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The final that Super Rugby Pacific needs
By Ben Smith
It has been five long years since a Super Rugby final was played in a stadium worthy of what should be the competition’s marquee event.
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The all-Kiwi showdown between the Blues and Crusaders will be played in front of a sell-out crowd at Eden Park, which will bring some much needed glory, buzz and attention to Super Rugby Pacific.
The Crusaders’ latest dynasty began in 2017 when they travelled to Johannesburg to play the Lions at Ellis Park in front of more than 61,000 fans, a record attendance for a Super Rugby fixture.
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After that, Super Rugby’s final was played twice in a makeshift ground at a racing track hobbled together with temporary stands and scaffolding in 2018 and 2019.
With each country having to make do with a domestic-only versions of the competition in 2020 and 2021 due to the spread of the pandemic, there was no final in the inaugural Super Rugby Aotearoa two years ago.
However, the Kiwi-only league last year staged a final, which returned to Orangetheory Stadium at the Addington racetrack.
Without a modern arena to play in, it was not the spectacle that was deserved to crown their achievements, despite the Crusaders’ brilliant run on the field. As such, Super Rugby as a competition missed out as well.
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In need of a massive boost in stature, the Blues-Crusaders final at Eden Park this Saturday will give Super Rugby a historic showdown in the competition’s history, pitting two generational 10s against each other.
Richie Mo’unga is an all-time great Super Rugby player. That much is already guaranteed. He is in the conversation as the competition’s best player of all-time.
The fleet-footed first-five helped secure three titles in a row behind what was essentially the All Blacks forward pack with dynamic playmaking.
Despite having the riches up front that laid the platform for success, the Crusaders could always count on Mo’unga to create something, slip through the line and conjure up points with magical plays.
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On the way to those second and third Super Rugby titles in 2018 and 2019, Mo’unga helped eliminate Beauden Barrett’s Hurricanes in consecutive semi-finals.
In the 2018 final, Mo’unga’s fingerprints were all over the key moments. He set up the first try with a long ball to Seta Tamanivalu, while his line break from a kick return set-up the second to propel the Crusaders to a 20-6 half-time lead over the Lions en route to a 37-18 victory.
When the competition went internal in 2020, Mo’unga had no rivals. The 28-year-old was the competition’s runaway MVP, leading in just about every attacking stat you could dream of.
His five-year run as part of a dominant Crusaders outfit with three Super Rugby titles and two Super Rugby Aotearoa trophies is unprecedented.
If Mo’unga is instrumental in leading the Crusaders to the Super Rugby Pacific title over the Blues this weekend, it will be a monumental moment for the 32-test international, even after all he has achieved.
That’s because the Crusaders are on the downward trajectory of their apex, which was proven in a season where they endured more losses than usual and were undone by the Blues in a thrilling contest in Christchurch.
Mo’unga has lost much of the public adulation that came with his initial rise to the All Blacks after a string of subpar performances in the test arena. The Richie Mo’unga that turns it on in red-and-black has not been seen enough in just black.
A couple of great displays against the Wallabies and a pool stage showing against South Africa does little to outweigh the growing list of suspect ones.
The 2019 World Cup semi-final loss to England. Both 16-all draws in Wellington against the Springboks and Wallabies in ’19 and ’20, respectively. The historic first-up loss to Los Pumas in Sydney. The end-of-year tour tests against France and Ireland in ’21.
Mo’unga’s contribution to that list of defeats means the tide has turned back in Barrett’s favour as the preferred occupant of New Zealand’s No 10 jersey.
Barrett has accrued a glittering 101-test All Blacks career that is filled with match-winning and game-defining moments which, quite frankly, Mo’unga isn’t anywhere near replicating.
There is no comparison to be made. It’s not even David vs Goliath. It’s just Goliath. Barrett is a consistent big game player on the international stage, while Mo’unga hasn’t been, despite his Super Rugby success.
While Mo’unga has built into this Super Rugby Pacific season following a contract-enforced rest period, Barrett has had a rejuvenation at the Blues, rediscovering his top-end speed and lethal running game behind an all-star forward pack.
The 30-year-old has been out-and-out the most influential player in this year’s competition. Every major Blues victory has had Barrett’s influence when it comes to big scoring moments and big plays.
Barrett stands on the cusp of winning his second Super Rugby title after guiding the Hurricanes to a maiden crown in 2016 and, in doing so, he would become the first starting No 10 to win a Super Rugby title with multiple teams.
He is on fire and the Blues have proven themselves to be the best team in the competition, but few would rule out the Crusaders from denying them this weekend.
It wouldn’t be the first time that a South Island team has come north to rain on Barrett’s parade in a final.
That is what makes this final so intriguing, for both Barrett and Mo’unga as well as the Blues and Crusaders, respectively, after three years of waiting for a moment like this.
In 2020, the Blues-Crusaders showdown at Eden Park would have been spectacular, but lockdown restrictions robbed everyone of the final round fixture.
The Blues had almost pulled off a stunning upset in Christchurch earlier that season, and a return leg in Auckland was much-anticipated. Perhaps the most enticing aspect of that match was that Crusaders icon Dan Carter may have debuted for the Blues.
A year later, the buzz of Super Rugby Aotearoa’s first iteration had worn off a bit. Barrett was on sabbatical in Japan and the fixture was played so early in the season that Eden Park was barely half full.
Mo’unga and the Crusaders put on a show on that day, but the clash did not have any hype. The return clash in Christchurch was just as lopsided.
This year the teams played once, and it was the best game of the season by far as the Blues pulled off a slice of history with their first victory in Christchurch since 2004.
Now we have the sequel on the final day of the season, at the biggest stadium in the country, with the title on the line between two old rivals.
Barrett and Mo’unga will both be playing at 10 for their respective teams, two great players facing off in a meaningful fixture that will form an irreversible part of their Super Rugby stories.
The final that Super Rugby Pacific needs is here.
Super Rugby was Ill 5 years ago but now it’s dead altogether.. the SA teams provided a balance to the all out running which made it a proper experience but since their departure it’s lost all global appeal.