Hurricanes beat Blues
I would have used some sort of pun based on the word ‘Hurricane’, but, well…
- Blues blown off park [NZ Herald]
- Second-half blitz blows Blues away [Dominion Post]
- Hurricanes storm to win over Blues [The Age]
- Hurricanes blow past Blues in opener [Sporting Life]
- Hurricanes storm home as newcomers face reality [RNZ]
Gah! Anyway, the win augurs well for the new Super 14 competition. It was particularly satisfying seeing some smart play from the ‘Canes: eg. having just seen Jerry Collins (of all people) smash Blues’ half-back Steve Devine onto his head and leaving him semi-conscious, the Black and Golds had the good sense to run human wrecking ball Ma’a Nonu straight into and over the groggy Aussie/Aucklander the very next play. Good thinking lads. Still, early days yet, touch wood, don’t step on the cracks, make sure that mascara is waterproof, etc…
And hasn’t the renaming of the competition has opened up a whole new can o’worms? For starters, Super 14 just sounds wrong. Bring on the Fantastic Fourteen, is this particular sport-watcher’s call. And isn’t it weird how the combined 12/14 stats are now referred to by dropping the number? eg. “Tana Umaga has now scored 43 Super tries.” I’m sure some were super, but, equally, a few may have just tipped into the realm of ‘regulation’, or even ‘lucky’.
Anyway, if anyone’s playing VirtualRugby, drop your username in the comments box and we’ll add you to our Mates list.