Time is now for Blues to ignite rivalry with Crusaders

“Double the rivalry” is the marketing catch-cry attached to the Crusaders’ much-anticipated arrival at Eden Park.

With the Blues women hosting the South Island’s Matatū prior to Saturday’s main event, it’s an easy sell that should welcome 20,000 through the gates.

A more apt description of the Blues’ recent Super Rugby record against the Crusaders, though, is double the baggage. Double the scars. And a long tale of misery.

With one win from their last 19 attempts against the Crusaders, the Blues’ role in this rivalry is rendered to footnote status.

Surely, if ever there is a time to strike back against the empire, it is now.

The Crusaders improved markedly last week - yet fell to their franchise-record fourth straight defeat to start this season, in their first home match of the year against the Hurricanes.

While their set piece and breakdown work warrants respect, the Crusaders’ attack is badly misfiring. And with the likes of All Blacks Tamaiti Williams, Ethan Blackadder, Scott Barrett and playmaker Fergus Burke absent through injury, the Blues must take full advantage and show no mercy.

Because when that influential contingent - and Codie Taylor - eventually return, no one will want to face the Crusaders, no matter their record, no matter their position on the table, by the end of the season.

The Blues have been here before, though. Too many times.

They huff and puff and collapse when it matters most. Which is why the sound of nervous gnashing teeth descends over every encounter with the Crusaders.

Nothing is ever a given against the Crusaders. Every inch is hard-earned. The Blues should need no reminding they must maintain that mentality this week.

Many of this year’s Blues squad failed to rise for the occasion, failed to handle the hype, expectation and favouritism, in their deflating 2022 final defeat at Eden Park - after their 15-match unbeaten regular-season surge.

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For those loyal rugby followers in New Zealand’s largest city, the scene was just as frustrating in last year’s demoralising 52-15 semifinal loss in Christchurch, when the Crusaders were hit hard by injuries. In Rieko Ioane’s 100th match and Leon MacDonald’s final game as head coach, that result cut deep.

This year should, in theory at least, be different. The Crusaders are unrecognisable from last year, with openside Tom Christie the only starting player from their 2023 final success in Hamilton.

With Super Rugby’s favouritism now residing in Chiefs country, this rivalry should finally tilt the Blues way.

How much has changed in the respective Rob Penney and Vern Cotter coaching eras? We are about to find out.

Sporting rivalries are, generally, driven by neighbouring borders or historical plotlines. Auckland and Canterbury, the Blues and Crusaders, share a long-standing mutual dislike that bonds their rugby identity.

Rivalries such as this matter. The Blues and Crusaders should stand the test of time as one of Super Rugby’s headline acts.

But if the Blues, at home, with seemingly everything stacked in their favour, can’t peg one victory back this weekend, it might be time to draw a line through this supposed rivalry.

Earlier this week, the Blues hosted an alumni breakfast where former franchise stalwarts Eroni Clarke, Steve Devine, Brad Mika, Doug Howlett, John Afoa, Rua Tipoki and Derren Witcombe were among those to attend.

Many moons ago, back in Clarke senior’s heyday, the Blues were the dominant force, winning the first two Super Rugby titles in 1996 and 1997.

Since 2003, though, it has been a barren run for the Blues (other than the 2021 transtasman title), with the Crusaders definitively stealing the mantle by claiming 14 titles, including the last seven under Scott Robertson.

As fate would have it, the Blues and Crusaders are set to don their heritage strips for the first time this weekend as Super Rugby Pacific belatedly jumps on the well-entrenched throwback sportswear bandwagon.

The Crusaders will attempt to channel their 1998/99 title winning campaigns that featured Andrew Mehrtens, Robertson and Todd Blackadder.

The Blues and their slick heritage jersey will attempt to harness their 1997 success.

One of those famed jerseys will be blessed. The other cursed.

Patrick Tuipulotu, in his return from a broken jaw, will hope his 100th match ends better than Rieko Ioane’s. To achieve that, the Blues captain needs to inspire immediate improvement after watching two underwhelming performances - the loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington and last week’s scrappy two-point win over the Waratahs in Sydney.

The Blues are capable of claiming this year’s title but for all their depth of talent, they have largely failed to impress through the opening four rounds.

Now as the vaunted, vulnerable old foe plots another Eden Park upset, the Blues must stop the rot against their red-and-black kryptonite.

The Blues cannot be the team that plays the Crusaders into form.