
Comments on RugbyPass
Both nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
1 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to comments