The Super Rugby season began when the Blues took on the defending champion Highlanders at Eden Park as the Blues got off to a winning start under their new coach (Which is a former All Black) Tana Umaga.
But the Blues got their Super Rugby campaign off to a fine start when they beat the defending champs the Highlanders 33 - 31 in Auckland on Friday as the Highlanders are being widely tipped to retain their crown this season and they made a gallant attempt to continue where they left off last year, but it wasn’t to be, and although they outscored their hosts four tries to three, with two from Ben Smith (AKA Bender/Ben From Accounts) as they won’t get a try-scoring bonus-point under the tournament’s new rules as both sides deserve credit for making this the entertaining spectacle that it was, especially the Blues who seem rejuvenated under the guidance of new head coach Tana Umaga as he won his first game in charge but the Highlanders were fastest out of the blocks and their enterprising play was rewarded in the eighth minute when Ben Smith ran on to a pass from Aaron Smith and burst through a hole in the Blues defence before diving over for the opening try.
The Blues didn’t wait long to respond and they were soon level when Melani Nanai rounded off a move which started inside his own half as first five-eighth Ihaia West was the try’s architect with a perfectly weighted chip kick in which Tevita Li gathered close to the halfway line. He drew in the final defender before offloading to Nanai who got over for an easy try as West and Lima Sopoaga then traded penalties before Blake Gibson announced himself with a superb try. The flanker bashed his way through Ben Smith deep inside the Highlanders half before crashing over. West added the extras and soon made it 17 - 10 to the hosts with another three-pointer from the kicking tee but the Highlanders didn’t panic, however, and showed why they are the champions when Ben Smith put Teihorangi Walden (A Pakeha with a Maori name) into the clear inside the Blues’ 22.
Walden then sold the cover defence an outrageous dummy before dotting down. West landed another penalty in the 37th minute before 2015’s top try-scorer Waisake Naholo left his stamp on this match with a well-taken try as Aaron Smith spotted a hole in the Blues’ defence and launched a box kick which Naholo gathered from under the noses of two defenders before crossing the whitewash on the stroke of half-time.
The 2nd half was more subdued and the opening quarter was a scrappy affair. The first points of the half came in the 57th minute via a penalty from West which meant the Highlanders led 24-23 going into the final quarter, but West then gave his team the lead 5 minutes later when he slotted another penalty.
The visitors suffered a setback ten minutes later when winger Patrick Osborne was yellow carded for cleaning out illegally at a ruck and the Blues made full use of their numerical advantage when lock Patrick Tuipulotu crashed over after his side opted to kick for a lineout from the penalty deep inside the Highlanders’ 22 but the defending champions didn’t surrender though and a flowing move – in which several players handled in the build-up – in the 78th minute was rounded off by Ben Smith in the corner close to full-time, but it wasn’t enough to secure victory.
But the next match was between the Brumbies and last year's runners-up the Hurricanes as the Brumbies made light work of the Hurricanes (Although the Brumbies defence restricted the Hurricanes to 1 try but Phil Kearns (Ex Wallaby hooker and rugby commentator for Fox Sports) described the Hurricanes as being too fat, slow and unfit) in their Super Rugby opener, claiming a 52 - 10 bonus-point win in Canberra on Friday followed by newcomers the Jaguares of Argentina beat the Cheetahs by just a single point in their historic debut match when they turned around a 21-point deficit to win their first ever Super Rugby game 34 - 33 against the Cheetahs in a thrilling contest then a day later, all eyes were in Tokyo as fellow newcomers the Sunwolves of Japan played their 1st Super Rugby game against the Lions but the Lions sealed a 26 - 13 four-try victory but they made heavy weather of seeing off the Sunwolves in Tokyo on Saturday moments before the Chiefs headed to Christchurch to play the Crusaders as the Chiefs outscored the Crusaders 4 tries to 2 to claim a deserved 27 - 21 victory in Christchurch on Saturday.
As has become customary between two New Zealand sides there was plenty of thrilling action throughout and the match was evenly poised until the Chiefs secured victory with a late Sam Cane try as Damian McKenzie (Tuwharetoa's Smiling Assassin from Gore) was the Chiefs' hero, contributing 12 points via a try, two conversions and a long-range penalty from the halfway mark as new first five-eighth Richie Mo'unga impressed for the Crusaders and scored a try, conversion and 3 penalties to finish the match with a 16-point haul as the opening half-hour was a scrappy affair as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy before Mo’unga opened the scoring for the Crusaders from the kicking tee as early as the first minute after the Chiefs were penalised at a scrum but the next points came 20 minutes later when Mo'unga added another three-pointer from the kicking tee before McKenzie opened the Chiefs' account with his penalty from 50 metres out but shortly afterwards, the Chiefs took the lead when Scott Stevenson ripped the ball from the grasp of David Kaetau Havili inside the Crusaders' 22 before crossing for the opening try as the Crusaders struck back just before half-time when, after pushing the Chiefs off the ball at a scrum, the ball was shifted to Mo'unga who got over for an easy try before he added the extras which meant the hosts led 13-8 at the break but the Chiefs took the lead five minutes into the second half when Seta Tamanivalu powered his way over for a try but five minutes later when David Havili made up for his earlier mistake when he scored in the right-hand corner to restore the home side's lead as Mo'unga then added another penalty to push his side further ahead but despite that score it was the Chiefs who finished stronger before McKenzie crossed for their third try in the 66th minute which he also converted before Cane sealed the result with his five-pointer from a rolling maul at a line-out three minutes before the final whistle as we go over to Sydney when the Waratahs dispatched the Reds for an opening win in 2016 in Super Rugby without ever hitting top gear, winning 30 - 10 moments before the Rebels started their Super Rugby campaign on a winning note with a 25 - 19 victory over the Force in Perth on Saturday followed by the match in Port Elizabeth as the Sharks got off to a winning start against the Kings 43 - 8 moments before the Stormers outscored the Bulls three tries to none to win 33 - 9 in their opening Super Rugby clash at Newlands on Saturday.
So that was Round 1 of the 2016 Super Rugby season and here are the matches for Round 2 as both the Kings and the Sunwolves have a bye:
Crusaders Vs Blues: AMI Stadium (Rugby League Park), Christchurch
Brumbies Vs Waratahs: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Chiefs Vs Lions: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Highlanders Vs Hurricanes: Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Reds Vs Force: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Bulls Vs Rebels: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Cheetahs Vs Stormers: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
& the Sharks Vs Jaguares at Kings Park Stadium in Durban to end Round 2 of Super Rugby 2016.
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