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Once in a blue moon: Blues finally win at home

Author
Patrick McKendry, NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 29 Jun 2018, 7:21PM
Jerome Kaino's final Blues game at Eden Park was a success. (Photo / Getty)
Jerome Kaino's final Blues game at Eden Park was a success. (Photo / Getty)

Once in a blue moon: Blues finally win at home

Author
Patrick McKendry, NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 29 Jun 2018, 7:21PM

Success of sorts at last for the departing Jerome Kaino and the Blues at what used to be their fortress – a victory tonight over a Reds team who are a rarity in this competition; one who appear to have more issues than they do.

Another strangely passive and mistake-ridden opening from the home side – skipper Kaino's first act after running through his guard of honour with sons Grayson, 2, and Kobe, 6, was to drop the kick-off - was soon forgotten when the Reds lost two players due to foul play in the space of two minutes.

Midway through the first half, right wing Jordan Petaia went to the sinbin for a lifting tackle on Michael Collins and prop Taniela "Tongan Thor" Tupou, a Sacred Heart old boy, joined him for a dangerous no-shoulders "grasscutter" tackle on Ofa Tuungafasi.

The score was 8-6 to the Blues when Tupou departed and 21-6 when he returned; Rieko Ioane and Matt Moulds adding to Melani Nanai's first try to effectively put the match beyond the Reds.

Out of sympathy perhaps, the Blues returned the favour in the second half; lock Matiaha Martin and prop Sione Mafileo binned for maul and scrum offences respectively, but by then the match was safe for the home side.

Not surprisingly, the Blues' confidence blossomed while they had a two-man advantage and they played with both a freedom and control that had hitherto been missing during this match and their previous seven at Eden Park this season – all of which, incredibly, they had lost.

The extent of Brad Thorn's rebuilding job was writ large here – his mainly young side (loose forward veterans George Smith and Scott Higginbotham the notable exceptions) were shut out of the game early and made far too many dangerous tackles.

But there wasn't a whole lot for Tana Umaga to celebrate either, apart from the successful return from shoulder surgery of openside flanker Blake Gibson, a fitting farewell for Kaino, the 81-test All Black and 137-match Blues player, good performances from the Ioane brothers, and five competition points.

The Blues' kick-off receipts were ordinary, their scrum was a disaster with loosehead prop Alex Hodgman penalised four times in four scrums before being replaced by Pauliasi Manu early in the second half and another replacement, Mafileo, binned after conceding yet another penalty from the set piece after a warning from South African referee Egon Seconds.

Perofeta's converted try as the match approached the final quarter put it beyond doubt and what remained was akin to the dance of the desperate – a slog in the cold night air between two sides who waved goodbye to their playoff hopes a long time ago.

The victory was ugly but it was only the Blues' fourth of the year and they can't afford to be fussy. It was also the least that the 35-year-old Kaino deserves as he faces up to his last two matches for his beloved franchise before he moves with his family to Toulouse at the end of the season.

The old enforcer has been such a courageous player on this piece of grass – particularly during the 2011 World Cup knockout stages – that a defeat would have been cruel.

An extremely ill-disciplined Reds side, and a Blues team who took their opportunities for once before losing the plot a little themselves, ensured that didn't happen.

Blues 39 (Melani Nanai, Rieko Ioane, Matt Moulds, Stephen Perofeta, Caleb Clarke tries; Perofeta 3 pens, con, Bryn Gatland pen) 
Reds 16 (Duncan Paia'aua, Alex Mafi tries; Jono Lance 2 pens) 
Halftime: 21-6

 

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