{"id":460439,"date":"2026-06-04T10:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/460439\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:18:12","slug":"lucky-loser-playoff-concept-is-weird-say-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/460439\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Lucky loser’ playoff concept is ‘weird’, say Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu has described the potential for his side to receive a second life in the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs should they lose to the Crusaders as \u201cweird\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Blues, who have fallen off a metaphorical cliff in recent weeks, losing their last three games, finished fourth on the table and will play the third-placed Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Should the three-match playoffs this weekend go to form \u2013 the Hurricanes beating the Brumbies, Chiefs beating the Reds and Crusaders beating the Blues \u2013 then the Aucklanders will get a second life as the competition\u2019s so-called “lucky loser”.<\/a><\/p>\n

It will be the second time the lucky loser concept has been applied after the Chiefs, who finished first on the table last year, were shocked by the Blues in their first knockout match and were given a lifeline to the semifinal. They eventually lost to the Crusaders in the final in Christchurch.<\/p>\n

Asked today whether the Blues were thinking about a potential second chance, Tuipulotu, who is back from a neck injury, said: \u201cNot really. It\u2019s a weird one, eh? In terms of the comp I don\u2019t know any other comp that has a second life for a losing team. It\u2019s weird but if it\u2019s another chance we\u2019ll certainly take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head coach Vern Cotter said: \u201cIt\u2019s not the knockout football I know from the past. It\u2019s a little bit different but it doesn\u2019t change us wanting to put in a good performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cotter added: \u201cIt\u2019s just the format. Normally, if you lose in a playoff game, you\u2019re out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blues appeared relaxed but determined today after being humbled 59-34 by the Chiefs in Hamilton last weekend, a result which cost them the right<\/a> to host the Crusaders this weekend.<\/p>\n

\"Chiefs<\/p>\n

Chiefs player Reon Paul celebrates after scoring against the Blues in Hamilton last weekend. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

First-five Beauden Barrett remains unavailable due to a quadriceps injury but Tuipulotu\u2019s return will add starch to a pack which has been found wanting at set piece time recently.<\/p>\n

Tuipulotu, who was born in Christchurch, agreed there may be something approaching a \u201choodoo\u201d in Christchurch as far as Crusaders versus Blues playoffs matches in the south are concerned and admitted some of his family on his mother\u2019s side still supported the Crusaders over the Blues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t talk to them much,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

The Blues beat the Crusaders at Eden Park this season before losing to them under the roof in Christchurch recently and Cotter said the southerners\u2019 new stadium<\/a> required a change in approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big basketball court isn\u2019t it? You can lose oxygen fairly quickly if it speeds up and there\u2019s long phases of play, so you have to manage your efforts and be very accurate,” he said. “You don\u2019t want to be chasing things because it feels a little more tiring than it would be in open air.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuipulotu said: \u201cIt\u2019s very loud\u2026 in terms of the lineout calls, we have to come up with a plan there. It\u2019s very fast\u2026 it\u2019s exciting, we get our hands on the ball more and it makes the rugby fun for the spectators.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cotter wants an improvement in his team\u2019s collective decision making but while he and his side may be raising a metaphorical eyebrow at the playoffs format they could have a free swing at it this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re coming off three losses \u2013 we can\u2019t say we\u2019re going down there and give them a hiding,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a bit of humility from our side. We\u2019re going to have to be better than we have been. That\u2019s the key focus. Why not? If we give it a crack, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether the move by Crusaders prop George Bower from loosehead to tighthead due to injury would present an opportunity to the Blues and, in particular, Ofa Tu\u2019ungafasi, Cotter said: \u201cThere is no weak Crusaders team. They slot players in. They have an academy and they get players in when they\u2019re 10 years old down there. Whoever is playing will be on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey know how to rise to important parts of the season\u2026 they know the key points that control games. Set piece is obviously one of them. How to score points and apply pressure on the opposition [is another]. We have to know how to absorb pressure they\u2019re going to apply and apply our own.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu has described the potential for his side to receive a second life in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[33339,17909,56380,49155,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-460439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-blues","tag-chiefs","tag-crusaders","tag-hurricanes","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}