Blues-Hurricanes Clash Leave Blues Still Hopeful for the Play-offs

May 31 • General News, Super Rugby • 1838 Views • Comments Off on Blues-Hurricanes Clash Leave Blues Still Hopeful for the Play-offs

This evening saw two New Zealand rugby teams go head-to-head in a make-or-break game. Especially for the local Blues team. They simply had to win this game in order to still have a shot at the play-offs. The game seemed to start strong for the visiting Hurricanes, but saw a quick turn-around for the Blues after the first 10 minutes.

Beauden Barrett initially missed the first scoring opportunity for the Hurricanes when his penalty attempt left the ball bouncing off from the left hand side of the poles. Up and till this game, Barrett had already collected 188 points in his 2014 SupeRugby season. In the 10th minute, a lineout close to the try line provided an excellent attacking opportunity for the Hurricanes and saw Faifili Levave scoring a try for the Hurricanes and Barrett added 2 more points with the conversion bringing the scoreboard to 7-0 for the Hurricanes in the 12th minute. However, the game saw a sudden turnaround when in the 13th minute, Ihaia West slotted a penalty for the Blues, followed by a penalty try for the home side in the 15th minute. West added 2 more points by successfully converting the try. Not even 2 minutes later, Logali Visinia scored a beautiful break-out try for the Blues in the 17th minute but West failed to convert the try, bringing the scoreboard to 15-7 for the Blues. In the 39th minute West missed a penalty conversion opportunity and the half-time score remained 15-7 for the Blues.

The second half started off very strongly for the Blues with two tries being scored by the home team within the first 10 minutes. Jerome Kaino soared over the try-line in the 43rd minute (converted by Ihaia West), followed by George Moala in the 47th minute (not converted by Ihaia West). By the 50th minute, the scoreboard was 27-7 for the Blues with them also getting their much-longed-for bonus point. Julian Savea responded to the Blues’ attack by scoring a try in the 57th minute for the Hurricanes but Beauden Barrett failed to successfully convert it, bringing the score to 27-12 for the Blues. Then in the 66th minute Patrick Tuipulotu scored a try for the Blues (converted by Ihaia West), whereafter Ardie Savea scored a try for the Hurricanes in the 68th minute (converted by Beauden Barrett). By the 70th minute, the scoreboard was reading 34-19 for the Blues. In the 73rd minute, Ihaia West slotted an impressive penalty for the Blues and added yet 3 more points to the tally. In the 78th minute, Tim Bateman scored a try, and a bonus point, for the Hurricanes (not converted by Beauden Barrett) and brought the full-time score to 37-24 for the Blues.

It appears that there still is something magical about Eden Park for the Blues franchise, since they simply keep winning at home. The big question, however, is if they can win their away games. If they want a shot at the play-offs, they will have no choice.