Blues break the drought, win first Super Rugby title in 21 years
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The Blues’ 41-10 win over the Chiefs in Saturday’s final of Super Rugby Pacific had the feeling of a great release of pent-up emotion.
The Auckland-based Blues had tried for 21 years to add a fourth title to the third they won in 2003 and when it finally happened it brought with it an explosion of feeling. A crowd of 45,000 who had been soaked on a gray and rainy night at Eden Park stayed for an hour after the match to cheer the victors.
So many emotions collided at the conclusion of the Blues’ campaign there was a feeling by the end of the match that a safety valve had been released. The current Blues team finally had discharged the debts of players who had gone before them over the last two decades and who had tried and failed.
The Blues finally found a coach in Vern “Stern Vern” Cotter who was able to harness their talent and channel it into a winning game plan which saw them pass through the season with only two losses in 15 games.
Their success seemed more likely when the Hamilton-based Chiefs eliminated the top-ranked Hurricanes in the semi-finals, ensuring the Blues would host the final. It was vital for the Blues whose away record is checkered to be able to play the final in front of their home crowd.
Captain Patrick Tuipulotu was all but ruled out of the final two weeks ago when he suffered a serious knee injury. But he dragged himself off the physio’s bench and onto the field where he played an exemplary role until he finally limped to the locker room in the 58th minute.
And Akira Ioane who was playing his last match in the Blues lineup with brother Rieko Ioane before heading to Japan made a massive contribution scoring the Blues’ first try and setting up the second. He was at the forefront of the Blues’ effort all night and when he finally left the field for the last time in the 78th minute, it was to a long standing ovation.
“Akira’s the man, bro. Not only a role model to me but a role model to all the boys in here,” Rieko Ioane said. “During some of the rougher times at the start of our careers, Aki was the shining light at this club. To see him go out like this, it’s exactly what he is, a champion.
“Waiting 20-something years for this, Aki’s last game, everything sort of added up.”
Rieko Ioane put in context what Saturday’s win meant to the Blues players, the club, their fans their city.
“I put a Super Rugby title above a World Cup because of how much I love this city, how much I love this club, how much I’ve admired this club,” he said.
“I’m just so proud of the boys. I talked about it at the start of the week, how we wouldn’t let emotion get the better of us this time. We came into this game knowing we were 100 percent confident. This was our time.”
Winger Caleb Clarke scored three tries. His first was set up by Rieko and Akira Ioane who kept the ball alive in the left hand corner, especially by Akira who managed to pass to the winger as he toppled into touch.
His second came from an eight-man Blues scrum which out-manned a short-handed Chiefs scrum after prop George Dyer was sin-binned. Akira Ioane also claimed the lineout win which eventually led to Clarke’s third try.
Clarke added a Super Rugby title to the family trophy cabinet which already contained two won with the Blues by his father Eroni. The winger profited from the hard work up front by the Blues, who adopted a game plan which might be alien in New Zealand which accentuated forward effort over brilliant backplay.
“It’s kind of something new, isn’t it?” Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan said. “We haven’t really seen a team in New Zealand do that and it’s probably going a bit away from the DNA of All Black rugby. So it’ll be interesting to see what the All Black coaches have seen…what can be implanted into the All Black regime.”
The first All Blacks team of the season, to play England in two tests, will be named Monday by new head coach Scott Robertson.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
