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Rene Ranger of the Blues storms past Matt Giteua of the Brumbies - Source: Photosport -
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In Keven Mealamu's 100th match it was the barnstorming Rene Ranger that stole the show as the Blues got their Super 14 season back on track, reports tvnz.co.nz's Chris Matthews.
The back page of nearly any publication in this day and age is the territory of the frivolous and ridiculous, and the Blues-Brumbies game day programme on Friday night was no different.
In this instance new Blues tearaway Serge Lilo was the unfortunate subject in one of those fun-filled Q and A pieces that makes you laugh, cringe and cry all at the same time.
So it was with some surprise that of all places, the back page would provide the revelation of the evening.
Lilo was asked out of all of his Blues team-mates who would he least like to room with and there it was:
"It would have to be Rene Ranger because he's always joking around and it's hard to concentrate on the game when he is around."
Whether Ranger read the back page before the match is unknown but if he did, it ended up being a masterstroke by Lilo as the barnstorming centre was anything but a class clown as he produced his best Super 14 performance in the Blues' 39-34 win .
Brumbies second five-eight Christian Lealiifano certainly didn't find Ranger funny when he lined him up and smashed him in the first half in what was the bell-ringer of the evening, and with ball in hand, the 23-year-old, 98kg centre was almost Lomu-like at times as he brushed off Brumbies players at will.
Indeed, his second half try that got the Blues back in the game from a six point half time deficit, where he trampled over no fewer than three Brumbies, was testament to the strength of the young man.
However after the match Blues coach Pat Lam warned, in a worrying sign for future opponents, that Ranger is still a work in progress.
"He's got X-factor, he's been a real project because he's a free spirit in the way he plays but we've been doing a lot of work, with Shane (Howarth) in particular, about staying in the systems on attack and defence," Lam says.
"We've been putting a big onus on all of those guys that he cannot be standing out there without any information and that's the onus on Joe, Ice, Rudi, Benson and Stevie.
"If they're talking to (Ranger) the whole time and if he's got a smile on his face then he's happy."
The Blues head to Sydney next weekend to face the Waratahs and two things are now clear.
Lam will persist with Ranger at centre and Lilo will not be rooming with him either.
