Blues ‘front of mind’ for Perofeta
New Zealand’s pivot stocks get a welcome reprieve today with the return of Stephen Perofeta who is set to play his first match since March against the Highlanders at Eden Park.
While the news is set to bring a smile to Scott Robertson’s face with the first All Blacks’ squad announcement of the year in around six weeks, Perofeta says the Blues are solely “front of mind” and coming back from injury “as best I can” was priority number one.
“It’s good to be back. It’s feeling pretty good and I’m confident with my shoulder,” he said. “As frustrating as it has been to watch, I’ve been getting pretty itchy seeing how the team’s been tracking and how hungry they are.”
Harry Plummer, who is in career-best form, retains the starting spot with Perofeta on the bench. Plummer hit his stride in the thrilling 31-27 victory over the Hurricanes last weekend.
Mark Tele’a, Hoskins Sotutu and Patrick Tuipulotu are all unavailable due to workload management, with AJ Lam, Akira Ioane and Laghlan McWhannell filling the respective voids. Lam moving to the wing sees Bryce Heem move to centre and Corey Evans join the starting side at second five-eighths, while Ioane’s move to the back of the scrum sees Adrian Choat start on the blindside.
With fullback Zarn Sullivan again sidelined with injury, Cole Forbes starts at the back, with Kade Banks set to provide cover in the backline in what will be his Blues debut. Kurt Eklund starts at hooker, with Soane Vikena his backup. Elsewhere, Sam Nock starts at halfback, with Taufa Funaki moving back to the bench, while prop Mason Tupeae is set to make his Blues debut from the bench.
Blues head coach Vern Cotter said the effort against the Hurricanes had taken its toll physically but the side would look to build on positive signs they have shown recently.
“They’ve got an unchanged team. They’re coming up here and have a reason to play well after a difficult start. What we’ve got to expect is a lot of energy and an enthused team coming to play.”
After conceding penalties in their win over the Hurricanes and mindful that Highlanders first fiveeighths Cameron Millar’s all-round kicking game was a huge driver in their revival, the Blues have been busy ironing these out.
“We like to throw ourselves into the game, and sometimes you can do just a bit much, and it will get you offside. It costs you field position and often tries, which we saw against the Hurricanes. ”
Tighthead Prop, Marcel Renata, starts for a second consecutive week and will make his 50th appearance for the Blues.
Not only are boasting rights up for this match but the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy. Hunter was the Highlanders’ inaugural coach in 1996 after building a strong reputation coaching Otago and following a move to Auckland in early 2000, he became the Blues coach for that year. In 2002, he died after a battle with cancer and the two teams have been competing for the trophy since 2002.
Jamie Joseph, the Highlanders’ head of rugby, was coached by Hunter and stressed the importance of the match to the team.
“Gordie was a really special coach, and he had the ability to motivate his players like no other coach I’ve met. We have been talking about Gordie this week in the team and they feel honoured to be able to play for him this weekend. He belongs back home in Dunedin.”
The Highlanders’ team is unchanged from last weekend’s 32-29 win over the Crusaders in Dunedin. Ayden Johnstone, named on the bench, will play his 50th game for the Highlanders.