FORCE 27
BLUES 17
KEY POINTS:
Who saw that defeat coming? Probably not many, not even those whose anxiety levels rose when they watched the Force push the Crusaders hard last week.
Even after some mixed work the Blues led 17-7 at the interval and there looked little to stop them completing a victory after returning from the roadtrip to South Africa.
Coach David Nucifora had his worry beads out though. He saw worrying trends in the way his side squandered chances and he had watched the concussion exit of first five-eighths Nick Evans.
"The longer we let them hang with us, their confidence was growing and again we let some old habits creep back as far as not nailing opportunities and we created more than enough opportunities in that first half to win three games of football," he suggested.
Victorious Force skipper Nathan Sharpe later acknowledged how his side's self-belief rose as they stayed in the game while the Blues lost their energy and became vulnerable.
And when Evans left the field, it gave further impetus to the Force in their eventual successful quest for an historic first victory in New Zealand in the Super 14.
Nucifora was comfortable he made the right call in sticking with a similar side through the five rounds of competition, he did not see any signs they were struggling with fatigue. But he did wonder if the Blues had underestimated the ability of the Force. He did not accept they lacked composure as they had in the loss to the Sharks but felt they lacked the ruthless edge which suggested to Nucifora that his side did not respect the visitors' calibre.
Far too often, the Blues went on individual sorties, neglecting the values of structure and teamwork which have kept the Crusaders unbeaten at the head of the competition.
The scrum was solid and there was some weighty solo work from captain Troy Flavell, John Afoa and Anthony Tuitavake but the collective clout was missing.
If Nucifora was alarmed in the first half, Flavell was worried not long after.
"To be honest, probably just after halftime, after that first 10 minutes," he said. "Some of those bad habits were starting to creep in once again and at this level you can't afford to spill ball like that or lose control of the pill like that and obviously they capitalised on that."
So well in fact that the Force scored 20 unanswered points to send the Blues to a second straight defeat and sparked worries about how they will redress the slide against an assertive Stormers side who have declared they can win all four of their roadtrip matches.
They are halfway through that pledge and have the physical menace to inflict the same sort of damage which allowed the Sharks and Force to quell the Blues.
Former All Black coach and now Force mentor John Mitchell said his side lacked some sting early on but their rising physical presence and work in contact brought the rewards.
Evans' departure reduced the control the Blues could exert on the game while they also appeared to lose their way and structure as some of the exhaustion from their trip to South Africa kicked in.
The up tempo game, which was a by-product of the new law variations, suited the way the Force wanted to play, their high fitness levels and the confidence they had in their ball skills.
