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'Defence wins championships': Blues on the brink of historic feat
The Blues have risen to the top of the Super Rugby Pacific pecking order with their streak of wins since round three’s loss to the Hurricanes.
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With just the one loss to their name in 2024, the Aucklanders have not just proved their attacking flair can score with the best of the rest, but their defence is on track to be the second most suffocating in Super Rugby history – among eventual champions.
The 2008 Crusaders hold the top spot on that list, having allowed just 14 points per game during their season.
The 2024 Blues have an average of 15.5 points conceded throughout the 13 rounds of action so far. The team travel to Christchurch to play the Crusaders and host the Chiefs at Eden Park to round out the regular season.
“I just think they’re working incredibly well together as a unit,” Sir John Kirwin said on The Breakdown when reacting to the statistic.
“If you look at Akira Ioane’s form, he is really going well on defence. Normally, we’d see him running out wider and being a bit free, but this season he’s been defending really well, and made some big hits (against the Highlanders), so there’s no one resting in that defensive line.
“And we all know that defence wins championships. It’s just fact.”
The team’s experience and chemistry have grown a lot as they have enjoyed consistency of selection over a number of seasons, no doubt influencing their defensive cohesion.
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“They’ve got 10 or so players over 50 caps now, guys like Dalton (Papali’i) have matured, he’s been a leader. Patrick (Tuipulotu) has come back in and he’s led.
“I think they’ve just realised that they’ve got to work really hard together and they’re nailing the scrum. When you start to get some cracks, you actually start worrying about going to the next lineout and not the defensive line. But, they’re doing all those other little things well which means you can concentrate on doing your job.”
Kirwin added a big lesson from the competition’s perennial champions, the Crusaders, would have to stick with the Blues if they are to go on to claim the title.
“The Crusaders knew how to win even when they weren’t necessarily the best in the 80 minutes. The Blues also need to take that calmness around defence into the final.”
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That point about the Crusaders’ success was echoed by Kirwin’s co-host and fellow All Blacks great Jeff Wilson.
“When I think defence, I think one, two, three, four and five,” he said. “Their front row and locks have gone about their work on the inside channel, and they just don’t concede.
“Yes, I know Dalton Papali’i is world-class, Hoskins Sotutu has done in Super Rugby what he’s done for a few years, he’s dominated this level and we’ve seen some great work, some better work from Akira Ioane.
“Adrian Choat comes off the bench but (Laghlan) McWhannell, (Sam) Darry, (Patrick) Tuipulotu, (Ofa) Tu’ungafasi, (Angus)Ta’avao, (Ricky) Riccitelli, (Soane) Vikena; all of a sudden that tight five is operating at a level. The scrum has been really good, lineout drive defence has been great.
“The Highlanders felt it, they got to the 50th-minute mark and they just couldn’t hang on, they couldn’t stay with them. And that wasn’t even the top Blues side.
“This is an impressive defensive stanza, how many titles have the Crusaders got? This is what they won their titles on.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
These are the guys that do the cohesion predictions? That will be a very interesting review and they have likely already told the Crusaders of their expections for them given such a young and inexperienced squad without all their injured and departed players. I wonder if any of that will get leaked out, perhaps only if the cohesion metric predicted such a season? Actually even that would like badly upon the backoffice, I suspect it likely we will never know what Gain Line Analytics made of this season now! Unless the PUs put its publication to vote?
10 Go to commentsCurrently across the super franchises the forwards choices for Robertson is in the luxury of the competitions depth for selection . However same can’t be said regarding selection of the backs, especially the inside backs. I believe that’s where his dilemma will be. If he can’t get mouanga for the start then he should forget him and move on.
27 Go to commentsIf they had another round up their sleeve then no doubt the sadas wouldv been top8. I say leave things alone and get into the next season I rekon the turn around will carry on.
10 Go to commentsSimilar to Arran Smith in his style of application.
5 Go to commentsSave your money. Just learn from the bad stuff and play better next year. Lost loads of key players and had half the team out broken for most of the season.
10 Go to commentsJosh Ioane has been great for opposition teams all season. The sooner the Chiefs unload him to MP the better.
6 Go to commentsMunster have very good back row stocks nowadays, lots of guys with very high potential. Okeke is unlucky not to get a contract. If he came along 10 years ago, he almost certainly would have. Could be very good for Coventry.
1 Go to commentsGreat article! Love that you point out so much that is positive, and back it up with quotes and clips.
1 Go to commentsNo scapegoats. No knee-jerk reactions. Just excuses in an expensive report under file 13. I’ll give the saders some free consulting - no planning after Razor. Just let things fall flat to rebuild. Easy.
10 Go to commentsJosh Bayliss was the early sub for Barbeary
1 Go to commentsHis deficiencies in defence must be major and beyond rebuilding because on attack he has a unique set of skills matched only by a combination of Mark Telea, Shaun Stevenson and Etene Nanai Seturo. His aerial and kicking game is next level and he displays a contempt for one on one situations. We've become obsessed with our no. 11 being a power weapon ignoring the better multi faceted option. Mark Telea is helping to change that mind set, Salesi Rayasi would advance that too.
6 Go to commentsWayne barnes should join the Queen
271 Go to commentsHope both you dirty mutts get cancer and die
41 Go to commentsOqueef was on the saffa pay roll , needs his head stomped
180 Go to commentsChiefs miss a tight 5 of serious grunt. Missing Guzzlers.scrum power and the Blues have spent the last.few yrs nicking their props. Will have to start better than recent matches to stop the Reds.
6 Go to commentsWith the civil war going on over in NZR you have to wonder if these guys can afford to throw money around on consulting firms? Consultants just going to charge them thousands for the privilege of telling them that the brain drain is hurting them, they played like pork chops & maybe some insights gleaned from reading the various rugby blog posts with a couple of graphs thrown in to dicky the report up. My suggestion is they forego the consultants and get a subscription to watch the URC, English Premiership, Top14 and EPCR competitions so that they can learn a bit from all the players and coaches that have left already NZ.
10 Go to commentsI am pleased about the progress of Canada and their recent success. What concerns me slightly is the the PWR league in England has become the breeding ground for other countries’ players with nearly half of Canada’s team playing there. Long term sustainability of good international teams depends on developing their own leagues and systems. They cannot rely upon England forever.
1 Go to commentsShe has a good sense of the perfect fly half but I agree with her mother about the disfiguring tattoos. I shall watch her progress with interest.
1 Go to commentsSurprised Ireland haven’t already nabbed Rayasi. So much competition in the back three in all NZ Super teams that you need a coach who believes in you and will select you regularly.
6 Go to commentsBath Fan acting all innocent, like Hill would just walk up and casually do that without a reason too 😂
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