Rugby: Blues need consistency to signal playoffs run

The Blues and the Waratahs are hovering near the series lead but defeat tonight at Eden Park will send the loser into a disconcerting Super 14 slump.

This series is all about confidence and momentum, qualities which are in reduced supply for both teams. In their most recent outing, the Blues were belted by the Chiefs in a season where their only consistency has been a win, loss pattern.

Defeat for the Waratahs last week on their home ground against an underpowered Crusaders followed a clumsy loss to the Brumbies. Four wins to start the series had been detonated by successive failures with the prospect of trying to beat the Blues in New Zealand for the first time in Super rugby.

It's not the dance of the desperates but certainly a waltz of the worried.

This is the time for sides to be collecting their momentum and setting themselves for a run to the playoffs rather than sliding back into the pack. That will be the anxious backdrop for these teams after clumsy recent results.

The Waratahs have a large pack which will test the Blues especially in the lineouts while the absence of test regulars Tony Woodcock and Al Baxter may cancel any scrum advantages.

The Blues need to ramp up their work at the breakdown where they were well beaten last week and will be tested again tonight by Phil Waugh and his cohorts.

Injuries impaired Jerome Kaino and Justin Collins last week but the Blues were still snotted in the collisions. If they are a metre off the pace again tonight and Waugh's inflamed Achilles tendon holds together, they will be embarrassed again.

They need numbers and speed to the breakdowns, then quick ball to challenge the defensive adjustments of the Waratahs.

The Blues will fancy their chances in the backs, they will look at punching the inside channels around the reinstated Daniel Halangahu to get across the advantage line before using the expressive skills of Joe Rokocoko, Isaia Toeava and Anthony Tuitavake further out.

Jamie Helleur has been chosen to plug the midfield defensive sieve, to allow Jimmy Gopperth another chance at running the match with the improvements he has brought in the last few games.

If the bounce-back is to be an unwanted but regular feature for the Blues then they will take the victory tonight, just as they did after being hammered by the Bulls in Pretoria. But they cannot keep producing these sort of fluctuating results if they want to challenge the best in this series.

They need to emulate some of the Waratahs' solid defensive patterns then tack on the attacking clout which has brought them the most tries in this year's series.