Blues fired up for big clash

Sixteen rounds of regular competition may have taken their toll, but Blues assistant coach Bryce Woodward doesn't think the team will have much trouble firing up for their Super-15 preliminary finals clash with the Waratahs.
Resting up and re-energising were the important early phases of the build-up towards Friday night's fixture after the team cracked the finals for the first time in four years.
"We'll be focusing on the Waratahs from Wednesday onwards and hopefully generate the right amount of excitement to give it a good whack again," Woodward said.
Although the Waratahs and Sharks finished the regular season with 57 points and 10 victories each, the New South Wales franchise finished fifth due to their superior for and against points differential to earn the Eden Park gig, while the Sharks play the Crusaders in Nelson on Saturday.
Two big victories in the last two rounds against the Highlanders and the Brumbies certainly helped their points tally.
"They've done well on the back of applied pressure and the opposition's inability to stop their forwards' running game so that will be a real focus for us this week," he said.
The coaches signed off on the review of their 33-16 win over the Highlanders yesterday and now take stock of the injured before they decide on a team tomorrow.
Rene Ranger, Kurtis Haiu, Isaia Toeava and Tony Woodcock are unavailable for the weekend, while Peter Saili, Daniel Braid and new signing Rudi Wulf are still possibilities for the game.
In their previous encounter at Eden Park in April, the Blues lead the Waratahs 31-7 at half-time - before winning 31-17. But the former Northland coach said it is unlikely to be as easy this time around.
"You wouldn't think so but you never know what's going to happen, it's all about us playing rugby - and in the second half of that match we let them play with the ball for long periods of time and that's something we can't do again ... " he said.
Kick-off at Eden Park is at 7.30pm on Friday night.