Roar Guru
Australia’s super rugby rut against New Zealand teams continues, with the Blues beating the Waratahs away from home by three points at Brookvale.
Final score:
Waratahs 21
Blues 24
The Waratahs host the Lions Saturday night at Brookvale Oval. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 7:45pm AEST.
This is a battle of the underdogs. Since the start of the year, the fans of New South Wales and Auckland Rugby have resigned themselves to another lacklustre performance from their respective coaches.
Tana Umaga took over from an unsuccessful Sir John Kirwan with the promise of a fresh new start from an outsider.
However, the Blues continue to flounder. Their win-loss record is only slightly better than the Sunwolves.
Daryl Gibson is first Kiwi Waratah coach. Everyone expected him to sprinkle his magic Kiwi dust on the New South Welshmen after taking over from trophy winning Michael Cheika. In the first two years he delivered bulldust.
This year, he introduced a swath of new players, instilled a simple and effective playing model backed by a superb set piece.
Do not let their disastrous results against the Lions deceived you. They are playing well and continue to improve.
Today, the Blues has a chance to defeat the Waratahs. Whilst they have lost many games, they lose by small margins. In one case, they beat the Lions in Ellis Park by three points. They can do it again today.
A Blues win in Brookvale will be vote of confidence for Tana Umaga. A bad loss may the first nail the coffin of his coaching tenture.
Likewise, Gibson is also under the microscope and is desperate to be the first Aussie team to beat a New Zealand opponent.
Prediction
This match will be close. In the end, Waratahs to win. For Blues to triumph, they need to maintain possession and use an array of attacking options. The Lions showed the way.