Tom Robinson put in a huge shift on the second row at No.5 tonight for the Blues after he did everything possible to shut down a threatening Brumbies attack defensively. His near two-meter build and being at his prime right now gave the opposition team plenty of nightmares, with credit from his own numbers that helped stop the Brumbies from overtaking in their tracks. That same two-way communication applies in order to keep the Blues up front every time Robinson was being tested with his attacking contribution. As long as he keeps playing like this tonight, then he will make sure that the Blues robust and desperate defense will shut down the Crusaders at home once again next Saturday.
Next up is Stephen Perofeta in the No.15 Blues shirt at full-back. He displayed an all-round presence both in attack and defense that kept the Blues team’s hopes up right until the very end. Perofeta has no problem kicking into goal to share the workload with skipper Beauden Barrett, while running back and forth where he unpacked every bit of his natural game with the slam & tackle through each each end of the pitch. The physicality that allows him to be flexible as well as the team-work offered to support & protect his Blues team; these traits will be a series of Perofeta’s main weapons going into next Saturday’s final v Crusaders in a bid to take home the Championship.
And we’ve gotta say that the Brumbies are very good with substitutes, especially in the 2nd half when it comes to hooker Lachlan Lonergan – who came on for Folau Faingaa with 27 minutes to go. He was very dangerous to the Blues when the Brumbies made up lost time from 20-7 down after the break that almost cost them a Top 2 berth v Crusaders next Saturday. The patience was there with the help of his team-mates & winning penalties via the maul before Lachlan sorted his finishing touches from the usual throw-ins twice past the TRY line. But an inconsistent first-half run threw a lot of pressure to get the job done past a robust Blues defense before it was too late that ultimately cost them the final.
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