Dalton Papali'i started the week with hopes of finally getting one over the Crusaders but as he left the field last night, it had been well and truly ripped from him along with any chances of a Super Rugby title.
Papali'i - and departing coach Leon MacDonald for that matter - were unsurprisingly crestfallen following last night's embarrassing 52-15 semi-final loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch.
A season that had been framed around "peaking" at the right time ended in a six-tries-to-two slaughtering in which the red and blacks once again ended the Blues' season and with it earned an 18th win in the last 19 matches of the one-sided rivalry.
"I don’t have the words," Papali'i opened the post-match match press conference with.
It took the Blues skipper some time to digest the 80 minutes that had just happened but once he did, he found some answers to questions although they will be hard for him and his teammates to hear.
“I think the messaging was there before the game. But out there, I think the buy in wasn’t there....and it showed in the first couple of minutes, we were getting back shoulder passes, boys just weren’t doing the basics,” he said.
”I’m not pointing fingers. I was out there as well, I was a bit too frantic, trying to do too much.”
What will hurt even more is knowing the Crusaders fielded a side while nursing 12 injuries - including eight injured All Blacks - and despite it, looked just as dominant as seasons' past in their Super Rugby dynasty.
Most of it came from the sheer intensity in and around the breakdown which captain Scott Barrett and fellow All Black Codie Taylor led, although they were helped by some impressive performances from No 8 Christian Lio-Willie and flanker Sione Havili-Talitui.
MacDonald joked the Crusaders "didn't look very depleted tonight in the way they played" but he was more frustrated discussing his side's work around the contact area where they were simply outmuscled for a majority of the match.
“I think just understanding that step. Round-robin play is all good and well, but the Crusaders, they will test you, and you've got to have your mindset tough, and it's the dark arts of the game they're so good at,” he said.
“We had high hopes, for it to end like this isn't ideal, obviously. But sports can be brutal at times."
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