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2022 just one year too early for 'hurting' Blues
Sitting on a franchise-record 15-match win streak, boasting home advantage and having come out on top in the last meeting between the two sides, the Blues should have entered their Super Rugby Pacific final clash with the Crusaders brimming with confidence.
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Past result counts for little, however, and despite the Blues clearly developing into one of the top club sides in the world over the past three seasons under the guidance of Leon MacDonald, they were thoroughly outclassed by the Crusaders on Saturday night – who were playing for their sixth Super Rugby crown in as many seasons.
Yes, the Blues may have won last year’s Trans-Tasman title, but the Crusaders took home the more prestigious Aotearoa trophy, and this year’s final loomed as the most likely opportunity for the Blues to take over the mantle as New Zealand’s top franchise.
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It wasn’t to be, however, eventually falling to a 21-7 defeat on the back of a disastrous effort at the set-piece that prevented the home team from ever really getting out of first gear.
Still, 15 wins from 17 matches is certainly not a bad record for the year – the best record of any team, in fact, and one that any side from throughout Australsia would be happy to have finished on, despite the heartbreak of the final loss.
Promisingly, the Blues will have much of the same cattle to work with next year, with prop Karl Tu’inukuafe the only confirmed departure and former captain Patrick Tuipulotu set to return from Japan.
“We [will] have pretty much a similar squad, 99 per cent [the same],” said head coach MacDonald following the defeat.
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“Other than a couple of exceptions, still pretty young. We’ve got a good group of young men and at times, some of the maturity and leadership they showed this year exceeded their age.
“I thought tonight was a big learning curve. The whole week was significantly different, dealing with the hype of this game, for some guys it was a really new experience. If you haven’t played a lot of test rugby, you’ve got to experience it to be able to learn how to deal with it and I think some guys will have some lessons from this week
“But overall, you can’t fault the effort and throughout the whole year I think our guys have been fantastic and working really hard for each other and play with a lot of pride. Every time they’ve pulled the Blues jersey on they gave it everything they had. Some guys are hurting in the changing shed right now, which is what you’d expect.”
While the Blues did have last year’s Super Rugby Trans-Tasman finals experience to fall back on, this year’s ultimate game was a different beast.
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In 2021, the Blues squared off in the final with a Highlanders side they’d defeated in three of their previous four encounters. While the Blues did grab a win over the Crusaders in Christchurch earlier this year, that victory marked their first over the Cantabrians since 2014 – and the Crusaders had five previous years of finals experience to call upon.
In short, even though the Blues had form on their side, few would have instilled them as favourites for the match. With another final under their belts however – even though it was a loss – the Aucklanders will now be better placed for the seasons to come.
“Losing finals, I’ve got a bit of experience in that as well,” MacDonald said post-match. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to experience it tonight but it is what it is.
“You’ve got to take the good with the bad. It’s a game, ultimately, and it hurts like hell. If you win it, you want to come back and win it again and if you lose it, there’s that stone in your shoe that just doesn’t go away and we’ve got a group that can win a competition, I’ve got no doubt about that.
“It wasn’t for us this year but we’ll be back next year and we’ll be pretty hungry.”
Stand-in captain Beauden Barrett echoed MacDonald’s thoughts on the developing Blues side.
“Certainly, it’s a pretty good record,” he said of the team’s performance throughout 2022. “Obviously [the team] lacks final experience when it comes to a grand final and we’ll learn a lot from this one so we can hold our heads up high about the season that we’ve had but we’ll certainly remember this feeling that we’re feeling right now.
“You can’t fight it, it is what it is. As long as we stick together, we learn, it’s a great group of lads that we’ve got and we’ll stick tight in the next could of days and come back stronger next year, I’m sure.”
Just like the Warriors, always next year!