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Blues make captaincy change ahead of 2020 Super Rugby campaign

Patrick Tuipulotu. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

The Blues will head into the new Super Rugby season with just one captain at the helm of the squad after All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu was named as skipper on Wednesday.

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The 26-year-old was named outright captain of the 2020 squad after having previously shared the duty with loose forward Blake Gibson.

“It’s my home town, home province,” Tuipulotu said to media following the announcement of his appointment.

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“I’m pretty honoured and privileged to again lead this team, it’s obviously different circumstances the time round, with myself solely.

“But in saying that, I’ve got a good group of guys behind me, who are going to help me out throughout the year.”

One challenge that Tuipulotu faces as a leader in a younger, less experienced Blues squad compared to last year is that he won’t be able to call on the support of departed veterans such as Ma’a Nonu, Sonny Bill Williams or ex-captain Augustine Pulu.

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Regardless, the 30-test international said taking the leadership reins was an offer he couldn’t refuse from Blues head coach Leon MacDonald.

“I was never going to say no if the coaches asked me,” he added.

“Leon approached me and told me what was the go and I thought I was happy with that, it’s a new challenge, it’s different but I’ll take it heads on.

“This is where I want to be and that’s another driving factor in why I took it.”

Tuipulotu will likely get his first match as the club’s sole captain next Friday when the Blues host the Chiefs at Eden Park in the first match of the new Super Rugby season.

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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