Blues and Reds play out a Super Rugby thriller as similarities stand out

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A last-minute try which snatched a win for the Auckland-based Blues over the Queensland Reds on Saturday ended an epic contest between two of the most enigmatic teams in Super Rugby.

The Blues are on a roll this season, unbeaten in seven matches since their third round loss to the Wellington-based Hurricanes. They are second on the table behind the Hurricanes with eight wins from nine matches.

The Reds’ loss on Saturday leaves them in sixth place and with a 4-5 record after nine games. They look likely to reach the playoffs, though their run home includes difficult matches against the improving Crusaders, the Fijian Drua, the Melbourne Rebels and their traditional rivals the New South Wales Waratahs.

Saturday’s match comes close to beating the round eight match between the Waratahs and Crusaders as the best of the season. It was highlighted by a superb hat-trick to Reds left wing Tim “Junkyard Dog” Ryan. His third try also was close to a season best as he hurdled a prone Blues defender, stepped off his right foot into space, then off his left foot to elude the last of the Blues’ cover defense.

But in a recurring theme for the Reds, they lost a match they should have won. The Reds led 34-20 after Ryan’s third try, only to see the Blues win the match with a try to scrumhalf Sam Nock after the full-time siren.

Already this season the Reds have lost by five points to the first place Hurricanes, by nine points to the Western Force, by one point to the third-place Brumbies and by three points to Moana Pasifika.

“I just think we have to keep our head high with a good win over the Highlanders last week and a tight battle with the top-of-the-table Blues, so I think we can take plenty of confidence from that and just roll with it,” Ryan said.

A former junior Wallaby, Ryan started in place of Mac Grealy and became the first Reds player in 13 years to score a hat-trick against the Blues. He said he was helped by advice from Reds head coach Les Kiss.

“He’s told me to keep it a simple game plan and back myself and that’s what I tried to,” Ryan said. “He gets it and he can help as much as any other coach could who hasn’t been in that position as a winger. It’s really good having him.

Kiss wasn’t surprised by Ryan’s eye-catching performance.

“Someone mentioned that he played out of his skin but that’s how he plays and trains all the time,” Kiss said. “He’s just got that young vigor and he goes for things.

“I’ve watched him from my first days here and in the under 20s World Cup, watched footage of him from Brothers (club) and I’ve loved Tim from the first day because he doesn’t run out easy. He finished off some really special moments tonight,” he added.

The Reds and Blues have a great deal in common and both could be said to have under-performed in Super Rugby. Both represent states or provinces with a proud rugby history and a large rugby catchment and haven’t always delivered the results those foundations should support.

The Blues won Super Rugby in its first two seasons as a professional competition, again in 2003 and only once since, in a pandemic-era tournament in 2022.

The Reds only win in a full Super Rugby competition came in 2011, though they also claimed a title during the pandemic.

Both have new head coaches this season. Former Scotland and Fiji coach Vern Cotter has taken over the Blues from Leon MacDonald and former rugby league star Kiss is in charge of the Reds for the first time.

Both coaches have brought uncompromising standards to their roles which seem to have lifted their teams. The Blues have been more consistent this season while the Reds have been able to test the strongest teams and have not been dismayed by narrow losses such as Saturday’s.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby