The Auckland Blues, featuring their blue-chip signing Beauden Barrett for the first time, overran the Wellington Hurricanes 30-20 on Sunday as the return of live sport in New Zealand drew a full house to Auckland's Eden Park.
More than 43,000 packed the ground in the largest turnout at a Super Rugby match in New Zealand for 15 years, as fans starved of professional sport for three months celebrated the return of an unfettered contest less than a week after the country declared itself free of COVID-19.
The pre-match talking point was the maiden appearance for the Blues of former Hurricane stalwart Barrett, a two-time World Player of the year.
The Blues were further bolstered by the appearance of All Blacks and Canterbury Crusaders legend Dan Carter offering guidance from the sideline.
But the input from the two fly-halves was overshadowed by the performance of the Blues pack who bossed the Hurricanes in the fast-paced match, and the kicking of Otere Black who wore the coveted 10 jersey with Barrett playing at fullback.
While Black scored 15 points off the boot, Barrett's performance was noted for a missed tackle that let Dane Coles in for a try.
"My eyes lit up when I saw him," Coles said while Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu said it was Barrett's "composure" that made a significant contribution to the victory.
The Blues, underperformers for several seasons, had a history of strong starts and poor finishes, but in the revamped New Zealand version of Super Rugby, the addition of Barrett produced a new backbone.
The Hurricanes started strongest and were up 3-0 after a Jackson Garden-Bachop penalty in the ninth minute.
When the Blues responded with a try to Caleb Clarke, converted by Black, the Hurricanes immediately regained the lead with Coles, stationed on the wing, smashing through Barrett's attempted tackle to score in the corner and celebrating by cheekily ruffling his former teammates' hair.
A try to TJ Faiane converted by Black and one to the Hurricanes by Ben Lam saw the Blues turn with a narrow 14-13 lead.
The Blues dominated the second half with an early try to Dalton Papalii while Black added a conversion and three penalties before Jamie Booth scored a consolation try for the Hurricanes just before full-time.
RESULT
Blues 30
Hurricanes 20
HIGHLANDERS vs CHIEFS
More than 20,000 fans witnessed the Otago Highlanders edge a 28-27 thriller against the Waikato Chiefs on Saturday as New Zealand welcomed the return of live sport after the coronavirus.
The highest profile sports fixture worldwide since the pandemic, and one of the first with an unrestricted crowd, did not disappoint, as Bryn Gatland's last-gasp drop goal settled a nail-biter in Dunedin.
Gatland drilled the winning points in the 79th minute, denying the Chiefs -- who are coached by his father, ex-Wales boss Warren -- after they had snatched the lead with their own drop goal just a minute earlier.
The Super Rugby Aotearoa game was played in a festival atmosphere at the Forsyth Barr Stadium just six days after New Zealand declared itself free of COVID-19 and lifted restrictions on mass gatherings.
"Actually being able to watch a rugby game after quarantine, we've come a long way since COVID. I think New Zealand's doing pretty good," a fan named Jordan told AFP.
Gatland was only brought on to the bench for the Highlanders after Josh Ioane pulled out with a groin strain, and came on for his game-winning cameo near the end.
In a tense finish, Damian McKenzie's drop goal put the Chiefs ahead, only for Gatland to settle the contest with his long-distance reply from nearly 40 metres.
"I never imagined it would be like that," Highlanders captain Ash Dixon said.
"It wasn't perfect but we gutsed it out and playing a quality side like the Chiefs we just kept trying to compete as much as we could and managed to just be on the right side of the ledger at the end."
As fans flowed through the gates there was no sign of face masks or sanitiser -- or the cardboard cut-outs used to fill empty stadiums in other countries where crowds are still barred.
"I don't really have any health concerns," said one fan, who gave his name as Peter.
Another spectator, Wendy, said she feared New Zealand would have stayed locked down longer "but I'm happy that we're not. Nobody's wearing masks, it's good".
The Highlanders had only one win from six games compared to the Chiefs' four when the 15-team, five-nation Super Rugby was suspended in March because of the coronavirus.
But they looked a sharper unit, despite two yellow cards and problems at the breakdown in the opening game of Super Rugby Aotearoa, an interim domestic replacement for the wider championship.
The fast-paced encounter was marred by a high count of 30 penalties, 17 against the Highlanders, with referee Paul Williams putting a special focus on breakdown infringements.
In a see-sawing first half, the Highlanders took an early lead from a Mitch Hunt penalty and after falling behind to a pair of McKenzie penalties, they hit the front again with Hunt converting tries by Ash Dixon and Sio Tomkinson.
The Chiefs, finding space out wide, struck back with a Sean Wainui try and another McKenzie penalty, before Marino Mikaele-Tu'u scored on the stroke of half-time for the Highlanders to turn with a 22-16 advantage while down to 14 men with Vili Koroi in the sin-bin.
After McKenzie and Hunt traded penalties in the third quarter the Chiefs regained the lead with an Anton Lienert-Brown try and McKenzie's drop goal before Gatland sealed the match.
New Zealand recorded 1,154 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 22 deaths, but has now gone 22 days without any new cases.
Result
Highlanders 28
Chiefs 27
