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Blues dent Highlanders' Super Rugby playoff hopes

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - JUNE 02: Patrick Tuipulotu of the Blues (R) is congratulated on his try during the round 15 Super Rugby Pacific match between Blues and Highlanders at Eden Park, on June 02, 2023, in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

The Blues have opened the final weekend of the Super Rugby Pacific regular season with a 16-9 home win over the Highlanders that severely dented the visitors’ playoff hopes and opened the door for their rivals.

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The Blues had to grind out a victory which ensured them third place in the standings and a home quarter-final but fell short of the big win which would have given them a shot at overhauling the Crusaders in second.

Only skipper Patrick Tuipulotu managed to breach the steely Highlanders defence but that try, added to three penalties and a conversion from the boot of centre Harry Plummer, proved enough to prevail in an arm-wrestle of a contest.

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The Highlanders were looking for a first victory over New Zealand opposition in 16 matches and needed a bonus-point win to be sure of a spot in the playoffs.

They drew first blood with a Sam Gilbert penalty, with the Blues not hitting the front until lock Tuipulotu barged over the line for the only try of the ni ght just shy of the half-hour mark.

The Highlanders showed little attacking intent but staunch defence restricted the Blues to a 16-6 lead from halftime until Gilbert kicked his third penalty in the 79th minute to secure a losing bonus point.

“We gave it our best, we gave a lot of heart but we just couldn’t quite finish it off,” Highlanders captain Billy Harmon said.

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The Highlanders, in eighth place – level on points with the Queensland Reds, who play the Fijian Drua on Saturday, in seventh – are one of four teams now battling it out for the last two playoff spots.

Their final tally of 24 points means the Western Force (22) and the Fijian Drua (21) both have an opportunity to overhaul them and move into the finals places with a win on Saturday.

The hopes of the Melbourne Rebels, who also went into the weekend on 21 points, were ended by a 33-17 defeat at the ACT Brumbies.

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Stu 518 days ago

If you went to sponsors on the back of that game there would be no professional footy. A terrible spectacle for the live fans which in my opinion the games administrators have no regard for. Legalised and illegal obstruction blight the game, Tuipulotu's try should not have been awarded due to Robinson's obstruction. Terrible officiating procedure at the start of the game and pedantic reffing throughout left live fans watching the refs and players standing around and resetting scrums. It looks like teams are too scared to play with the ball in case they fall foul of the ref, the only way to be safe is to play territory which means endless kicking. Get the game right for the live spectator and the TV spectacle will look after itself but not the other way round - and the powers that be wonder why no one is going to games....

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'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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