Blues remain optimistic about season outlook after 3-3 start to Super Rugby Pacific season

Leon MacDonald believes his Blues side aren't far off the top teams in the competition. Photo / Photosport

Leon MacDonald believes there is more than meets the eye to the Blues’ start to the Super Rugby Pacific season.

After a 20-13 loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday night, MacDonald’s side fell to 3-3 for the season; a long way removed from their blistering 2022 campaign in which they ended the regular season with a 13-1 record and went on a 15-game winning streak before ultimately losing the final.

But although they failed to end the Chiefs’ unbeaten start to the season, MacDonald said his side’s performance gave him plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

“I actually think we played better than last year here when we won, but that’s sport sometimes,” MacDonald said.

“We’re heading in the right direction and good things will come if we continue working the way we have been.

“We’re right in the hunt. We’re not far away at all. If anything, we should be feeling pretty excited about where we’re heading.”

Blues head coach Leon MacDonald. Photo / Photosport

The Blues did plenty of good work in their loss to the Chiefs, but their execution at times left them down, be it a result of the immense defensive efforts of the Chiefs or simple human error. They conceded 16 turnovers – double that of the Chiefs.

Despite finishing the game having 60 per cent of the ball, playing much of the game in the attacking half and forcing the Chiefs to make 100 more tackles than they did, the Blues couldn’t put the finishing touches to most of their work; highlighted by Beauden Barrett’s bizarre error of being forced into touching the dead ball line as he tried to better the position of a would-be try.

“Not putting the ball down when we get in the in-goal seems to be a recurring thing; just little errors that are popping in,” MacDonald said of his side’s performance.

“That sometimes happens when you’re maybe trying too hard. You can’t fault the effort and the energy of the guys, and that’s not just on the grass. We put in a really good shift and sometimes that happens in sport where you just don’t quite get the rub of the green.

“Not ideal, but as long as we keep getting better, we’re going to give ourselves a good opportunity to be in the hunt at the end.”

While execution was missing in some areas, the one highlight for the Blues was their scrum. The set piece was a weapon as they dominated that area and won several penalties, while they were also able to pinch three lineouts.

As they turn their attention to next weekend’s match against the Rebels in Melbourne, captain Dalton Papali’i said it was reassuring to see how big a step his side’s scrum had taken in recent weeks.

“We can take the energy and attitude from the week’s prep from how well we trained at scrum time and we actually put it onto the field and were dominant there,” he reflected.

“We didn’t get the pay we thought we should’ve got, but I talked to the scrum leaders and they were happy, even after the game.

“We’ve made a massive shift in that area. If we want to win games we’ve still got to get better in that area, but it’s a massive shift from where we were at the start of the year to now.”

The Blues are expected to be without Stephen Perofeta and Hoskins Sotutu for the Melbourne match as they are due to observe their All Blacks stand down weeks, however Mark Telea (All Blacks rest) will be available and MacDonald is hopeful Bryce Heem (groin) will be available as well.