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Kevin Mealamu will 'bleed blue' for sold-out Super Rugby Pacific Final
Jamie Lawlor • June 19th, 2024 10:58 am
All Blacks great Kevin Mealamu has pledged his alliances for this weekend's Super Rugby Pacific grand final at Eden Park - the Waikato-born hooker showed his true colours after siding with the Blues ahead of their clash with the Chiefs.
Mealamu told the SENZ's The Run Home that despite being from Tokoroa, his heart is fully with the Blues.
“I was definitely born and raised in Chiefs country, but in my veins, it's blue all the way through, so I’m definitely sitting with my 09 hat on.”
While the crowd for last weekend's semi-final at Eden Park looked sparse on TV, the stadium has already sold out for the final with allocations exhausted within hours of going on sale. As a player with 132 All Blacks Tests under his belt, a sold-out Eden Park was something that Mealamu always looked forward to.
Not that he will be there, with the sold-out signs going up before the former All Black could secure any tickets.
“I think it's going to be amazing, it has been a while since we have been able to host a Super Rugby Final at Eden Park,” Mealamu said.
“And you know what it's like when it's packed, that place, you can’t beat it.
“It's going to be an amazing event but also I think just for the players to be able to play in such an awesome stadium when it packed, that's the vibe, that's where you want to be playing.”
‘The Battle of the Bombays’ between the Chiefs and the Blues has always been a derby that both teams pencil in the calendar - Mealamu believes that the atmosphere is going to be unmatched.
“Our group chats are going crazy, with all the Chiefs and Blues supporters drawing their lines early in the week,” he added.
“The banter has been awesome, but the game is going to be just as good, so I'm really excited, I can't wait.”
Additionally, the 45-year-old expressed his opinions on how the Blues new head coach Vern Cotter has navigated the team this season.
“I really like the style, I think it suits the type of athletes that we have playing for the Blues,” Mealamu said.
“They are really accurate when they get into the 22 and it's a scoring position, as a forward I love seeing that if the team wants to compete you have to come through the forwards first, I love that.”
The Super Rugby Pacific Final kicks off at 7.05pm this Saturday, ahead of the first All Blacks squad selection of 2024 to be announced Monday for the upcoming England Test series.
Listen to the full interview:
