Led by a virtuoso effort by Aaron Smith, the Highlanders have kept their Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa final hopes alive with a stunning win over the Blues. CREDIT: Sky Sport NZ
This match shows a great balance in the league, every match is unpredictable, no winning guarantees, the power of new zealand league.. It becomes more exciting to watch
The highlight doesn't do this game justice. There was a generous amount of broken play without interruption by the whistle, Ioane and Clark busting lines and equally impressive defence to chase them down, counter attacks and counter-counter attacks. I could go on.
One of the best matches I have watched since covid. Just unreal skill and strategy. The play for the final try before halftime was just unreal. Highlanders wanted to play fast tempo and Aaron made sure that was the game
We’re missing Aaron Smiths defensive stop against Caleb Clarke’s massive break, and a also his defensive turnover scrum that led to a try. Not to mention that the blues literally forfeited the conversion in the 79th minute just so they can go for one last play to perhaps win the game. Super rugby Aotearoa teams are all high class but it all comes down to who has the heart to win it all. 🔥
Agree, nice communication delivery on the red: Got the unintention on the part of the player over atst as the magnitude for the offence being equal to red with the player having time to process how he'd got there and polite respect from the ref sending him off. Good job.
Himeno would have loved to be out there. You can't get more world class than this game. Both teams fought hard for every minute of every position. Mana from both the landers and the blues. The physicality is intense. I love it. Super rugby aotearoa is the realist shit ever. Blues discipline has always been something for them to work on but other than that, it could have gone either way. That's how rugby is played.
Hats off to Tony Brown, manages his team well! Great set piece for the try before halftime. Highlanders scrambled really well on Defence. Missed 28 or 29 tackles wow what a game
@@GodfriedFritz Well you've got the Lion's tour to look forward to. As a kiwi I'm hoping you guys can give the Lions a hiding to assuage the disappointment of our draw against them.
To me it looks more like the forwards need to do more cardio and be sharper on field, their support play in the rucks is dismal. They're probably the slowest forwards in the comp around the ruck, and they always over run the ball carrier, they are definitely not the same team as last year.
NZ should stick to this Ateora super rugby. This is so good to watch. Amazing rugby played by both sides. SA And Ozzy and Arg teams just bring the nz teams level of footy down by so much.
Super scintillating stuff from Super Rugby Aotearoa - AGAIN ! Quick ball helps, sublime handling too. I wonder if keeping the pack bound at scrums for longer would also help keep the differentiation of backs and forwards on those set-restart pieces??
@@tomstuppence605 dupont is near smith in terms of ability currently but i dont think he will ever be anywhere near the career of aaron smith. Which is being at the top of his game for every single match in his career
Crusaders fans are super happy because: 1. Crusaders position on the top of the table is rock solid, (regardless of tomorrows result) 2. Highlanders are Crusaders fans second favourite team 3. Blues lost...
And the sky is blue and water is wet. I have been watching rugby for 50 years, never seen a ref have a perfect game. But considering the shit we have put up with in this comp this would be as good as I have seen this year. Are you a Blues supporter?
Crusaders vs either cheifs or Highlanders final , but crusaders aren't even playing at 50% , are still 8 points ahead and still won the most like 4 final loses since it started , crusaders are the best by a big shot , they haven't event started playing risky yet and that's when they're the most dangerous , but I'll say it , crusaders are the best team in this Comp , that's why the all blacks are mostly crusaders and their defensive attacks are crusader moves especially the twisted lemon pass 2 wide run dummy and run back in field and pass wide
Happened to the Canes against the blues. But just seemed like calls were minimal costing the blues heavily. Still think they can win the comp. Blues forever!
Then Blues have to cheer for Crusaders to win tomorrow against Chiefs because if Chiefs beat Saders then they're in a better position for the finals then Blues. Go Crusaders Go✊✊✊
@@tee_saw that is impossible now mate. Correct me if I am wrong but this is my calculation for a Chiefs (16pts) Vs Blues (15pts) Final: - Blues to beat Crusaders with a bonus point this coming weekend to make it 20pts - Chiefs to beat Hurricanes with a bonus point this coming weekend to make it 21pts NB: Crusaders still with 23pts advantage regardless of losing to Blues. - And last round is Chiefs (21pst) vs Blues (20pts) with Crusaders (23pts) Bye. This game will decide which team will Final against Crusaders because NO DRAW and also a home Final the winner. So sorry but there's no Blues Vs Chiefs Final, maybe next year but not this year. Super Rugby Aotearoa Final: Crusaders Vs Blues/Chiefs
Great win for the Highlanders. Just like in their home game against the Crusaders, the Blues let ill-discipline creep into their game when forced to chase. The red card was fully deserved although the referee was right there when it happened looking at it so I don't know how he missed it in real time. I did find it funny how he tried to yellow card Akira Ioane for his ugly choice of hair dye lol when it was Hoskins Sotutu who had committed the offence at the breakdown 😂😂😂
1:10 How is that advantage for not being 10? I know Highlanders score anyway and rightly so, its a good play from Smith, but what is the ref smoking here 😂
simple discipline errors, basic errors wrong game plan, they should of noticed it every time the blues kicked the ball the highlanders built momentum and scored points of those kick returns just simple stuff, and they blaming the ref, real rugby champion teams can play against any referee, it comes down to attitude, and it was reflected in this game. They should of sussed it from the start that Leon Mcdonald was a traitor, coming straight from the crusaders coaching team. Filo Tiatia from Wellington resigned as well, time to kick out all these Wellington and Canterbury coaches.
@@toiletsmithy3630 not all his achievements (FDP won a lions series, 3 super rugby titles) but it’s also a straw man point IMO. Smith is doing a lot of things FDP did just as well but I don’t think he has that international X factor FDP did. Remember FDP spent 4 years in Japan just playing club rugby then was the Bok star of the 2015 World Cup. Beyond special.
Based on achievements Smith is definitely up there with the best of all time, based on raw rugby ability Dupont is the best 9 in the world atm and I would argue is playing better rugby now than Smith ever has
They've GOTTA STOP this MOMENTUM BULLSHIT ! if the ball is grounded before the try line...THEN IT IS NO TRY ...SIMPLE & PRESISE...stop this RABBITING RULE & while I am at it ..WHY do halfbacks put the ball into a ruck under the second rowers feet/boots ...also a DISGUSTING RULE of UNFAIR PLAY !! ? .
