Rieko and Akira Ioane stand dejected after a Blues loss. Photo / Photosport
Rieko and Akira Ioane stand dejected after a Blues loss. Photo / Photosport
There will be more pain before the Blues get back on the right track.
It was an ominous message from All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, but not an unexpected one.
The Auckland Super Rugby club has struggled mightily over the last decade and show no signs of righting the ship in 2018.
Since 2008, the club have made the playoffs just once, in 2011, where they fell to eventual competition winners the Queensland Reds in the semifinals. It was also the only time in the past 10 seasons the club notched up double-digits in the wins column.
"It's not an easy fix," Hansen said at the All Blacks' foundation day on Monday. "It's something that's going to take some time and there will be pain along the way. We are feeling for them, there's no doubt about that."
Joe Rokocoko was starting on the wing the last time the Blues made the during the Super Rugby playoffs. Photo / Photosport
The fact the Reds won the competition when the Blues last made the playoffs was, in itself, telling, as New Zealand teams hadn't dropped a match against a foe from across the ditch in the last 35 encounters.
Despite the talent in their ranks, with the likes of All Blacks Patrick Tuipolotu, Matt Duffie, and Rieko and Akira Ioane among those to pull on the blue jersey each week, they had been unable to find the results.
Hansen said it was tough for the club from New Zealand's most populous region to be struggling in such a way.
"Everyone's working hard up there and we're trying to do our best to help them any way we can."
The majority of the Blues' All Blacks were in Wellington for Monday's Foundation Day, though Tuipolotu was unable to attend due to illness, with the first All Blacks squad for the year due to be announced on May 20. They were joined by a host of North Island-based All Blacks, which included Hurricanes halfback TJ Perenara.
Perenara was in the spotlight recently having shared his support for the LGBT community on social media.
The 26-year-old posted on Twitter in response to Wallabies fullback Israel Folau sharing his religious belief that homosexuals would go to hell on photo-sharing social media platform Instagram.
"Let it go on record that I am 100% against the comments that were made by Israel. It was not ok to say that. It's not an attitude I want to see in the game I love. There is no justification for such harmful comments," Perenara's post read.
Hansen addressed Perenara's comments, and said he was "really proud" of how the halfback addressed the situation.
"You're a good human being regardless of whether you're a gay person, a straight person. Quite frankly [the All Blacks] don't care and I don't care personally myself.
"But I thought he tweeted well, his words were good, he gave a strong message to those young people in the circumstances that they could be fighting and worrying about their own identities. I said I was proud of him and I stick by that."
