Auckland Blues 30 Wellington Hurricanes 20
Beauden Barrett saw Dane Coles’ eyes light up as the hooker barrelled towards him early in their Super Rugby Aotearoa clash on Sunday and was left with no doubt how his former Hurricanes team mate felt about his move to the Blues.
Coles smashed through final defender Barrett in the 15th minute to score his side’s opening try, but the new Blues fullback had the last laugh with his side winning the match 30-20 in front of a sold out crowd of 43,000 at Eden Park.
All Blacks outhalf Barrett said Coles could not have wished for a better way to make his mark on the game.
“That was the moment he wanted eh?” a laughing Barrett said. “But I think it probably would have been better for him if I had the ball!
“He’s a tough man to stop one on one. He’s pretty quick and he still has got it. I just have to work on my covering tackles.”
Barrett’s debut for the Blues after nine seasons with the Hurricanes had been one of the main headlines around the return of professional rugby union after a near three-month break due to the Covid-19 shutdown.
He acknowledged before the game he had played it over in his head a number of times and was reminded that several high profile Hurricanes fans would be at Eden Park stating their opinions of his new jersey.
Barrett said Coles seemed intent on reminding him that they used to be team mates.
“My back felt his shoulder somewhere towards the end of the game,” a grinning Barrett said. “I don’t know where it came from. I’ll have to check the tape.”
Otere Black, however, outshone his more illustrious team mate. The Blues number 10 was perfect off the tee with three penalties and three conversions for 15 points, and combined with Barrett to increase the tempo and drive the Blues in the second half when the visitors were heavily penalised.
Caleb Clarke, TJ Faiane and Dalton Papali'i all scored tries for the Blues, who had won five of their seven games before Super Rugby was put on hold.
The Hurricanes' poor discipline ensured they were kept scoreless for the majority of the second half before Jamie Booth got their third try in the 78th minute after Coles and Ben Lam crossed in the first half.
The game was the second fixture of New Zealand's domestic competition involving the country's five Super Rugby teams. The competition was organised after Super Rugby, which involves teams from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Japan and Argentine, was halted in March due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
