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Patrick Tuipulotu reveals game plan for Brumbies made Blues 'nervous'
The Blues dispatched the 3rd-place Brumbies at Eden Park over the weekend with a historic winning margin of 46-7, leading head coach Vern Cotter to praise his team’s adaptability.
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The Auckland team have been doubling down on their hard-hitting phase play game plan in 2024, utilising dominant ball carriers like Akira Ioane and Hoskins Sotutu to get over the gain line.
Against the Brumbies, another forward-centric team, Cotter issued a challenge to his side to beat the Australian heavyweights at their own game.
“It’s a little bit different and about being able to adapt to each situation, each time and prepare well,” Cotter said following the win.
“We surprised them, and we got through a yellow card without too much damage to us around that.
“We had to deal with that, and the guys did well. They kept composed and under pressure, but they managed to get out. And when Taufa (Funaki) came back, we piled pressure on them by being reasonably direct and purposeful about our carries and what we were doing.
“The team was together, connected, and that was a positive thing. There was no stress around what we were doing.”
The attitude of the team was highlighted on the defensive end, where the Blues held out multiple brumbies advancements inside their 22, finishing the game with a tackle completion rate of 94 per cent.
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“We knew they were a capable team with the ball in hand, and they were well-balanced and varied. They’re a smart team, but the boys dug in and managed to keep them out until later in the game.
“They were up for it, and when you’re up, and together, you generally get a good result.”
Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu found the win especially satisfying given his experience against a tough Brumbies forward pack, especially at lineout time.
“It was awesome,” he said. “It was part of the game plan (to take them on with driving mauls), which made us nervous throughout our preparation. When that happens, we get on the edge of our seats, prepare genuinely and bone deep.
“So, to get it rolling, and to get over the line, especially, that speaks to the work we’ve done through the season because we’ve gotten so close so often.
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“Against a good Brumbies team who pride themselves on their set piece, we’ve got to be happy with that.”
The dominance in the contact area was hugely promising for the team, who refused to surrender their place at second on the Super Rugby Pacific table in the win.
“We went direct and did what we like to do, and just carry and clean. There were times where they challenged our breakdown and made a mess of it for us, so that’s a work-on for us next week.”
The effort made an impression on their opposition, who retained their place at third on the competition table despite the loss.
“The Blues carried exceptionally well, hit the gain line and got over it quite easily,” Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham said. “Their maul was dominant in the second half.
“There weren’t a lot of things that went right for us. There’s plenty of things we can talk about, but realistically, we lost the physical battle at 7-0 down.”
Comments on RugbyPass
If he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
81 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
2 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
5 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to commentsSo if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
81 Go to comments