Blues target home Trans-Tasman final

The Blues will be out to snap a decade-long playoff drought when three unbeaten New Zealand teams vie for two places in the final over the last round of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman at the weekend.

The Blues top the standings by a point and will be assured of hosting the June 19 final at their Eden Park home if they can beat Australia’s Western Force with a bonus point on Saturday night.

Super Rugby champions in 1996, 1997 and 2003, the Blues have not made the playoffs since 2011 and last hosted a final 18 years ago when they beat the Crusaders for their third title.

“We know we are in unchartered waters for this group of men, but we will be stressing that we keep on doing what has been working for us,” said coach Leon MacDonald. “Keep it simple, be smart, work hard and believe in each other. Do that and good things should happen.”

Not securing a bonus point by scoring at least three tries more than the Force on Saturday will leave the Blues in a tie with the Crusaders and the Highlanders, both a point behind them in the standings. First tiebreaker for teams tied on points is number of competition wins then highest aggregate points difference in all matches. The Blues (+109) have the best points difference of the trio going into the final round, before the Highlanders (+82) and the Crusaders (+71).

The Highlanders take on the Brumbies on Friday night in Canberra, seeking to lock up the bonus point and extend their points difference advantage over Super Rugby Aotearoa champions the Crusaders. The Crusaders are likely to know exactly what they need to do to get ahead of the Highlanders before they play the Melbourne Rebels on Saturday in a contest switched to Sydney because of Victoria’s Covid-19 lockdown.

The Hurricanes, who take on the Reds on Friday, and Chiefs still have chances of making the final if they win their fifth-round matches but would need two of the top three to slip up.

The Australian teams, with only two victories in 20 matches between the five of them, can affect the makeup of the final only by denying opponents victories, bonus points and high points tallies.

The Waratahs have their last chance to avoid a winless season when they host the Chiefs at Sydney’s Brookvale Oval on Saturday night.