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'Nearly lost another one': Relieved Blues lament second half slump

(Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)

When Highlanders fullback Sam Gilbert crashed over for his second try with ten minutes remaining, the home side drew within one score of the Blues at 32-25.

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With how the Blues have finished games this year, head coach Leon MacDonald admitted his heart rate was once again through the roof as his side tried to close out proceedings.

“Seems to be a theme for a lot of our games this year, [going] right down to the wire,” he told media in the post-match press conference.

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“Nearly lost another one in the dying stages again so pretty relieved when that final whistle blew. Great game of rugby, I thought. Both teams really tried to play with the ball
and having a bit of atmosphere and the crowd and under the roof, it’s a great place to play the game.”

The Blues built a 10-nil lead through an early Beauden Barrett penalty and a barnstorming try to left wing Caleb Clarke which became an 18-6 halftime lead when Barrett skinned the Highlanders down the shortside from a wayward scrum right before the break.

With Hoskins Sotutu under pressure, the ball bobbled backward but some smart work form Sam Nock rescued the situation and found his first five hanging out on the left wing where Highlanders wing Ngane Punivai was caught napping.

Head coach Leon MacDonald believed his side may have ‘got away with one’ as a knock-on could have been ruled at the base of the scrum but it was a key play in the context of the match.

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“There was a big call whether there was a knock on. We feel we got away with one [there]. Those little moments were big and then we had a couple go our way which
was nice,” he said.

“I thought we were able to nail a few key plays at key times – scoring before halftime. And losing Beauden, a little bit of experience at the end there, we just looked maybe a little bit rattled at the final stages.”

The Blues lost Barrett to concussion just minutes into the second half which forced Stephen Perofeta into the game early and the Highlanders were able to arrest momentum of the game.

Sam Gilbert sliced through from a well timed pass from Mitch Hunt to pull the home side into the game at 18-11 but an inability to exit gave the Blues possession straight back and they built pressure until Hoskins Sotutu broke through the line for an individual try.

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Down 25-11 the Highlanders didn’t give in, with another Mitch Hunt pass setting up a try for Dan Lienert-Brown pulling them within one score again following a Blues’ turnover in their own half.

Just moments later it looked like the Highlanders had a double strike when Mosese Dawai grabbed a fortunate bounce out of the clutches of Blues’ fullback Zarn Sullivan following a second box kick from Aaron Smith.

However the try was called back on review after replays showed Dawai had knocked on trying to bat back Aaron Smith’s first box kick which the Highlanders had recovered.

Leon MacDonald said his side ‘didn’t do a fantastic job’ of defending in the second half which let the Highlanders build pressure and score points. He said they lacked ‘zip’ in the second stanza.

“Yeah we didn’t have a lot of ball in the second half; we sort of spent a lot of time defending and we didn’t do a fantastic job of it either,” MacDonald lamented.

“I thought we defended really well in the first half but like I said, we just lacked a bit of zip in that second half. We were a bit slow and the Highlanders sniffed blood and they went for the kill and yeah, we wouldn’t have wanted to go into the 90th minute this week.”

 

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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