Blues captain Dalton Papali’i says he wants to settle some "bad blood" against the Crusaders when they meet in the Super Rugby Pacific semifinal in Christchurch on Friday night.
Meanwhile, Crusaders skipper Scott Barrett was asked live on Sky TV's broadcast last night about whether he was looking forward to playing the Blues in another playoff after crashing their Eden Park grand final party last year. “S*** yeah,” was Barrett’s response.
Rarely have two Kiwi captains spoken with such brutal honesty before a clash of this magnitude, and given the recent history between the two franchises, everything points to it being an instant, if occasionally extremely rugged, classic.
The rivals have got to this point through similarly dominant performances in their quarter-finals – the Blues demolishing the Waratahs 41-12 at Eden Park, and, a day later, the Crusaders out-scoring the Fijian Drua seven tries to one to win 49-8.
However, while the Blues lost Patrick Tuipulotu to a broken arm after their final round-robin victory over the Highlanders, the rest of their squad appears intact.
The Crusaders, on the other hand, are almost literally limping to the finish line. Already without veteran lock Sam Whitelock due to a recurring Achilles injury likely to prevent him from playing for them again this season, along with midfielder David Havili (hamstring), they finished the match against the Drua with 13 players after the departures of replacement forwards Ethan Blackadder and Zach Gallagher, and, most worryingly, first-five Richie Mo’unga.
Fortunately for the Crusaders and All Blacks, Mo’unga’s withdrawal does not appear serious – merely precautionary due to a cramp.
Blackadder, only just back from a calf injury, walked off after only four minutes, but the issue may only be a knock to his hip, coach Scott Robertson said.
Gallagher’s calf issue appears more serious and could leave the Crusaders with just Barrett and Quentin Strange as specialist locks for what will be a highly anticipated playoff.
The Crusaders’ predictable demolition of the Drua, who finished seventh on the table in only their second season, extended their playoffs record at home to 28-0.
The Blues shocked the Crusaders last year in the round-robin in Christchurch when winning there for the first time in 18 years, but the defending champions beat them home and away again this season and comfortably dismantled them in last year’s final.
That may have fed a little in Papali’i’s enmity towards the red and blacks – well, that and Crusaders coach Scott Robertson’s breakdancing in the middle of Eden Park afterwards.
“I don’t think we need to change anything,” Papali’i said after the Waratahs' win regarding the week’s preparation on the assumption the Crusaders would beat the Drua.
“I know the boys will be looking forward to it. There’s a bit of bad blood there with us and the Crusaders, but that’s what you look forward to, these big challenges.
"Going down there and getting one against them in a big game … you couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.”
Asked to explain the “bad blood” business, he continued: “It just dates back to years ago, that rivalry we have with them.
“The Blues city boys going up against those boys from down south. It gets stronger each year, and the blood gets a bit more boiled after a while.”
Blues coach Leon MacDonald was not quite as willing to go down that path – probably not surprising given he will join Scott Robertson at the All Blacks after the World Cup.
“It’s exciting – really exciting,” he said. “I suppose we can go down there with a mindset of going to play and having a real crack at them. I think that sits nicer with us than [playing] here and having the pressure of expectation. We’ll go down there and get stuck in and look forward to that.”
The Chiefs, who snuck home over the Reds, will host the Brumbies in the other semifinal after the men from Canberra beat the Hurricanes 37-33 in a controversial quarter-final at GIO Stadium last night.
The Chiefs, who have lost only once this season, beat the Crusaders home and away after losing to them in last year's semifinal in Christchurch.
They used their disappointment as fuel to get them to this point. It remains to be seen whether the Blues can do likewise.
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