KEY POINTS:
Hurricanes 23 Blues 22
No escape this time for the Blues. No late reprieve to camouflage some of their repeat flaws.
No question they had a welter of final-quarter chances to overturn a one-point deficit yet they succumbed to their own indiscipline and the resolute Hurricanes' defence.
This was a match which got away, one the Blues should have eyed with relish as the Hurricanes had five test players out of their pack. Rather than moderate their tactics, the Blues were sucked into a freewheeling style which allowed their hosts to benefit from an expensive error rate.
When they did graft their brains to their bodies in the final stages, they lost the decisions which went their way against the Brumbies last week in Canberra. Referee Jonathan Kaplan ruled the Blues did not release the ball in one ruck and then knocked the ball on with Luke McAlister waiting for a dropped goal attempt.
Blues skipper Troy Flavell was probably right to suggest his team needed to "dump" the match, remove it from their memory bank.
After stacking a plucky win against the Brumbies on to their steady win against the Crusaders, the Blues could not shake some of the frailties that have plagued their recent campaigns.
They were beaten in the ruck and maul intensity, the scrum was mixed and they could not bring themselves to play percentage rugby.
"We played into their hands with their helter-skelter rugby and we came up against the best team in the competition to play that sort of game," Flavell said.
The Blues forwards were unable to impose themselves enough to suffocate the Hurricanes pack, they did not have the diligence and restraint to build the pressure and frustrate their hosts. Instead they created their own problems because of impatience.
The match was close throughout, to the extent that both sides were awarded very dubious tries.
The effervescent Anthony Tuitavake scored after a couple of "flat" passes and Serge Lilo touched down for the Hurricanes after a suspicious move.
Around those curiosities, Cory Jane scored from the almost standard Ma'a Nonu bust and a busy Doug Howlett trailed a neat Isa Nacewa grubber in reply.
Lock Greg Rawlinson satisfied the video referee he had scored from a chargedown to give the Blues an edge before more infringements allowed Jimmy Gopperth to kick the Hurricanes in front.
For the last 18 minutes, the Blues made most of the play while the Hurricanes kept their control and made all of their tackles.
Nacewa had a sideline penalty chance but could not find the smooth stroke he put on the ball at Canberra, McAlister broke the line but flipped a pass over the touchline, multiple phaseplay hit the Hurricanes wall, and the precision needed to wrest the victory did not eventuate.
For a side with an entire set of forwards who have played for the All Blacks, there were worrying signs about their lack of impact, especially with the Blues' next match being against the Reds, who base most of their play on the work of their robust pack.
