'None of this fairy tale stuff': Cotter reflects on last game for key players

Close, but no cigar. Vern Cotter’s Blues battled hard against the Crusaders on Friday night in the first Super Rugby Pacific semi-final of 2025, but fell seven points short which ended their chances of winning back-to-back titles.

The Auckland-based franchise started the better of the two teams, with All Blacks backs Mark Telea and Rieko Ioane going over in the first 25 minutes, giving the away side a 14-0 lead.

The Crusaders got themselves back in the game soon after, through a Will Jordan double. Cotter’s Blues then had the chance to tie the game in the final phases of the mach, having possession of the ball for over 40 phases close to the Crusaders line, but Christian Lio-Willie from the Crusaders pounced on the loose ball to book their place in the final next week.

When asked whether the loss was hard to swallow, given that some of the Blues’ key players are moving on to new adventures, Cotter is confident that the culture within the group will continue to grow despite the players leaving.

“There’s none of the fairy tale stuff is there, it’s about the here and now and those guys have made a decision, this team has players and people in and around the team that care for each other,” Cotter told media post-match in Christchurch on Friday night.

“We’ve had players that are leaving, and it’s just tightened the group up, and you’re talking about culture, this Blues team I’m proud of, I like the way that they interact and come together.

“We’ve got some really good young players in all places and the ones that are leaving, we want to send them off.”

Cotter, who coached the Blues to their 2024 title, admits the defeat was hard to take, especially because of the chances they had.

“It’s pretty hard, isn’t it, because when you finish on the line, you’re proud of the players. You also want to keep an eye on the competition, but you’re knocked out.

“So you know, if you run through the 80 minutes, I thought we started well, and I thought we were just a little bit less accurate around the high-ball, gave away a couple of penalties.

“It was a night where as soon as you gave something to the opposition, especially the Crusaders, they will take it and make you pay for it.”

The Blues finished the regular season in sixth place, sneaking into the playoffs after only winning six games out of the 14 games in the competition.

Cotter reflects on the whirlwind season as an enjoyable one, because they had to work for everything after falling behind the pack.

“I mean, it was always hard because we didn’t start well, so we were playing catch up from the start, to get our rhythm and we had quite a few injuries as well at the start, so you just of have to rock and roll through.

“It was always that belief that we knew we knew we weren’t far away, we lost three games by a couple of points during the season, so all we needed to do was get in the six and we knew we’d have a chance.

“We never actually lost belief, we knew we would be able to claw our way back.”

The 63-year-old Blues head coach gives credit to his players, who fought hard even when the season was challenging.

“First you’re immediately disappointed for the players because they put a lot into it and it’s been really enjoyable the last couple of weeks together.

“I think it’s been a great couple of weeks. Well, the whole season’s been good because we didn’t get it easy, we had to work hard for everything.

“We couldn’t keep the wind in our sails, we were inconsistent. So it was constantly restarting and in that restarting process, you learn a lot about your players and the leaders and guys step up and take responsibility.”