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'Has Leon turned them into the Crusaders?': Twitter erupts as Blues remain undefeated in Super Rugby Aotearoa
Another impressive showing by the Blues has left Twitter in awe of Leon MacDonald’s side as they maintain their place at the summit of the Super Rugby Aotearoa standings after two rounds of action.
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The men from Auckland travelled to Hamilton in search of their first win in the city since 2011, and came away with a hard-fought, but well-deserved, 24-12 victory, with tries to Hoskins Sotutu and Mark Telea sealing the deal against their tryless opponents.
The result should dispel any notion that the Blues stand as title pretenders – rather than title contenders – as they backed up their impressive 30-20 win over the Hurricanes at Eden Park last week with a strong display where many players flourished.
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Set to face the Highlanders back at home in seven days’ time, the Blues could expect to see another bumper crowd walk through the turnstiles after Saturday night’s effort, if the reaction on Twitter is anything to go by.
Many punters have lauded the in-form franchise for their efforts against the Chiefs, who many considered to be favourites given the strength of their squad.
Much of the praise was aimed at MacDonald, with one user even suggesting that the former Crusaders star is churning the long-underperforming club into a side that could emulate the franchise he won seven Super Rugby titles with.
The @BluesRugbyTeam haven’t looked this steely and tough in years. Has Leon turned them into the Crusaders ? #CHIvBLU #SuperRugbyAotearoa
— Adam Burns (@AJKBurns) June 20, 2020
Leon MacDonald providing excellent proof that Gatland ball doesn’t work in the Southern Hemisphere #SuperRugbyAotearoa #CHIvBLU
— James Peti (@jpeti267) June 20, 2020
Outstanding win for the hot running @BluesRugbyTeam #CHIvBLU
Franchise record for away wins!
Fantastic rugby all round! Well done @ChiefsRugby @NZRugby @AllBlacks @SuperRugbyNZ #SuperRugbyAotearoa #AucklandBlues #SportWinsTheDay#ProudKiwi #MatthewHunt#RIPMatthewHunt@nzpolice— Timmo. Capt Yank&Bank? ?? (@KiwiPilotBloke) June 20, 2020
@BluesRugbyTeam were on point today. Even more so in poor conditions. Handling in that last try was off the scale. #CHIvBLU
— Nigel Burke (@nigelburke11) June 20, 2020
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#CHIvBLU Been a tough number of years but damn we are looking the business this season @BluesRugbyTeam ??
— Mark Muchai (@Muchaiki) June 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/theweekdaez/status/1274263976012967936
Definitely not saying it's our year…but I am thinking it!!! #BluesAllDay #CHIvBLU
— Robbie Feldmann (@robbie_f84) June 20, 2020
The Auckland Blues register their first win in Hamilton since 2011.
This team is looking Impressive.#SuperRugbyAotearoa #CHIvBLU
— NXTGEN Group (@nxtgensportsgrp) June 20, 2020
Still a fair few penalties, but it felt like both sides were trying to be more disciplined in that match.
Great victory for the Blues. Brilliant late try to seal the win after hanging in there in the first half. #SuperRugbyAotearoa #CHIvBLU
— Oli Lathrope (@olilathrope) June 20, 2020
#CHIvBLU blues of previous years lose that match comfortably! Fantastic win after being under the pump due to our own discipline
— Rob Maxwell (@rmax84) June 20, 2020
While MacDonald earned plenty of compliments for the work he’s done from the coaching ranks, others took to Twitter to express how impressed they were with the performances of the Auckland side’s forward pack.
Among those to have stood out was player of the match Hoskins Sotutu, who has established himself as one of the most promising young players in Super Rugby this year, and has been earmarked as a potential successor to Kieran Read as the All Blacks‘ No. 8.
Elsewhere, skipper Patrick Tuipulotu was another subject of praise, with one fan going as far to say the 27-year-old – who earlier this week signed a three-year contract extension with New Zealand Rugby – is the best lock on the planet.
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Really good win by the Blues. Their resurgance continues. Patrick Tuipulotu and Hoskins Sotutu were absolutely superb #CHIvBLU #SuperRugbyAotearoa
— Sean (@SeanTafirenyika) June 20, 2020
2/2 for @BluesRugbyTeam – Hoskin and Patty were huge, love the speed Nock and Christie deliver the ruck ball at, for so long we’ve suffered ponderous half backs and now we actually can look deadly with fast ball #CHIvBLU
— Rogan (@rmtempler) June 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/bengully/status/1274264866325508096
How good was big Pat Tuipulotu today though ?? #CHIvBLU #SuperRugbyAotearoa
— FG Rugby (@_fgrugby) June 20, 2020
After their fair share of false dawns over the last few years, the Blues look like they’re really and truly back. #SuperRugbyAotearoa #CHIvBLU
— Leonard Solms ?? ??????? (@LeonSolms) June 20, 2020
Due to the conditions it wasn’t really a platform for attacking rugby, although the Blues did a good job of bottling up Mckenzie he couldn’t get anything going. We knew the Blues had the back, but the forwards showed grit tonight. Sotutu pure quality, the future? #CHIvBLU
— Ciaron Noble (@CiaronNoble98) June 20, 2020
Hoskins Sotutu will be an All Black. #CHIvBLU
— Roland Rutihinda (@RoroRuti) June 20, 2020
Regardless of where Sotutu and Tuipulotu stand in the national set-up, it’s clear to see there is plenty of hype surrounding this exciting Blues team, which appears to finally be realising its potential as title candidates after 17 trophy-less years.
