Blues hammer Chiefs to win Super Rugby Pacific final
Saturday, 22 June 2024
The Blues crushed the Chiefs in Saturday night’s Super Rugby Pacific final to win their first major title in 21 years.
Caleb Clarke scored a hat-trick as the Blues brushed the Chiefs aside with five tries to one.
Vern Cotter can celebrate ending the Blues’ long title drought in his first year as coach.
At Eden Park, Auckland: Blues 41 (Akira Ioane 12’, Caleb Clarke 21’, 51’, 62’, AJ Lam 73’ tries; Harry Plummer 5 con, 2 pen) Chiefs 10 (Simon Parker 66’ try; Damian McKenzie pen, con). HT: 20-3. Yellow card: George Dyer (Chiefs).
The Blues are champions at last after walloping the Chiefs in brutal fashion to win the big prize with Saturday night’s momentous victory.
Coach Vern Cotter has masterminded their success in Super Rugby Pacific in his first season, delivering a major title to Auckland for the first time since 2003.
The anticipation and expectation was palpable as 44,035 packed into a sold-out Eden Park and there was a sense of disbelief as Cotter’s men dispatched the Chiefs 41-10, with Caleb Clarke crossing for a hat-trick in a one-sided final.
It wasn’t pretty on another wet Auckland night, but few in blue would have cared as they finally lived up to the hype when it mattered after two decades of mediocrity.
Nobody epitomised the Blues’ determination more than their heroic captain Patrick Tuipulotu. Despite a knee injury that was considered season-ending only two weeks ago, he was enormous as their forwards dominated close-quarter collisions again to crush the Chiefs.
He lasted 57 minutes and was given a standing ovation, but the familiar standouts of their superior pack, such as Hoskins Sotutu, Dalton Papali’i, Akira Ioane, Sam Darry and Ricky Riccitelli, were also excellent.
Harry Plummer was faultless again, kicking seven from seven off the tee, and has triumphed where so many former Blues No 10s have failed.
The Chiefs were savagely punished for their discipline in losing last year’s decider and caused their own problems again, falling well short in another final.
The absence of their leading hookers, Samisoni Taukei’aho and Bradley Slater, put huge pressure on Tyrone Thompson’s lineout throws. He struggled, but so did their dynamite back three of Shaun Stevenson, Emoni Narawa and Etene Nanai-Seturo.
Not much went right for Clayton McMillan’s side. Star playmaker Damian McKenzie was ineffective. Simon Parker managed their only try from a rare attack when the final was lost.
Their yellow card after the break for prop George Dyer had been coming and the Blues’ scrum, so efficient all season, gave Clarke the simplest of scores for his brace at a key time.
Clarke claimed his third from a wonderful pass from halfback Finlay Christie to put the Chiefs to bed and AJ Lam’s late try meant the party could start in Auckland.
More than an hour of driving rain before kick-off suited the Blues, even if they made a shaky start.
The pockets of Chiefs fans rattling cow bells made a phenomenal noise when exciting No 8 Wallace Sititi made an early half-break.
They were soon quiet as the Blues’ forwards took control, led by a huge carry from their stricken skipper, something few could have imagined last week with his wrecked knee.
The hosts got into their work and Akira Ioane squeezed over from close range for the opening try before miraculously combining with his brother, Rieko, on the touchline to give Clarke his first.
The Chiefs weathered the blue storm as well as they could, but they might have been relieved when Plummer added his second penalty goal instead of kicking to the corner on the stroke of half-time.
The big picture
The two sides were beaten at home by the Crusaders in the last two finals, the Blues in 2022 and the Chiefs last year.
The Blues were not denied again and won their fourth full title after wins in 1996, 1997 and 2003.
Forget the trans-Tasman trophy they claimed in 2021 in the unbalanced competition in the Covid-19 pandemic. Saturday night’s prize was the real deal.
The Chiefs will have to wait another year to add to their back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.
What’s next
Super Rugby Pacific will resume next year with 11 sides after the demise of the Melbourne Rebels. The Blues will be the team to beat after ending their long title drought.
The test season begins with the All Blacks hosting England in Dunedin on July 6. Scott Robertson’s first All Blacks squad is named on Monday in Christchurch.