High hopes for Blues, Crusaders in Super Rugby Pacific final
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The Super Rugby Pacific final between the Auckland-based Blues and Christchurch-based Crusaders on Saturday is the contest many hoped for and may be the one New Zealand rugby needs to rebuild flagging interest after COVID-19 and other challenges.
The full house signs will be out at Eden Park for the first time this season and more than 40,000 fans will crowd the Auckland stadium for the first Super Rugby final between the Blues and Crusaders since 2003.
That goes against the trend this season of falling attendances. Crowd levels have been slow to return to pre-pandemic levels since the limits were lifted.
There have been fears expressed that the first capacity crowd at Eden Park for some time might become a super-spreader event with new Omicron strains already spreading in the community. Fans have been encouraged to take rapid antigen tests before attending.
The test for rugby is to produce a spectacle on Saturday that meets the importance of the occasion. Support for Super Rugby has been steadily falling, partly because COVID has caused a disconnection between fans and their teams but also because of a more general ennui.
Even with the introduction of two Pacific teams this season, Super Rugby seems to produce much that fans have seen before; similar contests between the same old teams. The revival of the Blues, especially over the past two seasons, has been a talking point and has re-energized supporters who drifted away as the team finished no better than ninth between 2011 and 2019.
The Blues won the Super Rugby trans-Tasman title last year but it was a championship which comes with an asterisk because of pandemic disruption. Their last major Super Rugby title came in 2003 when they beat the Crusaders 21-17 at Eden Park to win the old Super 12 competition.
The Blues were the dominant force in the early years of Super Rugby, winning the inaugural professional tournament in 1996, defending that title the following year and losing the 1998 final to the Crusaders, who claimed the first of their 12 titles.
Saturday’s final, therefore, is a clash between two Super Rugby powerhouses in New Zealand. A win would be more significant for the Blues than the Crusaders, signaling with certainty the end of their lean years.
The Blues come into the final on a club-record streak of 15 wins, including a rare away win over the Crusaders. That streak has been built in part on consistency of selection and approach.
“We use it as confirmation that what we’ve done in the past is working and we don’t need to reinvent anything this week,” head coach Leon MacDonald said.
“There’s been a lot of times throughout the year where we’ve been put in different positions. We’ve defended our line to save a game for 24 phases without giving away a penalty. We’ve grabbed drop goals to win games. We’ve broken the game open. There’s so many experiences that will help us. There’s going to be drama on the weekend, no doubt about it."
The Crusaders have the task of taking the crowd out of the game, making Eden Park their own.
“Most (fans) will probably be Blues supporters,” Crusaders captain Scott Barrett said. “It will almost have a Johannesburg feel about it when everyone is cheering against you. So you hopefully keep that crowd quiet for most the game.”
The teams seem closely matched and no particular area stands out as a strength. The Crusaders lineup has more experience of finals but the Blues can rest on a strong home advantage.
Both teams have had a tendency this year to lose focus in the second half and if that happens Saturday it could take away from the spectacle rugby needs to win back its flagging audience.
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