And the Blues got flogged by the Reds.   

This fixture should be known as the Purple Smash, as that is what happens when blue and red collide. Last night that wasn't the case, as the Reds turned up in an ocular nightmare of strip, maroon, and dirty gold.   

Besides almost confirming that the Blues title defence aspirations are essentially shredded, last night's exchange underlined to the competition two very important aspects of Super Rugby Pacific: 

1. New Zealand teams are either struggling to travel to Australia, or home advantage in 2025 is more important than we thought.  

2. If you tackle a player and lift them past the horizontal, you’ll take a skate. 10 minutes, or the rest of the match.  

It is one of the stranger stats this year that NZ teams can’t roll Aussie sides over there. Yes, the sample size is limited due to the nature of the draw, but the former easy beats of the comp are no longer cannon fodder in their own backyard. Funny what happens when the talent pool is concentrated.  

Does the same apply in reverse, now that Moana Pacifica are watering down the NZ based talent pool? Australia lost a team and went from five teams down to four, New Zealand essentially took the opposite route, increasing from five teams to six. It’s notable that the Blues, the Hurricanes, the Highlanders, and Moana Pacifica have only notched 3 wins apiece so far.   

Coincidence or correlation?  

On the tackle, Tele’a ran afoul of the law with his aggressive tip on Tim Ryan and was walked for 10, until closer examination upgraded him to red and that basically condemned the Blues to another defeat.   

A touch unfair? Possibly, but as a I often tell my 14 year old daughter, control your own narrative. If you don't give someone the opportunity to wreck your day, they can’t. If you tackle someone, don't go through the horizontal, don’t give officials the means to walk you. Because they will.