48 hours: Best Blues move came on the bus ride to the park

The Blues pulled their most startling move of the night well before they were smashed into oblivion by the Crusaders at Eden Park.

Just an hour from kickoff, the home team's bus performed the best out-and-in stunt seen in Sandringham since John Kirwan stunned the Italians at the 1987 World Cup.

Saturday night's manoeuvre suggested the lads were running a tad late, and dealing with some angst in what was a highly anticipated traffic jam.

To use sporting parlance, the bus ran a very unusual line after spotting a gap in oncoming traffic on the Bond St bridge.

Or to use a bit more sports-gab, the bus used a very unorthodox channel across a bridge which only has two channels.

This did not give bemused onlookers the impression of a well- organised mob calmly heading to a battleground where the best team in the land - by far - awaited them.

It was another two and a half hours before the men in that bus managed anything like the attacking bravado their bus driver attained. And by that stage, the magnificent Crusaders had already cruised to a brilliant victory. The visitors hardly even needed to be at their devastating best, either. They often just stuck to their knitting while the Blues unravelled.

All power to Robbie Deans and his red and blacks. Deans is an outstanding coach and developer of talent, and part of a remarkable organisation.

If this was British football, Peter Sloane would be on very shaky ground. His players, who were also transfixed spectators as Caleb Ralph cantered in for a try from a quick lineout throw, are highly accountable, of course.

But the buck stops at the coach's door, and the Blues are on the road to nowhere. Stability might win the day, but the Blues look in far greater need of a quick fix - new voices and methods to spark a revival before attempting a proper long-term repair job from next year.

Sloane is presiding over a second messy season already. While they have their moments, this All Black-stacked side are inherently inconsistent, and crash when it counts. Last year, it was against the Stormers at Eden Park as they relinquished their crown with barely a fight.

This year, disaster has already arrived in a test of the best, and a significant trial for players desperate to wear black against the Lions. Only Tony Woodcock looked the part against the Crusaders.

The Blues started reasonably well against the Highlanders this season, found all sorts of ways not to score tries against the Reds, didn't notch any against the Chiefs, and didn't score any points that mattered against the Crusaders.

It was an appalling performance on Saturday night. There was no sense of an overall strategy, lineouts went west, and discipline and composure were in constant retreat.

There will be at least one immediate consequence.

Ali Williams will be suspended long-term after clearly landing one stomp on Richie McCaw's head as the brilliant All Black cheated at the bottom of a ruck.

Last night may also turn out to be the beginning of the end for Carlos Spencer in this country.

Spencer is supposed to be the hinge, not unhinged. His CV included a flail at McCaw, a sideways kick-off, a late charge on Dan Carter and a failure to make any impression with his attack or on the Crusaders' defence.

Spencer's supreme talent often exceeds results - to what was very public frustration on Saturday - and he may start thinking more seriously about the significant riches on offer to him overseas. That he doesn't have an out clause in his contract, which ends next year, hardly matters. These things can be arranged, and Spencer looked near the end of his tether.

Symbolically, he also ended up on the end of the Blues backline as Tasesa Lavea spun his league-style magic at first five-eighths.

Lavea or McAlister must get their chance at No.10, and McAlister is clearly out of position - as much a centre as Williams is a peacemaker. The Blues have selected a squad with a damaging hole in it that has been exposed by Ben Atiga's injury.

Sloane will undoubtedly survive the season. Rugby coaches invariably do in this part of the world where long-winded performance reviews reign supreme.

It would take a team of lawyers the rest of the competition to figure out even how to sack a Super 12 coach mid-season, especially since they are New Zealand Rugby Union employees.

Some players are also afforded this sort of protection under a contract system which is run by head office and based heavily on the judgments of the all-powerful All Black selectors.

Then there's the curly question of who would replace Sloane. Under the NZRFU rules, his key assistant, David Nucifora, isn't even allowed to coach a Super 12 team yet. This is not professional sport as the rest of the world knows it.

It wouldn't even be a surprise if Spencer got an undeserved selection reprieve against the Brumbies in 12 days.

The Blues may have lost their heads, but how many heads will roll?