Vern Cotter on moving Hoskins Sotutu to bench after five tries in two games

The Blues and Hurricanes square off in round three of Super Rugby Pacific as two of the three unbeaten teams remaining in the competition.

Only one team can emerge from the derby with that perfect record intact and the Blues are sure they have their processes right to ensure they are that team.

However, their starting unit is missing perhaps their form player in No. 8 Hoskins Sotutu as well as their top lock partnership and All Black winger Caleb Clarke.

While the Hurricanes have key absences of their own thanks to injuries to premier loose forwards and a suspension to All Black second five-eighth Jordie Barrett, they also welcome back experienced halfback TJ Perenara and enjoy a spot above the Blues on the table thanks to a superior points differential.

The focus for new Blues head coach Vern Cotter is clear.

“The key for us is making sure we step up again and keep training as best we can to prepare for these games,” he told media ahead of the contest. “While it’s early season, these are tough games.

“There are different profiles in the teams we’ve played so far [the Fijian Drua and Highlanders], so we have to expect some things which we’ve tried to work on during this week, and it’ll be a good game of footy on Saturday.

“Both teams move the ball, and it’s an opportunity for other players to step up, which is important for the team.”

The round two win over the Highlanders saw the Blues absorb an early deficit on the scoreboard thanks to some savvy play down the blindside by Highlanders halfback Folau Fakatava.

The Southerners had clearly identified a weakness in the Blues defence, and while Cotter’s team had been busy solving that, he’s under no illusions there will be similar moments against the Hurricanes that his team will have to once more respond to with composure and execution.

“They’ll have their moments when they’re on top of us, and we know you have to accept and embrace that.

“But, when we get an opportunity we want to be able to score points and get them adapting to us.”

In addition to the two powerful full-game performances to start the regular season, the in-form No. 8 Sotutu played every minute of the three pre-season fixtures for the Blues. Cotter says his move to the bench for the round three matchup is purely a reflection of the minutes he’s played.

“I’m aware of the amount of work he’s doing and that there’s an element of fatigue. He’s played five 80-minute games, so the idea was to put him on the bench so the beginning of the week could be easy.

“He’s picked it up today [Thursday] and he’ll be flying. They’ve got a strong bench and I think our bench is important. Hoskins will give us another profile coming on and he can play a number of positions. And that will be important in the last 10 minutes.”

All Black Akira Ioane will have a crack in his former No 8 jersey while Sotutu watches from the sidelines.

“I want him to carry and put their team under pressure. He’s got a big skillset and having him on the field, and off the back of the scrum, we may get a couple of reasonable carries and give us some go-forward. Aki’s been training well, but what he has been doing is influencing teammates around him.”

The suspension to Barrett was a reminder for all teams of the importance of proper tackle technique, and the consequences of getting it wrong.

“It’s a fine line and we know we have to be disciplined around it. Penalties and yellow cards you can’t afford. We spoke about it, and everybody wants to put a decent shot on the opposition, but you have to make sure it’s in the right place.

“We’ve got some players on our team that like to stack [tackles], but you have got to live with it. Getting the tackle height right is massive. It’s just the way the game is and we have to instil better habits at training. Training instils those habits of getting low, getting under the ball, but footy is footy, it’s a contact sport and it’s not always perfect.”