Paul Tito: Blues assistant coach on the team beating out the Crusaders

0:00You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Fein from News Talks at B The fire in Hunaki kicks it into touch and the Blues say don't forget about us We're back on track in Super Rugby 2026 with a statement win over the defending champions 29th 13th and Eden Park Blues assistant coach Paul Tito is with us that looked like one of the Blues most complete performances of the six and unouts only early Paul But how pleased were you and the rest of the coaching staff with last night? Yeah, you know, just to get the win against the Crusaders team has been not easy to come by for the Blues in the last few years Obviously, dots played at hundreds of games last weekend and that was a third one. So, um, you know, we've struggled to beat them. But I feel that, you know, throughout the season we've been building quite nicely and potentially haven't been getting the results That came our way, but you know, we've been trusting the process and

1:01And enjoying each other's company and building together something nice and special and you know, I think hopefully there was a start of something from that result last night. After conceding late to lose to the Brumbies last week, did you sense among the playing group that a response was coming from that? That's what it felt like at training all week, you know, we're just slowly building and putting those blocks in place and even last night we weren't perfect. Um, by any means, but I feel we're building which is which has been pleading. The Crusaders didn't score a single point in the second half. How satisfied were you with the defence of attitude and the organisation after half time? Yeah, it's important, you know, I mean, you know, the Canary teams, Crusader teams that you play, you know, they normally score just before half time and just after half time they put a lot of pressure on you by doing so. So for us to start well in that second half and take control of the game was pleasing. A massive cutoff to Craig McGraw and the defence group that are leading the space and you know, I thought we saw some some real growth in our defence last night and then we're all willing us to work hard for each other.

2:14Interesting, you say that about the times the Crusaders are most dangerous. They did score a couple of tries before half time when Caleb Clark was in the bin from 1933 to 1913. Any worry lines at that point? Yeah, potentially just a couple of weak moments that we had, you know, a loss line out which was a miss call, you know, I mean, just those little things that become big things and we just give them opportunity and we know how good they are. If you give these teams a snow for an opportunity, you know, they're more than capable of scoring points and they look pretty easy when they did that. Yeah, no, it's something that we need to work on and obviously playing with 15 men will help us. Bonan Barrett was a late inclusion into the starting 15. He was eventually slated to come off the bench. How late a call was that and a Stephen Petafetta? Yes, TV. He's sustained another injury, which is which is disappointing for him, you know, but he had to get back and, you know, hopefully he won't be on the side only too long,

3:23but I don't know what the prognosis is on that, but, you know, he's been, he's been good for us, TV, and we're going to need him throughout the year. So we, you know, we'll get him back at some stage soon. Not a bad guy to have coming in. It looked like he hadn't been away, Bonan Barrett. Yeah, I actually spoke to him after the game and, you know, he's a little bit heavy. It is like the burning as they always are. You know, it doesn't actually matter how much work you've done in the preseason, you know, that first game always hurts. So I was good to have him back out there and, you know, he controlled the game well and, you know, he'll be happy. He'll be happy with that any minute. At the other end of the experience scale, we're seeing some younger blues players really grow into their time in the Jersey, the likes of Torian Barnes, Shay Clark, Cody Vi. How encouraged are you by the depth that you're building in the blues? Yeah, it's exciting. And, you know, I go back. Most probably we look at our development team too. Tempty, they've been going really well on performing and it's putting pressure on the coaches to get the selection right.

4:25So it's a good headache to have. Obviously we've been in a few things and there's other guys getting opportunities. You know, your name Torian Barnes and Cody Vi, or I thought it was outstanding last night. You know, I put Josh Birian in that bracket too, like he's really leading the charge for our forwards. So sure, his stats are high and his work rate's massive. And we're really enjoying this growth from this, the younger generation that are coming through the blues. I heard Caleb Clark afterwards talk about Don Puppelet, his 100th, which you'd reference before. And while he brought it up a week ago, it was kind of celebrated, I guess, on home saw their last night. How much do you mark milestones like that internally? Yeah, it's a big thing at the blues, you know, to play 100 games of Super Rugby as a massive achievement. Dops as a special man. And I'll be sorely missed when he leaves after the show. But I know that he's, you know, he's really leading the way and rallying the troops of shit. I make sure he goes out with a bang.

5:27He's a highly respected man in our group on and off the field. He's a great leader and we love him to bits. And, you know, whatever's happened and, you know, at the higher, at the higher teams of the last couple of years, it's bloody sad to see him go. Indeed. Well, what a Pacificer up next for you. Sunday afternoon. So a week today, back at Eden Park, they've had a challenging season. Haven't they? Will this be a chance to rest some guys, maybe give some other guys a few minutes? I think the key will be our willingness to, you know, just get out there and put the blues DNA on the park. You know, I'm, I'm sure there'll be a couple of changes, but, you know, we know what it's like. And with Moana, you know, they, they, they picked us up last year. So we're under no illusions how tough the game will be and we're going to have to be on our game. And we want to keep growing what we've done the last couple of weeks. We, you know, we don't want to be going two steps forward and one back. So we need to keep growing what we're doing and become better every week.

6:28So, you know, I mean, I'm sure there'll be a couple. But hopefully, you know, we just got to keep going. All right. Hey, thanks, Paula. Appreciate you taking the time to chat to us. Paul Tito. For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Pine, listen live to News Talk ZB. Weekends from midday or follow the podcast on iHard Radio.