Optimism springs eternal for Blues coach Leon MacDonald. For those watching on, though, there is a continued lack of evidence to believe the Blues will magically discover their mojo and peak when it matters most this season.
Seven wins from their last eight matches suggests the Blues are timing theirrun towards another tilt at the Super Rugby title.
Yet their latest victory, the scrappy, unconvincing performance against the Highlanders at Eden Park on Friday night – points to the Blues’ consistent frailties.
This season paints a starkly contrasting picture to last year when the Blues surged into the playoffs following an unbeaten 13-match regular season to secure home advantage through to their crushing defeat in the final.
In that campaign the Blues became increasingly too tight, too tense, in their escape against the Brumbies in the semi-final, before crumbling in the final to the Crusaders. They saved their worst for the most important match of the season.
As they prepare for a home quarter-final against the Waratahs next week, lessons from last year’s postseason should have been absorbed. The theory the Blues project is they will now peak for the knockouts.
Based on their last two efforts against the Hurricanes and Highlanders, vast improvements are required for that to transpire.
While the Blues deserve to finish third, they appear several notches below the pace-setting Chiefs and Crusaders.
After several weeks alternating his starting team due to All Blacks rests and injuries, MacDonald is embracing the chance to welcome back Beauden Barrett, Bryce Heem and Hoskins Sotutu next week. Caleb Clarke’s quad bruising is the only injury concern.
There’s no doubt a fully fit Blues team possesses all the weapons to challenge for the title. Their scrum, led by All Blacks props Nepo Laulala and Ofa Tuungafasi, is the best in the competition. With Zarn Sullivan’s left foot they boast multiple tactical kicking options and with front-foot ball the lethal Mark Telea, Rieko Ioane and Clarke are near impossible to contain out wide.
Highlanders coach Clarke Dermody noted as much after his side held the Blues scoreless in the second half of the 16-6 defeat – their 16th straight New Zealand derby loss.
“You know what’s going to happen,” Dermody said. “They hold the ball more than anyone. Any time it goes past 12 everyone holds their breath because of the threats they’ve got. That’s what happened. We could keep them under pressure for periods but then one would slip out of a tackle and then they’re entering our 22 which makes it hard. Leon has them playing well.”
At this point, though, the Blues can’t put it together. They are yet to topple a top-four team, with their lack of accuracy and inability to convert pressure into points proving a consistent frustration.
With a semi-final faceoff against the Crusaders in Christchurch looming, they appear destined to exit at that juncture.
“It hasn’t been all the way we wanted,” MacDonald said of this year’s patchy campaign.
“There’s a bit of a lack of cohesion with injuries and team changes. We’ve got Beauden to come back in next week which will be great and Bryce too. Although the games haven’t been perfect we’re in a good position with pretty much a full squad to pick from.
Mark Telea and the Blues were too good for the Highlanders. Photo / photosport.nz
“At the start of the year if you said we’d have a home quarter that’d be fantastic. The scoreboard wasn’t what we wanted but we closed out the first half and when we were able to use the ball we had good balance going to the edges and being physical and direct along with some smart kicking at times as well. There’s a lot there to like, but the last five metres wasn’t quite where it needed to be. We can work on that as well.”
The Blues had two tries scrubbed out by the TMO against the Highlanders and the stop-start nature of an uninspiring contest featuring 30 penalties and 22 scrums didn’t allow the freedom they would’ve liked. Yet their failure to convert from close range remains a concerning theme.
“Do we have to be a lot better than we were? I thought we created a lot of pressure and they hung in there,” MacDonald said. “We’ll be frustrated with parts of our game, no doubt, but we’re getting the job done, we’re winning and that’s the main thing.”
Blues captain Dalton Papali’i, in his return from a shortened two-week suspension, echoed MacDonald’s sentiments.
“There were moments we missed but we’re going to have a fresh week where we can talk about that and how we can be better,” Papalii said. “Going into playoff mode, winning is winning. Winning ugly, winning good, it doesn’t really matter.”
That may be true. But if the Blues don’t drastically improve their attacking execution, their runway to improve will soon end.
