Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu has described the potential for his side to receive a second life in the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs should they lose to the Crusaders as “weird”.
The Blues, who have fallen off a metaphorical cliff in recent weeks, losing their last three games, finished fourth on the table and will play the third-placed Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday afternoon.
Should the three-match playoffs this weekend go to form – the Hurricanes beating the Brumbies, Chiefs beating the Reds and Crusaders beating the Blues – then the Aucklanders will get a second life as the competition’s so-called "lucky loser".
It will be the second time the lucky loser concept has been applied after the Chiefs, who finished first on the table last year, were shocked by the Blues in their first knockout match and were given a lifeline to the semifinal. They eventually lost to the Crusaders in the final in Christchurch.
Asked today whether the Blues were thinking about a potential second chance, Tuipulotu, who is back from a neck injury, said: “Not really. It’s a weird one, eh? In terms of the comp I don’t know any other comp that has a second life for a losing team. It’s weird but if it’s another chance we’ll certainly take it.”
Head coach Vern Cotter said: “It’s not the knockout football I know from the past. It’s a little bit different but it doesn’t change us wanting to put in a good performance.”
Cotter added: “It’s just the format. Normally, if you lose in a playoff game, you’re out.”
The Blues appeared relaxed but determined today after being humbled 59-34 by the Chiefs in Hamilton last weekend, a result which cost them the right to host the Crusaders this weekend.
First-five Beauden Barrett remains unavailable due to a quadriceps injury but Tuipulotu’s return will add starch to a pack which has been found wanting at set piece time recently.
Tuipulotu, who was born in Christchurch, agreed there may be something approaching a “hoodoo” in Christchurch as far as Crusaders versus Blues playoffs matches in the south are concerned and admitted some of his family on his mother’s side still supported the Crusaders over the Blues.
“I don’t talk to them much,” he joked.
The Blues beat the Crusaders at Eden Park this season before losing to them under the roof in Christchurch recently and Cotter said the southerners’ new stadium required a change in approach.
“It’s a big basketball court isn’t it? You can lose oxygen fairly quickly if it speeds up and there’s long phases of play, so you have to manage your efforts and be very accurate," he said. "You don’t want to be chasing things because it feels a little more tiring than it would be in open air.”
Tuipulotu said: “It’s very loud… in terms of the lineout calls, we have to come up with a plan there. It’s very fast… it’s exciting, we get our hands on the ball more and it makes the rugby fun for the spectators.”
Cotter wants an improvement in his team’s collective decision making but while he and his side may be raising a metaphorical eyebrow at the playoffs format they could have a free swing at it this weekend.
“We’re coming off three losses – we can’t say we’re going down there and give them a hiding,” he said. “There’s a bit of humility from our side. We’re going to have to be better than we have been. That’s the key focus. Why not? If we give it a crack, why not?”
Asked whether the move by Crusaders prop George Bower from loosehead to tighthead due to injury would present an opportunity to the Blues and, in particular, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Cotter said: “There is no weak Crusaders team. They slot players in. They have an academy and they get players in when they’re 10 years old down there. Whoever is playing will be on.
“They know how to rise to important parts of the season… they know the key points that control games. Set piece is obviously one of them. How to score points and apply pressure on the opposition [is another]. We have to know how to absorb pressure they’re going to apply and apply our own.”
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