- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The Blues take on the Chiefs in Auckland to kick off Round 3 of the Super Rugby season. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match from 5:35pm (AEDT).
With both sides losing their first matches, a win is critical for each team. It’s definitely not the end of the season to go 0-2 but in the competitive New Zealand conference it’s going to make things harder.
The Blues should be the happier of the two after their performance against the Highlanders. Arguably they would have won the match if it wasn’t for the Dunedin side taking full advantage of a yellow card, with 14 unanswered points.
As for the Chiefs, they are not in great shape. Off the back of their loss last week, Colin Cooper is being forced to include four players who weren’t even in his squad last week. A combination of new faces and untested combinations could really be an issue.
One of the most exciting contests of the match will be the two #10s – Bryn Gatland looked great last week and was able to cause the Highlanders’ defence some serious problems throughout the first half. Damian McKenzie, however, looked out of sorts with a number of errors in his game against the Crusaders.
McKenzie is lethal in loose play and if he’s given some space he can carve teams to pieces, but he needs to control a game and move his team around the field to be a quality playmaker.
Prediction
While the Blues’ most recent victory over another Kiwi side is a dim and distant memory, this is a great opportunity to stop the rot. They were impressive in the last round and if Gatland can have a similar game, the home side should get the points.
Blues to win by 6.
Join The Roar for all the action from 5:25pm (AEDT).
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.