WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The 12th round of Super Rugby Pacific may have seen a changing of the guard in New Zealand rugby.
The Auckland-based Blues surged to the top of the championship ladder with a 31-27 win over the formerly first-place Hurricanes while the seven-time defending champion Crusaders dropped further back in the playoffs race when they lost 32-29 to the Highlanders.
The only remaining obstacle to the Blues finishing first at the end of the regular season appears to be a clash with the Hamilton-based Chiefs in the last round.
The Crusaders have won only two of their 11 matches in the regular season and seem to have little chance of reaching the playoffs with matches to come against the third-placed ACT Brumbies and the Blues.
A playoffs series without the Christchurch-based Crusaders and with the Blues in top spot could mark a major power shift in New Zealand rugby, at least a return to a different era.
The Blues won Super Rugby in both of its first two seasons in 1996 and 1997 and again in 2003, beating the Crusaders in that year’s final. The Crusaders won the tournament four times between 1998 and 2002 and after the 2003 final at Eden Park became clearly established as New Zealand’s leading team.
The Blues have churned through coaches and their form has been variable at best in the same period. They made the semifinals only twice between 2004 and 2019.
Since the pandemic their performance has improved and they were runners up to the Crusaders in 2022 and finished third last year. This year under head coach Vern Cotter the Blues have won 10 of 11 matches, losing only to the Hurricanes in Wellington in round three.
They now look like a championship side, one that is representative of the largest player catchment in New Zealand rugby. They have the best defensive record in Super Rugby this season and that showed Saturday when they held out the Hurricanes after the fulltime siren to clinch their eighth-straight win.
It is arguable the Blues should have been more dominant than they were on Saturday over a depleted Hurricanes team. Already without their top three hookers and starting scrumhalf, the Hurricanes lost captain Billy Proctor, All Blacks lock Tyrel Lomax and starting lock Justin Sangster just before the start.
The Hurricanes still looked more creative and dangerous than the Blues on attack and kicked more effectively. The Blues continued their policy under Cotter of driving the ball up the middle of the field with one off runners. They repeatedly tried to score from lineout drives but mostly were held up by the Hurricanes.
That might point to the possibility that at full strength and in a re-match at Eden Park in the final, the Hurricanes might come out on top. But the diligence with which the Blues defend their line remains a critical strength.
“If you look at that last two minutes on our line that’s where you get real satisfaction,” Cotter said.
“If there’s a third game (against the Hurricanes in the final), it will be a cracker.”
The question is whether the Blues could prolong success this year into long-term superiority in New Zealand and whether the Crusaders can find their way out of their current slump.
The 12th round had only a little effect on the playoffs standings. The Blues and Hurricanes swapped first and second places but the Brumbies remained third, the Chiefs fourth, the Quensland Reds fifth, the Melbourne Rebels sixth, the Highlanders seventh and Fijian Drua eighth.
The Western Force moved up sharply to ninth place and, after being stuck in last place for most of the season, are now only two points behind the Drua who they beat 48-10 on Saturday.
