Fijian Drua v Blues: Five takeaways as Beauden Barrett leads ‘methodical’ charge to strengthen All Blacks case

Following the Blues’ 5-34 victory over the Fijian Drua, here’s our five takeaways from the Super Rugby Pacific clash in Lautoka.

The top line

The defending Super Rugby Pacific champions produced a clinical display in Fiji to keep their play-off hopes alive, with the Drua only able to grab a 76th-minute consolation try to get their fans off their feet.

The Blues were methodical in their approach as they dominated up front and raced into a 22-0 half-time lead thanks to tries from props Marcel Renata and Joshua Fusitu’a, either side of Taufua Funaki’s five-pointer.

Angus Ta’avao made it a hat-trick of prop tries early in the second half as the Blues extended their buffer before Cole Forbes crossed to take the lead beyond 30 points.

The Fijians‘ attack flattered to deceive for much of the match, a real rarity this season, but Selestino Ravutaumada finally broke his drought with four minutes left to play.

Blues do it smart but ugly

Vern Cotter’s charges arrived in Lautoka well aware of the banana peel in their way of strengthening their play-off charge, having seen the Reds, Waratahs and Chiefs fall to defeats to the Drua in Fiji.

The Brumbies and Crusaders have left Fiji with Ws but were pushed incredibly hard in those victories, but the Aucklanders came with a plan and were fired up to execute it perfectly.

The plan was not pretty, but boy was it effective. Quite simply, they were not going to play in their own half and were going to be patient in attack and protect the ball when they were in the Fijians’ half.

Knowing that they had the muscle up front to do just that with an edge at scrum time, the Blues strangled the Fijians, suffocating the hosts in their own 22.

It certainly helped their cause that they had the brilliant tactician Barrett at fly-half to expertly dissect their backfield, but the forward pack certainly deserves their praise as well.

Barrett expertly put his side in the right areas of the pitch, whether it be with high bombs, raking long-range clearances or excellent touchline kicks. And when he did, the chasers and pack went about forcing the errors from the Fijians, resulting in 11 22-entries in the first half alone.

This led to 22 unanswered points in the first half, with the work in the tight, leading to the first three tries.

A similar theme continued in the second half as the Blues maintained their stronghold, with the Fijians forced into submission. Cotter’s men get a lot of stick for their style of play, but it is effective, and on today’s evidence, they will be difficult to beat in the play-offs if they do reach that stage.

Drua’s play-off hopes dashed

Today’s result seals the Fijian Drua’s fate as they will not be able to reach the knockout stages even with a full house in the final two rounds of the competition.

It also means that they cannot match their tally of six victories from last season. With two games left to go, they will aim to avoid propping up the table in a campaign that will leave a feeling of ‘what could have been’.

While the aforementioned home victories were highlights of their season, unfortunately, there were games they simply didn’t pitch up in the manner that they should have and other fixtures that they fell just short in.

The Blues are the fourth team this year that have scored more than 30 points past the Drua in Fiji, but the difference today was the hosts’ attack failed to ignite. On two other occasions, the Fijians lost by four and three points, respectively, but against the Crusaders and Blues, it was by double-digit margins.

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Ill-discipline costs Drua dearly

While the Blues were accurate and effective in the manner in which they executed their game plan, the Fijians certainly aided their cause.

Time and time again, the hosts gave the visitors easy entries into the 22 and deep into the half with silly penalties. The Fijians contested the breakdown heavily, and while that led to several turnovers, it also led to penalties.

They were also on the wrong side of Nic Berry’s whistle at scrum time as Renata, Fusitu’a and Ricky Riccitelli turned the screw in the front-row.

This is before considering the amount of handling errors as the Fijians looked to launch stunning counter attacks from deep that we have seen all season, but the Blues were wary of this ploy and shut them down.

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Razor Watch

All Blacks boss Scott Robertson and assistant Jason Ryan will have still taken quite a bit away from today’s match despite the lack of thrilling attacking rugby.

Notably, Barrett continues to produce calm, effective and mature performances at number 10. The All Blacks veteran repeatedly produced highlight-worthy moments in his younger years, and while he is still capable of that, his game management remains insanely underrated. He showed it today, giving enough height on his kicks for his chasers while he managed to dissect the Fijian backfield with regular ease.

Much has been made of Rieko Ioane’s form this season, but today he put in another solid shift in what was not a game for backline brilliance. His partnership with Xavier Taele is seemingly improving game on game, and today the combination kept one of the most exciting attacks rather quiet. There is undoubtedly room for improvement from Ioane, but he is not playing his way out of the All Blacks squad just yet.

Elsewhere, Hoskins Sotutu impressed in the tight exchanges, an area that’s been his undoing in terms of making the Test squad. His ability to draw the defender’s attention before popping it up to a teammate close to the line paid dividends again. It would not be overly surprising if Robertson snubs him again this year, but he is showing signs of improvement.

Meanwhile, Ryan will be taking note of the performances of the Blues’ starting props, Renata and Fuitu’a. The pair have been among the tries this season, but their scrummaging and open play shifts are putting them in line for potential call-ups in what is becoming a real position of real depth.

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