Aisle Be Back: Hurricanes v Blues

I missed being at the stadium last Saturday for the first time this season, instead being at a murder mystery evening. I turned up finally at home not knowing the score but able to catch the last 15 minutes on delayed TV.

At that stage the question was who was threatening to murder our season and the answer appeared to be Professor Umaga, in the cake tin, with a sloppy defence.

Well that’s what witnesses later related, and I had to believe them because the bit I caught featured some pretty vigorous defence and some nice closing out of the result.

Sometimes you are relieved to miss the first bit of a game, and this one fits that category.  But it just shows you how dangerous it is to predict how these last two rounds will fall, and how the playoffs will finally shape up.

We’ve been focussing so much on the cut-throat Kiwi conference that it’s gone a bit un-noticed that those longtime jokers , the Lions, are actually in pole position to top the overall competition if results go logically from here.  Wouldn’t put your faith in logic.

So we’re actually scrapping down here for the right to avoid an insane amount of overseas travel. Personally I enjoy inflight entertainment but I’m sure the Canes are not that keen.

I actually like that we’ve got the toughest run-in. Certainly if we can overcome the Waratahs, who have their season on the line, then I don’t think there’s a fear factor in going down to Christchurch for what could be a one-match shootout.

Put it the other way, if you had to choose a team to avoid in the last rounds, it would be us.

The Highlanders are the others with a tough assignment, the Jaguares and then travelling home to host the Chiefs, but if any side has the ticker to do it, then it’s the Landers.

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Beauden Barrett brilliant! 7 from 7 makes all the difference, because it he’d turned in a roughie on Saturday night, we’d be contemplating how we lost.

It’s great to see him attributing some of this to going back to thinking through his kicking more instinctively. If that’s the case, more of the same.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that if Beaudy had been firing on all cylinders during the playoffs last season, instead of battling the earlier injury, we may well have sealed the deal there and then.

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Now last week I got sent an electronic version of the guide to ticketing for the Lions tour. It looks very long and complicated.

But the gist of it is that the rugby community will no doubt be enlisting long-lost nanas and third cousins twice removed (to Eketahuna) in order to get more names in the ticket ballot.

The trick is that if you win, you then can convince the nana or the cousin to actually shout you the ticket price.  

It’s ONLY 400 dollars nana and I’ll get you a programme.

Kev has followed the Hurricanes since they began. He has a season pass. Every year he predicts the Canes will win Super Rugby. He refuses to be called a long-suffering fan.