Analysis - If it makes Tana Umaga and Moana Pasifika feel any better, the Blues clearly respected them enough to finally start playing like the side that won Super Rugby Pacific last year. The 36-17 result at Eden Park looked very much like the Blues' power game that wreaked havoc in 2025, stripping the game away from a Moana side coming in with plenty of confidence before they could even realise it.
That, plus a healthy dose of Beauden Barrett brilliance. It's certainly not enough of a body of work to suggest that the Blues are back to where they should be, but it's a good sign.
"We didn't want to give them too much and I thought, except for a couple of occasions, we kept that, plan in place," said Blues coach Vern Cotter.
"There's a lot of things we'd like to improve. I thought at times we showed our youth; some young players were out there and some great experience for them."
If there was one area that the Blues dominated early, it was getting on the right side of the ref's calls. It was something that Moana captain Ardie Savea lamented post-match.
"We didn't help ourselves with the accuracy of on the breakdowns. And, you know, they, they capitalised on that. Like, it's a simple game. They put us in the corner, got into the game, and we leaked points," he said.
But really, what it all came down to was that the Blues were able to impose themselves through set piece, around the ruck and simply hold onto the ball for far longer than Moana could - which is exactly what they did to everyone last year.
If you were to look at the Blues' schedule back before the season started, you'd be forgiven for jumping to the conclusion that they've got an easy run home. But that was then and this is now: their trip to Christchurch next Friday will be their toughest game yet, followed by away games to the Reds and Drua. Even a home game against the Force is no certainty, plus they have Moana again over the bridge.
If the boys wanna fight, you better let 'em
Out of all the players that were going to get in a scrap on Friday night in the Crusaders' 31-24 win over the Hurricanes, Ruben Love and Will Jordan seemed the least likely. But the two fullbacks went at it after Love's pretty dangerous flying challenge as the ball rolled dead in the second half. It did raise a pretty dark hypothetical if Jordan had indeed been seriously injured and Love moved up the All Black depth chart, but the fact that the tussle happened so close to the sideline meant that we got some pretty enthusiastic reactions from a group of schoolkids that had been brought pitch side.
In the end, the Hurricanes should be furious they blew a two-man advantage as the game reached its climax, seemingly taking every wrong option with the wealth of possession granted to them and almost scoring by accident to bring them within a converted try of extra time.
However, the Chiefs will just be hoping that all of them decided to have their worst games of the year at the same time on Friday night. Their 21-14 loss to the Waratahs was notable for the probable try of the year by the home side, as well as a whole bunch of errors and indiscipline by the visitors. It cost them not only the top spot but a fair degree in confidence around Damian McKenzie, whose trust capital has rather unfairly never been that high among the New Zealand rugby public.
The Highlanders are back in the winner's circle after an entertaining 43-20 victory over the Drua in Dunedin, however it would've been a real shock if they'd dropped this one. The Drua haven't won away from home in two years and while it was close heading into the last half hour, the Highlanders clearly benefitted from the return of Cam Millar and Folau Fakatava.
Whoever made the draw clearly wasn't a Highlanders fan though - they somehow now have to play the Crusaders and Chiefs twice each before the playoffs.
