KEY POINTS:
Hurricanes 23 Blues 22
WELLINGTON - Every now and again, a game comes along that's so good, no one wants it to end.
One such game took place in Wellington last night, when two sides didn't give a hoot that they were being denied key players and simply got on with playing football as it should be played.
The pace was frantic and at times the skill matched the ambition and enterprise, so much so that it hardly seemed important who won.
Except it did matter. It really mattered and victory for the home side will go a long way to helping them realise that with or without their first-choice back row, they are capable of going a long way in this competition.
They certainly will if Thomas Waldrom keeps hammering away at No 8 the way he did last night and if Serge Lilo carries on stealing the ball.
There was never much between the two packs either at setpiece or breakdown but at crucial times Lilo nabbed turnover ball and the 'Canes pack closed ranks.
Then there was David Smith on the Hurricanes wing who was an entertainment package in his own right. The diminutive wing appeared to contract an electric shock every time he took possession. Either that or he had a hideous case of ants in his pants.
Whatever he had, the drafted Aucklander was a serious handful.
Yet the Blues had to hold their hands up and accept some culpability in their own downfall. In the last 10 minutes as they chased the critical score, they got a little edgy. The polish came off what had been a composed and gutsy first 70 minutes.
All of a sudden, the ball was coming wildly from the base of the ruck, runners started trying to do too much and got a little flat and static on the ball. Without quality delivery or presentation, the big break wouldn't come and that has to be a huge frustration for Blues coach David Nucifora.
Leaving aside the last 10 minutes, he had plenty of positives to extrapolate. The lineout functioned smartly under much pressure.
The quality and quantity of the ball coming from Troy Flavell and Greg Rawlinson gave the Blues backs a platform they have craved for the past three seasons.
So too the solidity of the scrum where, at last, a combination of Jerome Kaino and David Gibson has given them control and accuracy in the vexed No 8-halfback axis. And the bold decision to play Isa Nacewa at first five has been another major factor in the renaissance.
Nacewa was sprightly and tricky, bringing his fellow backs into the game and providing one absolute gem of a memory with his superbly weighted grubber kick that Doug Howlett touched on for the try.
The Blues' second try was even better, with the ball getting through the backline swiftly and cleverly until Anthony Tuitavake was free on the left wing. But it was the ability to temper the natural instincts and not force the pass that beat at the heart of the Blues performance and had allowed them to stay within one point of the Hurricanes coming down the closing stretch.
So to see that evaporate when it really needed to remain would have hurt Nucifora. As the Blues demonstrated last week in Canberra, rugby is an 80-minute affair.
And while they never stopped battling and believing they could win, the Blues did stop doing the things that had been fundamental to their earlier success.
Still, if there is a consolation for Nucifora, it is the knowledge that his side are winning the ball, they understanding the gameplan and they don't lack commitment.
These are all good foundation stones to have in place. And when the Blues come across opponents less formidable and less adept than the Hurricanes, they should start to rack up some wins.
Hurricanes 23 (C. Jane, S. Lilo tries; J. Gopperth 3 pens 2 cons) Blues 22 (D. Howlett, A. Tuitavake, G Rawlinson tries; I. Nacewa pen, 2 cons) HT 10-10
