The Blues are a proper rugby side. Watching them physically dominate the Super Rugby Pacific final against the Chiefs, at times it felt like watching the world champion Springboks. It is the biggest compliment I could give to Blues coach Vern Cotter and his champions.
What a dominant performance.
This was Blues rugby like I remember it from 1996 and 1997 when I was fortunate to be at Eden Park for many of their championship matches. This was the Blues of 2003, the last time they won a Super Rugby title.
The glory of 1996 and 1997 was down to a potent pack filled with iconic All Blacks: Olo Brown, Sean Fitzpatrick, Craig Dowd, Michael Jones, Zinzan Brooke and Robin Brooke. Add the mercurial Carlos Spencer at No 10 and the incomparable Jonah Lomu in the No 11 jersey and there has to be an appreciation of what the Sharks, losing 45-21 finalists, were up against at Eden Park in Auckland.
To understand how good was a side that scored 45 points against the Sharks, consider this Sharks starting XV: Andre Joubert, James Small, Jeremy Thomson, Dick Muir, Cabous van der Westhuizen, Henry Honiball, Kevin Putt (replaced by Springbok Robert du Preez), Ollie le Roux, John Allan, Adrian Garvey, Mark Andrews, Steve Atherton, Wayne Fyvie, Wickus van Heerden and Gary Teichmann.
That’s a Springboks team.
The Blues, in 2024, are the very definition of what the All Blacks between 2019 and 2023 were not. They are closer in DNA to the current world champion Springboks
The Chiefs on Saturday were no Springboks team, but the Blues played with the same physical presence, authority, calm and dominance as the world champion Springboks have at the past two World Cups. They were disciplined and when they needed to unleash, they had incredible game breakers in the backs and a goalkicker in Harry Plummer, who kicked seven from seven.
I was fortunate to be at Eden Park often in the 1996 season and the Blues and All Blacks centre Eroni Clarke was immense defensively throughout the season. For the rugby romantic it was a tearjerker that Clarke’s son, Blues left winger Caleb, would score three tries in Saturday’s humbling of the Chiefs.
The two could be twins when looking at them at the same age, with the only difference being today’s younger Clarke has the kind of pace his old man couldn’t find in those imposing thunder thighs. What a moment for the Clarke family.
South African rugby supporters’ focus on Saturday was at Twickenham, where the Boks started their international season against Wales and at Loftus Versfeld where the Bulls hosted their first ever United Rugby Championship final.
Loftus was a sell-out and so was Eden Park.
The last time I was at Eden Park was the World Cup final in 2011. It heaved and it looked like a similar atmosphere on Saturday.
It was powerful to observe, just as powerful as seeing Loftus full for a final.
There are no two greater rugby nations than South Africa and New Zealand. There are no two more successful teams than the All Blacks and Springboks and the most successful World Cup title winners are the Springboks (four) and All Blacks (three).
The Blues versus the Bulls in Auckland or Pretoria, now that would have been some match this weekend.
Blues coach Cotter, having spent a decade with France’s Clermont, did the unthinkable in Auckland. He invested in the game-breaking natural attacking brilliance of players like Mark Talea, Clarke and Rieko Ioane, but he built a Blues pack, previously stacked with impressive individuals, into a powerhouse collective who wanted to scrum, maul and carry the ball.
This was how I always remembered the All Blacks growing up: power up front and blessed with skilful backs.
South Africa be alert. A very different type of All Black will be in the Republic in the Rugby Championship for a two-Test adventure.
The Blues, in 2024, are the very definition of what the All Blacks between 2019 and 2023 were not. They are closer in DNA to the current world champion Springboks.
