Vern Cotter: 'There's not a harder place to go to in New Zealand'

Blues head coach Vern Cotter isn’t looking too far ahead after his side’s bonus-point 45-19 triumph over an emotional and powerful Moana Pasifika at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland.

All Blacks playmaker Stephen Perofeta returned from a lingering calf injury on Saturday evening, contributing a try and four conversions.

For Tana Umaga and Moana Pasifika, they were able to keep their cross-town rivals within touching distance until the second half, where the lead ballooned out from two to 26.

The Blues are now second on the Super Rugby Pacific table after twelve rounds, two points ahead of the Chiefs who have a game in hand over the Auckland-based franchise.

Their bonus point victory takes Cotter’s side to 38 points, five points more than they had at the end of the 2025 season, with three New Zealand derbies remaining in the regular season.

Cotter, who will replace Les Kiss at the Reds in 2027, is under no illusions about the quality that the Crusaders possess.

“We probably will never be satisfied where we’re at, but we’re trending in the right direction and  you never want to let your feet leave the ground before we go to Christchurch. I think that’s really important, that we know that they will be set to destroy us,” Cotter told media after their victory over Moana Pasifika.

The departing Blues head coach explained that he feels like travelling to Christchurch to play at the new stadium against the Crusaders is a huge challenge for his group.

“They need points, and there’s not a harder place to go to in New Zealand or World Rugby really, then Christchurch under their new stadium. It’s the first time they receive New Zealand team there, so I think perspective wise, the first half was important that we got knocked around a bit and found solutions.

“We need to go in there because the physicality will be once again, they’ll be above that and they’ve got some very good players. I mentioned before that some of the key players won’t be far away from coming back as well.”

When asked about what he made of Rob Penney’s side against the table-topping Hurricanes in Wellington, Cotter made it clear that he believes they’re peaking at the right time.

“They look like the Crusaders that are working their way towards the end of the season,” Cotter said.

“Yeah, they’ve becoming robust and percentage based. I mean, both teams kicked a lot. But around the physicality, you can see that they’ve lifted a little bit.”