Ultimate captain's knock ends two decades of Blues pain
Patrick Tuipulotu was applauded for playing the ultimate captain's knock after inspiring the Blues to their first true Super Rugby title in 21 years on Saturday.
The Blues won a truncated, New Zealand only title during the pandemic but the 41-10 demolition job against the Chiefs was much more meaningful.
Blues skipper Tuipulotu was awarded man of the match after making a shock comeback from a serious knee injury to play in the final at Eden Park.
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Dalton Papalii and Patrick Tuipulotu of the Blues celebrate after winning.
The Blues had ruled the lock out for the season when he suffered the injury.
"Patty was out two weeks ago with a broken knee or whatever, MCL," departing Blues flanker Akira Ioane told Stan Sport's Nick McArdle.
'And now he's man of the match in the final. So it just speaks volumes of how much the boys want to play for each other. Pretty inspirational when your skip is down and out and now he's out here playing."
Akira, who played alongside brother Rieko for the last time before heading to Japan, scored the first Blues try and provided the last pass in the miraculous second scored by hat trick hero Caleb Clarke.
He also claimed the lineout win which eventually led to Clarke's third try and Ioane left the field to a standing ovation in the 78th minute.
Tuipulotu also was outstanding after he made a supreme effort to be fit and his frequent carries were a big part of the dominant performance.
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He limped from the field to appreciative Auckland applause in the 58th minute.
"It's a surreal feeling with the boys on the bench for the final two minutes. I can't describe the feeling - there's a lot of joy," Tuipulotu said.
"It's been a long time and really proud of the effort our team has put in to get this win. It's important to this team - a lot of them are young and we wanted to add to the legacy of Blues rugby. I think we can be proud that we've done that."
The Blues celebrate after winning the Super Rugby Pacific final.
The Blues entirely dominated the match which was played in steady rain as the Chiefs lost in the final for the second consecutive year.
It was former Scotland coach Vern Cotter's first season in charge of the Blues as he successfully implemented a simple but brutally effective game plan powered by forwards.
"Vern is a hard man, he's a straight shooter," Ioane said.
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"If he doesn't like what you're doing, you get told. He stamped his mark early and really forced the boys to look at themselves and get better in the little things that we weren't really working on in the past. So he's had a good grip on the group and the leaders have been unreal."
The Blues showed patience throughout and were happy to attack through the relentless accumulation of phases in which Tuipulotu and Akira Ioane were key figures.
Backs Lam, Clarke and Rieko Ioane also were prominent, getting among the forwards to make several telling interventions.
Caleb Clarke of the Blues charges forward.
"That was a tough one and we had so many boys who stepped up," Clarke, the son of former Super Rugby champion Eroni, said.
"It was a big occasion especially for Akira, the coaches who have come in for the first time and a group that has been together for so long.
"It's going to take a while to sink in but we finally got the job done."