Blues lose Nacewa for Sharks showdown
Nacewa injured a knee as the Blues ran in seven tries against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, notching another half century in the republic after blitzing the Lions in similar fashion last weekend.
A third successive bonus point win has elevated them to a one-point lead on the table ahead of the Crusaders.
But the Sharks are lurking dangerously in third place. They are also unbeaten and finally got their attack together late in their 29-15 win over the Bulls in Pretoria.
These results have set up a huge clash in Durban next Sunday (NZ time) with the Blues keen to avenge last years two losses to the Sharks - the round-robin clash in Albany and the semifinal in Durban.
But they will have to do that without the attacking genius of Nacewa and the Blues are anxiously awaiting a long-term prognosis on his injury. They have able backup in former All Black Ben Atiga but Nacewa is clearly a player who can ignite something out of nothing.
It doesnt look terribly good at this stage. I would think that Isa will definitely be out next week, Blues coach David Nucifora said today.
We will need to assess the extent of the injury over the next few days.
That was really the only negative from another fine allround display against a plucky Cheetahs side who certainly played far better than the scoreline suggested. They toiled away at the Blues up front and got a bonus point for scoring four tries themselves.
But their attack lacked the razor sharp edge of the Blues who had their outside backs score all of their tries with left wing Joe Rokocoko nabbing a hat-trick as his good form continued.
Temperatures of around 30 degrees at kickoff added heat to a fierce confrontation in the forwards. But the Blues, vulnerable to the South African sides in this area last year, fronted up manfully with a performance that Nucifora believes will help their confidence ahead of the calsh with the Sharks.
It was obviously a pretty tough day out there for the guys, said Nucifora.
It was the most draining of the three games we have played. It was extremely hot and uncomfortable for the players, particularly in the first 40 minutes. It did take a lot out of them.
So a fair bit of credit should be given to the Cheetahs, They came at us and threw everything at us and it was a very big contact game … probably harder than the last two.
But I was very happy with the way we played again. We attacked very well.
The Blues targeted this early South African trip as a chance to atone for last years disappointments in the republic. They believed they were better than that and they are clearly showing so at the moment although the Sharks will be the real acid test as they arethe one form side in a disappointing start by the South African teams.
To have 10 points so far from our trip over here is really promising and our aim is certainly to take a win next week, said Nucifora.
We had a goal as a group to do well in Africa this year. We have gone part of the way to achieving that but next week (against the Sharks) is another step up and we hope that we can nail those guys as well.
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Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 8:29 pm under