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Super Rugby Aotearoa: Blues player ratings vs Hurricanes

By Online Editors
Caleb Clarke. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

The arrival of both Beauden Barrett and Dan Carter in Auckland ensured that Blues fans entered the new season of Super Rugby Aotearoa with positive attitudes. A packed-out crowd was on hand to watch Barrett’s debut – although they’ll have to wait a few weeks for Carter to make an appearance – and they were hoping for a considerably better flowing match than the season opener between the Highlanders and the Chiefs on Saturday evening.

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Fortunately, fans won’t have been disappointed with the quality of the match. Yes, there were a few more penalties than most would have hoped for – but there were also some exceptional tries. Ultimately, the Blues came out on top, winning 30-20.

Who were the Blues’ top performers in their first match of the new Super Rugby Aotearoa season?

1. Alex Hodgman – 6

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Jonah Lomu plays for Wesley College during the final of the 1993 New Zealand Secondary Schools Condor rugby Sevens tournament in Auckland.

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Jonah Lomu plays for Wesley College during the final of the 1993 New Zealand Secondary Schools Condor rugby Sevens tournament in Auckland.

Not as busy as his front row partners but did honest work. Off in 66th minute.

2. James Parsons – 6.5

Led the Blues’ defensive line. Apart from one little blip, helped the Blues lineout function very efficiently. Off in 66th minute.

3. Ofa Tu’ungafasi – 7.5

Topped the Blues’ tackle charts with 13. Earned a scrum penalty in the 36th minute to put the Blues hot on attack then was done over by Tevita Mafileo in the second half. Off in 66th minute.

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4. Patrick Tuipulotu – 8

Physical. Exactly what the Blues needed from their captain. Threw himself into tackles and cleaned out more than Hurricane breakdown threat. Not used too much by the Blues for their own throws into the lineout but made a nuisance of himself when the Hurricanes were feeding. Off in 71st minute.

5. Josh Goodhue – 7

The Blues’ key lineout forward and reliable on defence. More graft than glamour for the first 79 minutes then came alive, forcing a breakdown penalty then giving a nice offload to Papalii out wide.

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6. Tom Robinson – 8.5

Constantly disrupted the Hurricanes’ set-piece throughout the match, managing three steals. Showed good pace to cover Vince Aso’s attacking grubber kick and prevented a sure try. Popped up everywhere.

7. Blake Gibson – 6

A couple of big tackles early on – showed more physicality than we’re traditionally seen from him. Busy on defence. Off in 30th minute.

8. Hoskins Sotutu – 7.5

Didn’t clock up as many metres on attack as we’ve become accustomed to (still the most of any Blues forward though) but showed off his wider range of skills. Surprisingly disruptive in the breakdowns, forcing a few penalties.  Nice cover tackle on Ngani Laumape.

9. Sam Nock – 7.5

Maintained the pace exceptionally well – especially in the lead-up to the Blues’ second try. One of the best performances from a Blues halfback in recent years. Off in 66th minute.

10. Otere Black – 8

Didn’t see too much of his running game but kept the score ticking along with perfect goal kicking and was a calming presence in the backline. Cleverly timed passing gave Rieko Ioane the space for the Blues’ first try. Bumped by Asafo Aumua then promptly left the field. Off in 71st minute.

11. Caleb Clarke – 8.5

The Blues’ biggest metre-eater with over 100 to his name. Very dangerous and deceptively fast but perhaps a bit too greedy at times. Burst onto a Rieko Ioane ball in the 13th minute then broke two tackles to score a well-taken try. Had the opportunity to send Beauden Barrett away not much later but held on a smidge too long. Forced one ruck penalty. Off in 66th minute.

12. TJ Faiane – 6.5

Faiane is normally a quiet operator, leaving the flashy stuff to his teammates. Scored one try this afternoon and put in one expertly weighted grubber to set up Dalton Papalii’s try but probably still didn’t have quite as much an impact throughout the game as he would have liked. First man of the game to get hit for a breakdown infringement, which the Hurricanes promptly converted into points. Bowled over by Asafo Aumua.

13. Rieko Ioane – 7.5

Looked deadly,  a completely different player to last year. Great cover tackle on Ben Lam in the 10th minute after the Hurricanes winger almost escaped Mark Telea’s grasp. Great burst set up Clarke’s first try of the afternoon.

14. Mark Telea 7.5

Swapped onto the right wing after making such a big impact on the left earlier in the season – it didn’t faze the 23-year-old. Created space for himself with expert sidestepping and physicality. Broke two tackles then offloaded to Faiane for the Blues’ second try. Sent Chase Tiatia to the shadow realm with a beautiful fend.

15. Beauden Barrett – 7

Lovely inside ball to create the Blues’ second try. Brilliant tactical kicking throughout the match. Rushed out to try cut down Hurricanes attack which created the overlap for Ben Lame to score. Pinged once in the breakdowns.

Reserves:

16. Kurt Eklund – N/A

On in 66th minute.

17. Ezekiel Lindenmuth – N/A

On in 66th minute.

18. Marcel Renata – N/A

On in 66th minute.

19. Gerard Cowley-Tuioti – N/A

On in 71st minute.

20. Dalton Papalii – 7.5

On in 30th minute. Almost immediately won a penalty. Maintained Gibson’s physicality in defence then showed good pace to capitalise off Faiane’s grubber.

21. Finlay Christie – N/A

On in 66th minute.

22. Harry Plummer – N/A

On in 71st minute. Slotted in at fullback, unusually.

23. Matt Duffie – N/A

On in 66th minute. One nice clearance kick.

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J
Jon 51 minutes ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

34 Go to comments
j
john 3 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 8 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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