OPINION: Blues skipper Patrick Tuipulotu has found his feet as the leader of the Blues, and wow has that transpired through him onto his teammates' performance on the field, hasn't had a bad performance this year, in fact, he's been incredible in all of them.
Dare I say it, the Blues are the real deal, and he is a massive part of that.
1-Joe Moody (Crusaders)
Veteran outing from the All Black, scrummed well, was great on defence and ran the ball with some intent.
2-Samisoni Taukei'aho (Chiefs)
Decent outing from the hooker, in a match week where there were no standouts,
3-Ofa Tuungafasi (Blues)
Scrummed well and didn't miss a tackle, solid performance.
4-Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues)
Another remarkable performance from the Blues skipper continues to lead well and is transpiring his leadership on the park.
5-Naitoa Ah Kuoi (Chiefs)
Continues to look good on the park, runs the ball strongly, tackled very well and was decent at the lineout.
6-Akira Ioane (Blues)
Solid outing at flanker from Ioane, didn't miss a beat on defence and was solid at the breakdown.
7-Lachlan Boshier (Chiefs)
Just beats DuPlessis Kirifi and Dalton Papali'i this week, was incredible at the breakdown once again and didn't miss a tackle.
8-Hoskins Sotutu (Blues)
Another great outing from the young man looks destined for greatness, keeping Ioane out of the No. 8 spot for good if he continues this.
9-TJ Perenara (Hurricanes)
Inspirational outing from the halfback won turnovers, ran well and provided great passes for his backs.
10-Jackson Garden-Bachop (Hurricanes)
Outperformed his counterpart Richie Mo'unga. he made some nice runs and broke the line, kicked pretty well.
11-Ben Lam (Hurricanes)
Close this week, just beats Sean Wainui and George Bridge, but Lam offered a little more on attack and beat more defenders, was a constant threat down the left edge.
12-Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs)
It wasn't a strong outing from the second-fives around the competition this week, but Lienert-Brown was his solid self, he makes tackles, runs the ball well and is ever reliable.
13-Quinn Tupaea (Chiefs)
Too hot to handle for the Blues, he ran amuck in the midfield, beat seven players and made 10 strong tackles on defence.
14-Sevu Reece (Crusaders)
Just gets the nod over Mark Telea, was dynamic in the first half against the Hurricanes, scored a try in the first minute… he's back.
15-Will Jordan (Crusaders)
This guy just keeps getting better, ran the ball so well this week, over 100 metres, and beat eight defenders as he proved more than a handful for the Canes' defence.
Luke Robinson is a Newshub sports reporter. Join us for live updates of Super Rugby Aotearoa next weekend.
