Following the Blues’ 57-21 loss to the Hurricanes, here’s how we rated Vern Cotter’s men in their Super Rugby Pacific semi-final defeat.
Blues player ratings v Hurricanes
15 Beauden Barrett: An early penalty conceded in a poor contest with Cam Roigard, which led to the opening try for the Hurricanes. It was Barrett’s first start at full-back in over 30 matches and ultimately led to him being anonymous for long spells of the match. He looked far better when stepping into the first-receiver role and frankly should have started at fly-half instead. 6
14 Cole Forbes: Superbly latched onto Payton Spencer’s kick in behind and showed great awareness to set up the son of the All Blacks great to score. On the whole, it was a decent outing even if he got steamrolled by Kini Naholo; so many have before to be fair. 7
13 AJ Lam: Very little involvement in his 12 minutes on the pitch as he completed two passes. Suffered a head knock and failed his HIA. He was a massive loss for the Blues in the semi-final and will continue to be when he completes his move to Clermont. 5
12 Xavi Taele: On the balance of the match, Taele was outplayed by the Hurricanes‘ midfield pairing, but he still did not have a poor game. He had several smart defensive reads and fared reasonably in attack. 7
11 Caleb Clarke: The All Blacks winger was shaping up for a big performance for the lucky losers. He played a big role in the build-up to Patrick Tuipulotu’s try, skittling defenders before being dragged down just short of the line and his skipper ran a sharp line to score. He also hammered Jordie Barrett from a restart and made another good hit on defence but hit his head on the ball carrier’s hip, which led to an HIA that he ultimately failed, ending his evening after 17 minutes. His and Lam’s bulk was sorely missed in the backline as the Blues struggled to make much ground. 8
10 Stephen Perofeta: The Hurricanes were lethal on turnover ball and were given several opportunities by the Blues’ fly-half who desperately tried to create chances. He conceded possession four times in the match, overcooked a cute kick in behind that gifted the ball back to the Hurricanes and had issues under the high ball. He really struggled to get the Blues’ attack firing and was error-ridden. 4
9 Finlay Christie: Kicked reasonably well out of hand in the first half, and his service was decent. Didn’t return to the action after the break. 6
The forwards
8 Hoskins Sotutu: Proved to be his final game in New Zealand before his departure to the Newcastle Red Bulls and it perhaps showed why he hasn’t got many opportunities with the All Blacks. Dropped a straightforward pass from Barrett in the 24th minute, was penalised for holding on later in the match after a soft carry and then pinged for a lazy tackle in the Hurricanes half. Made 11 carries for 32 metres but never really troubled the ‘Canes defence. Work-rate was there, just not overly impactful or effective. 5
7 Anton Segner: The Blues were beaten on the floor and in their air as the Hurricanes thrived off turnover and loose possession. Much of the blame for that must fall on the shoulders of the forward pack. Segner worked relentlessly and was effective in the first half, but he fell off as the game progressed and was replaced early in the second half. 6
6 Torian Barnes: The young loose forward has plenty of promise, particularly given how much graft he gets through – he topped the tackle count (17). However, he needs to iron out the errors in his game, and there were plenty on Saturday, including a soft penalty in the 12th minute for obstruction which the ‘Canes capitalised on to score. His inaccuracies at the breakdown also led to turnovers. 4
5 Sam Darry: Frankly, a poor showing from the All Blacks second rower who struggled to run the lineout effectively under the pressure of Warner Dearns while he made some very average tackle attempts. He was shrugged off by Xavier Numia in a manner that simply shouldn’t be occurring so close to the ruck, and that wasn’t his only lapse in defence. He did have some good moments, but the bad overshadowed those. 4
4 Patrick Tuipulotu (c): Compared to last week, the Blues skipper was a more reliable lineout option on this occasion, putting in a far more energetic and effective performance. He was also rewarded with his team’s opening try after he ran a great line in close. One of the busier tacklers too. 6
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3 Marcel Renata: He was left with a lot to do on the goal line but should have at least got a shoulder onto Barrett for the opening Canes’ try. He was fortunate that referee Ben O’Keeffe reset scrums or allowed play to continue instead of penalising him for folding in at the set-piece. 4
2 Bradley Slater: Another Blues forward that got stuck into a lot but lacked the accuracy to be impactful. He was cleared off the ball early in the second half by Fehi Fineanganofo, which resulted in a try. The lineout inaccuracies weren’t all his doing, but he can hold his head high for his overall work-rate. 5
1 Ofa Tu’ungafasi: As with his fellow prop, he could be thankful that the officials turned a blind eye to much of the scrum illegalities but was more impactful in the loose than his fellow front-rower. 5
Replacements: Spencer impressed in the first half and really tried to fire the attack into life, which he did when he grabbed a try of his own. Pita Ahki was also an early introduction and he fared reasonably well whilst Eli Oudenryn was the pick of the lot, scoring a stunning solo try and bringing real energy into the collisions. On the whole, though, the impacts off the bench was the real deciding factor in Wellington and it was where the Hurricanes really outclassed the visitors who had used all of their backline replacements by half-time. 4
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