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Why Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu has ‘empathy’ for winless Crusaders
Named to return from an injury layoff, Patrick Tuipulotu is hoping to beat the Crusaders for only the second time when the skipper takes the field for his 100th Blues appearance.
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Tuipulotu, who suffered a fracture to his jaw while in Japan during pre-season, has only beaten the Crusaders once and that was during the third round of the Super Rugby season in 2014.
The All Blacks and Blues lock has gone on to play another 97 matches for the Auckland-based franchise to date, which included a Super Rugby Trans-Tasman title in 2021.
Head-to-Head
Last 5 Meetings
Wins
1
Draws
0
Wins
4
Average Points scored
16
26
First try wins
80%
Home team wins
60%
But during most of Tuipulotu’s career, the Crusaders have reigned supreme over both the Blues and the Super Rugby competition. The defending champions have won 18 of their last 19 matches against the Aucklanders.
The Blues have a golden opportunity to strike against their old foe on Saturday, though, with the Crusaders looking to avoid an undesirable 0-5 start to the season. Still, Tuipulotu has “a bit of empathy” for one of the Blues’ traditional rivals.
“Last time I beat them was my first start, my second game here,” Tuipulotu said, as reported by Newshub. “That was 10 years ago so this makes it extra special.
“The hard thing is feeling for how the Crusaders are going. Their run is quite tough at the moment but anytime they come up against the Blues they’re a different team, so that’s something we must watch out for.
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“I’ve been in their position before,” he added. “It’s quite hard to be in.
“You come in every Monday, looking at each other for solutions, and nothing’s quite working.
“I certainly have a bit of empathy there.”
For the first time since 1996, the Crusaders started their season with three losses on the bounce following defeats to the Chiefs, Waratahs and Fijian Drua.
The Crusaders looked to bounce back in their first home match of the season against the Hurricanes, but a try at the death saw the visitors snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
It’s almost hard to believe the Crusaders are winless from four matches. But after the Crusaders’ heartbreaking loss to the Canes, the Blues have even more motivation to get the job done at Eden Park.
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“That was probably my first thought watching their game last week,” Tuipulotu explained. “They’re going to come up here and we don’t want to give them that start to their season.
“We’ve definitely thought about it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
43 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
3 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
43 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
43 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
3 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
6 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
6 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to comments