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Blues star Beauden Barrett keeps No. 10 jersey for Highlanders clash
By Alex McLeod
Beauden Barrett will stay at No. 10 for the Blues in their Super Rugby Aotearoa clash with the Highlanders in Dunedin on Sunday.
The playmaking star has been retained in his preferred position by head coach Leon MacDonald as the Auckland franchise head to Forsyth Barr Stadium with the aim of keeping their title hopes alive.
The selection ploy means Otere Black will remain on the bench for the Blues as Matt Duffie keeps his place at fullback, while the wait for Dan Carter's debut for the club goes on.
The former All Blacks great has again been left out of the match day side as he continues to recover from a calf niggle that robbed him of his maiden appearance for the Blues in their 29-27 defeat to the Hurricanes a fortnight ago.
In total, MacDonald has made just one change to his starting side from the team that dispatched the Chiefs 21-17 at Eden Park last week.
13-test All Blacks prop Karl Tu'inukuafe makes his first start for the Blues in nearly five months after recovering from an ankle injury, taking the place of the in-form Alex Hodgman.
The ex-Crusaders front rower, who new Fiji boss Vern Cotter revealed was on the radar of the Pacific Island nation in an interview with the New Zealand Herald earlier this week, has instead been demoted to an otherwise unchanged bench.
There will be no shortage of motivation for the Blues leading into this weekend's fixture, as they aim to snatch the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy out of the Highlanders' grasp for the first time since 2012.
Highlanders assistant coach Tony Brown and co-captain Ash Dixon were both vocal about the significance of the trophy earlier in the week, and it's a unique aspect of the match that isn't lost on MacDonald either.
“Gordon was a special man who held a special place for both the Blues and the Highlanders, something we are well aware of,” MacDonald said in a statement.
“We would like nothing more than to take the trophy back to Auckland with us.
“We know that we will need to be at our best to achieve that. Every time we play the Highlanders it is a close affair, as are all the games in this competition.
“We have worked hard again this week and focussed on being more accurate and disciplined at the breakdown but at the same time we want to continue to be physical in the collisions.
“We have to get the job done upfront and give our backs the time and space to show their skills, be both patient as well as capitalise on our chances.”
Blues team to play Highlanders: 15. Matt Duffie, 14. Mark Telea, 13. Rieko Ioane, 12. TJ Faiane, 11. Caleb Clarke, 10. Beauden Barrett, 9. Finlay Christie, 8. Akira Ioane, 7. Blake Gibson, 6. Dalton Papalii, 5. Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 4. Patrick Tuipulotu ©, 3. Ofa Tuungafasi, 2. Kurt Eklund, 1. Karl Tu’inukuafe
Reserves: 16. Luteru Tolai, 17. Alex Hodgman, 18. Sione Mafileo, 19. Josh Goodhue, 20. Tony Lamborn, 21. Sam Nock, 22. Otere Black, 23. Harry Plummer
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Borthwick has obviously earned the right to expect people to look elsewhere when the sort of personal problems likely at the heart of Jones' departure occur but it's hard to believe he's, if not entirely to blame, at least most of the problem.
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Go to commentsBM My rugby fanaticism journey began as a youngster waking up in the early hours of the morning with a cup of coffee to watch the Boks play the ABs on that 1981 rebel tour, where we lost the last game in the dying seconds to a penalty, and ended up losing the series 2-1. Danie Gerber, Naas Botha, Ray Mordt, and DuPlessis, to name a few; what a team! I believe we could've won another World Cup with those boys playing in their prime.
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