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Blues suffer injury blow before season opener

The Blues. Photo by Mark Tantrum/Getty Images

The Blues will be without a key man when they open their 2019 campaign against the defending champion Crusaders at Eden Park next weekend.

First-five eighth Stephen Perofeta, who started the side’s last preseason match against the Hurricanes, is unlikely to be available due to a chest/shoulder injury. According to the New Zealand Herald the injury will keep Perofeta sidelined for several weeks.

Fortunately, five eighth Otere Black has shone after a long layoff following a serious knee injury and shapes as the man to likely fill the no 10 shirt against the Crusaders next weekend.

Who will play outside Black remains a mystery. 36-year-old Ma’a Nonu looks a shoo-in after an impressive 60 minute shift at centre against the Hurricanes.

“He scored a really good try, carried hard and was aggressive in defence,” head coach Leon MacDonald said of Nonu. “He was really good actually. It was his first game in a while and he said the pace of the game was a bit different to what he had been experiencing in France, but he loved it.

“He’s a popular member of the team. At 14-0 down, he was probably the calm voice which helped keep the composure in the group; he helped us keep our focus.

Whether Nonu is flanked by TJ Faiane or Sonny Bill Williams remains to be seen, with MacDonald not giving much away.

“Sonny is a quality player and has trained really well and is available for selection,” MacDonald told The New Zealand Herald. “Ma’a’s performance – we haven’t seen him play yet and he played really well. One of the most consistent players in our whole pre-season campaign has been TJ Faiane who is carrying on his good Mitre 10 Cup form. It’s going to be a hot topic, that selection in the midfield.”

“There are some good players who have played good rugby over the last couple of weeks who are going to miss out. That’s always a tough conversation to have but it’s what we want [selection pressure].

“The midfield is obviously a key area. The front row was performed really well in the absence of [All Blacks] Karl [Tu’inukuafe] and Ofa [Tuungafasi] so there are plenty of selection headaches.”

Rugby World Cup City Guides – Oita:

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Nickers 20 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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