Patrick Tuipulotu of the Blues looks on after the loss to the Sharks. Photo / Photosport
Patrick Tuipulotu of the Blues looks on after the loss to the Sharks. Photo / Photosport
The Blues will travel to Tokyo for their must-win match against the Sunwolves without the injured Jerome Kaino and George Moala – a case of it never rains but pours for a side under pressure to deliver only their second win of the season.
What they will travel with is a definite sense of purpose, a single-minded focus that they have a job to do and nothing other than a victory will be acceptable against a team one place below them on the bottom of the table.
That perhaps wasn't the case last year when they travelled early to Japan to make up for the break which followed their famous victory over the British and Irish Lions, and completely lost their heads on the scorching hot surface of the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium pitch.
Lock Patrick Tuipulotu, about to play his 50th game for the Blues, sat out that match with injury suffered in the warm-up game but he believes the bright lights of Japan's capital distracted some of his young teammates.
"There was a lot of mucking around," he said. "We came into Tokyo late and I think a lot of boys got distracted by being in Tokyo and didn't realise that it was a midday game in 40-degree heat."
Thankfully for both teams, the temperatures will be far cooler, and the key for the Blues will be to combine a red-hot intensity with cold decision-making – something they have been able to do just once in six matches this season.
George Moala is out injured. Photo / Getty
Moala's arm injury, suffered in last Saturday's 21-19 loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton, means the Blues are very light on outside backs, but, rather than go through another re-shuffle and put Stephen Perofeta at fullback, coach Tana Umaga is likely to keep things as simple as possible. Loose forward Kaino has a hamstring strain.
Northland wing Jordan Hyland is in the frame for one wing spot, with Matt Duffie on the other, and Michael Collins at fullback.
Perofeta had an extended run at the back in Hamilton but Umaga is wary about disrupting the 21-year-old's development at first-five.
"We always knew he can play fullback – he's played there for Taranaki before," Umaga said. "Obviously you see his running game and kicking game but his positional play – it's not second nature to him. We're also trying to get him to learn 10, so do you try to give a young guy two jobs to learn or [ask him] to be good at one job?"
After delivering his review to his players, Umaga can only hope his message gets through. Big lock Tuipulotu believes it has. "It's frustrating – we see how hard we work and we see how close we get," he said. "But we come into this review room afterwards and we can't keep our heads down. Spirits are up, especially after that performance at the weekend. Yes it wasn't a win but I think we can be proud of what we did there."
Asked what about the key for victory in this one, Tuipulotu said: "Not to get complacent. Last year, judging by the feeling of the boys, we didn't really prepare well. I don't think we went over there for the right reasons, whereas this time it's a lot simpler – we're going there to do one job and the focus is on that."
As for his 50th, it will be a lot more special if he can celebrate a victory. "It's coming," he said. "It's hard to stand here and say something like that after the last couple of years we've had, but it's something we're working on and something to look forward to.
"I love this club and even though we're going through tough times I don't think I'd want to do it anywhere else."
