Analysis: Beauden Barrett's quality in his first game back helped expose the Crusaders, writes sports reporter Patrick McKendry.
Dalton Papali'i described Beauden Barrett as a "wizard" after the Blues' victory over the Crusaders at Eden Park on Saturday.
Papali'i's sentiment was understandable. His 100th game for the Blues last weekend did not quite go to plan – a loss to the Brumbies in Canberra after his side had put themselves into a winning position - so here was something to truly celebrate; a surprisingly comprehensive 29-13 victory over their old rivals.
"He's a wizard, he's a true player of the game and a student of the game," Blues captain Papali’i told Sky Sports after the final whistle.
"And he's also so awesome, he comes into the environment and when he speaks, everyone listens, the aura he brings into the team is just massive.
“It sort of lifts when you have a player like that out there. You know, he’s a bit of a fossil, but he’s still running out there pretty good."
So the vibes were high for Papali'i and the rest of the Blues after Caleb Clarke scored a hat-trick of tries and kept the visitors scoreless in the second half, but in truth Barrett, a late replacement at No.10 for his first game of the season after initially being named on the bench, did not need to dig too deep into his bag of magic tricks to conjure a win which took his side to fourth on the table.
While the following should not be underestimated, Barrett merely had to calmly steer his side around the field, provide a bit of leadership and put his strike weapons into space while waiting for the Crusaders to self-destruct defensively and strategically.
Furthermore, for the Crusaders, Will Jordan’s absence from fullback due to a rest week was felt worryingly deeply.
In the absence of an elite first-five such as Barrett, so much of the Crusaders' attack goes through Jordan either as a first receiver or counter-attacker from the back field that without him they appeared to be playing with 14 men on occasions.
Rivez Reihana, their No.10 hero in last year’s grand final victory, and making his first start of the season, still needs to work the rust out of his system but it would be harsh to single out his inability to challenge the Blues’ defensive line in the second half when his colleagues in the backline were making so many mistakes.
The task for head coach Rob Penney now is to commit to either Reihana after a difficult match in Auckland, or Taha Kemara, injured for much of last year and who has played well at No.10 thus far.
Kemara, who started at fullback at Eden Park, also has much to learn about the art of navigating his team around the field but he played one of his best ever games for the Crusaders during last weekend’s extraordinary win over the Chiefs. Being unable to stick with a preferred game driver was one of Penney's big issues during the disastrous 2024 season.
Defensively the Crusaders were also all over the place.
Twice in the first 10 minutes right wing Chay Fihaki was caught biting in on defence and twice the Blues scored through Clarke.
For the defending champions, at least Jordan’s absence was an excuse of sorts, although Penney was moved to say his team did not rely on their All Blacks strike weapon too much.
"We talk about that a bit and that's the last thing we want to," Penney said. "He's world class and he makes a massive impact for any team he's in.
"We need to take heat off Jordy. Will's just an amazing talent, and we want to make sure he can come here and play with freedom, not feel as though he's a critical piece."
Less easy to explain is why the Crusaders have one of the worst lineouts in the competition. Their fumbles in this area were again costly on Saturday night – odd given the calibre of their hooker Codie Taylor and promising locks Jamie Hannah, who had a try ruled out, and Antonio Shalfoon.
The Blues, with their impregnable wall of defence in the second half and ability to capitalise on the Crusaders’ mistakes, looked a bit like the (good) Crusaders of old at times, although they, and Barrett, were guilty of aimlessly kicking the ball away too often.
The hopeful kick is a scourge on the game and an unintentional result of World Rugby making such kicks more contestable.
Chiefs douse Moana comeback
The Chiefs were up early against Moana Pasifika in Hamilton only to watch as the visitors came back to 19-14 by taking advantage of some leaky defence among the home side.
It was strangely similar to the start of the Crusaders’ comeback at Waikato Stadium a week earlier, but this time the Chiefs quickly put things right and ran out comfortable 57-24 winners.
Again, this was helped by Damian McKenzie’s influence at No.10 in what was his first game of the season.
This was an open, helter-skelter type match which McKenzie typically shines brightest in but there was enough in his performance to suggest his extended break has been beneficial – for himself and the Chiefs.
As the old saying goes, you can't win a championship without a quality No.10.
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