Super Rugby Pacific: Crusaders v Blues
Where: Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch
When: Friday April 15, 7.05pm Live coverage: Sky Sport 1, live updates on Stuff
Referee: Mike Fraser
It’s been what feels like an age, but we’re finally getting another Richie Mo’unga vs Beauden Barrett head-to-head.
The All Blacks playmakers haven’t played opposite one another since September 2020, when they lined up in the No 10 jerseys for Canterbury and Taranaki respectively in a Ranfurly Shield cliffhanger.
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster will certainly have his eyes peeled on the action, as he gets a gauge on his two primary playmakers in a match expected to rival the intensity of a test match.
To think it will be the first time they’ve both played in the No 10 jersey when the Crusaders and Blues have clashed since Barrett signed with the Auckland-based side ahead of the 2020 season.
He missed the Blues’ 25-8 home loss that year before Covid-19 halted Super Rugby as we knew it, and played fullback in the Blues’ 26-15 defeat in Christchurch during the first season of Super Rugby Aotearoa.
After the second Super Rugby Aotearoa fixture between the sides was canned in 2020, the pair went head-to-head in the North v South match, and during Taranaki’s thrilling 23-22 win over Canterbury in the aforementioned Shield match.
With a sabbatical clause in his four-year deal with the Blues, Barrett missed last year’s Super Rugby season and opted to play in Japan.
However, Crusaders coach Scott Robertson cautioned against his players getting too tied up in individual match-ups.
“As a player, if you start doing that you take the focus off your own individual performance. But it’s a good match up, when you are reviewing the game, you look at it. You understand the competition and how you performed comes out,” he said.
“I think it’s a bigger part of the build up. Anywhere around the world, if it’s NFL, they just love ramping it up. It becomes personal, them and us and him and I. That’s a great part of the game. We don’t do it personally, some players might do it for themselves to get themselves up to have a little bit of a personal battle, potentially.”
The Mo’unga-Barrett clash isn’t the only intriguing match up on Friday night.
How about the one between openside flankers Tom Christie and Dalton Papalii, or the one between All Blacks centres Braydon Ennor and Rieko Ioane?
What about No 8s Cullen Grace and Hoskins Sotutu clashing, or All Blacks props Joe Moody and Ofa Tuungafasi butting heads?
Even the clash of head coaches – Robertson vs former teammate Leon MacDonald, who both played and coached the Crusaders – is a beauty.
“Luke has turned back the clock a bit, hasn’t he?…I still have to do a double check that he’s in Blue,” Robertson said.
Ahead of his team’s biggest test of the season, Robertson made it clear the Crusaders weren’t treating the fixture as a “mini final”, despite the hype the game is generating.
He knows better than most competitions aren’t won in the middle of April, and that timing your run is paramount when it comes to winning championships.
For the Crusaders, who are 25-0 in home playoff games, protecting their home field against the Blues is a big deal.
“Every year, it’s a stat that comes up, and you just want to make it another one through performance and effort. The records are built on a massive amount of energy put into that game that night, we know every game has got its own narrative, and this one is another special one in the history.”
Crusaders: Will Jordan, Sevu Reece, Braydon Ennor, David Havili, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Richie Mo’unga, Bryn Hall, Cullen Grace, Tom Christie, Ethan Blackadder, Zach Gallagher, Scott Barrett (c), Oli Jager, Codie Taylor, Joe Moody. Reserves: Ricky Jackson, George Bower, Fletcher Newell, Dominic Gardiner, Pablo Matera, Mitch Drummond, Fergus Burke, George Bridge
Blues: Stephen Perofeta, AJ Lam, Rieko Ioane, Bryce Heem, Mark Telea, Beauden Barrett, Finlay Christie; Hoskins Sotutu, Dalton Papalii (c), Tom Robinson, Josh Goodhue, Luke Romano, Ofa Tuungafasi, Kurt Eklund, Alex Hodgman. Reserves: Ricky Riccitelli, Jordan Lay, Nepo Laulala, James Tucker, Adrian Choat, Taufua Funaki, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Zarn Sullivan/Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens.
