Tuitavake finds his feet once more

Blues 26 Brumbies 15

Staring at a winter of discontent, the Blues finally rustled some Agincourt spirit last night to post a result that warded off some of the pending gloom gathering in the City of Sails.

It certainly wasn't pretty or slick enough to be thinking of the Blues as potential champions but there was enough there to believe that after four so-so outings, the Blues are coming together - maybe even building towards a more spectacular eruption in the weeks to come.

By the final quarter, the confidence was riding a good bit higher, drawing the individual flair to the surface. A few more passes were sticking, players were running into holes that they previously couldn't see and the heads were up.

That confidence will now have to be taken on to the training paddock and kept on simmer until they arrive in Australia for their Friday night assignment against a Waratahs side that are cussedly hard to beat when roared on in Sydney.

With only eight competition points, the Blues are still drinking in the shadow of the last chance saloon and this week's clash is another must-win game.

The precarious geography of his side is not something about which Blues coach David Nucifora is oblivious. There was relief on his part last night that after a tough few weeks, his side stood up to be counted.

His own personal history with the Brumbies made the win all the sweeter but he knows that teams that believe their own hype tend to fall flat on their faces sooner rather than later.

"It will be another step up next week," Nucifora said. "There is still a lot to improve on. We turned over too much ball. We were just a bit jittery - we were like, 'gee we haven't been in this position for a while'. I think we have to be able to take every opportunity that is given to us because we would have scored one or two more tries if we had been a bit more composed."

One man certainly not lacking in composure was Anthony Tuitavake, who had quite definitely located his dancing shoes last night.

The North Harbour centre is shaping up as the key man for the franchise with his ability to unlock defences and unleash a back three who really can do the business.

He finally twisted his dial to the same frequency as midfield partner Rua Tipoki and as the game wore on, there was a sense that these two had remembered that not so long ago they were the hottest double act in the country.

It was Tuitavake who skipped and hopped his way over from 40 metres midway through the first half, after Tasesa Lavea somehow stripped the ball out of a Brumbies maul. It was Tuitavake who miraculously turned the ball inside to Isa Nacewa after Joe Rokocoko gathered a Lavea cross kick and it was Tuitavake who found holes out wide.

Yet he would be the first to acknowledge that he can only be a show pony if the carthorses up front grind through a thankless shift.

The airwaves have been full of theories as to where the Blues had been going wrong in their first four games but Nucifora laid the blame squarely on the inefficiency of both set-pieces.

Get those right, he said, and everything else will follow. That belief was made more forcibly and colourfully behind closed doors, with the forwards reacting strongly to his directive.

The scrum - helped no end by Jonathan Kaplan's laissez faire approach - was rock solid.

It was the lineout, though, where the Blues asserted real pressure. Ali Williams was able to get through and frequently steal loose opposition tap downs and by bunching Greg Rawlinson and Williams at the front, the Blues got security.

Nucifora said: "We were a little bit nervous at the start with our lineout but I felt we warmed to it and finished on top. The tight five should be congratulated because they took up the challenge."

Part of that challenge was negating the presence of Brumbies openside George Smith. On that front, it was most definitely mission accomplished.

The Wallaby was rarely sighted and the Blues left the Brumbies frustrated at the breakdown.

"We talked all week about how they would play," said Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher.

"There was no lack of awareness on our part."

Nor, indeed, was there a lack of off-field stimulus for the visitors. The last Australian team to be crushed on New Zealand soil blamed the defeat on the lack of activity in Hamilton. As excuses go, it was right up there with the dog ate my homework. There was no way Fisher was going to credit the defeat to anything as ridiculous as boredom.

Which is just as well, given that he is a resident of the drab and somewhat soulless Canberra.

Nope, it was a good old fashioned case of being beaten by the better team on the night.

Blues 26 (T. Flavell, A. Tuitavake, I. Nacewa tries; I. Nacewa 3 pens, con).

Brumbies 15 (C. Rathbone, J. Wilson tries; M. Gerard con; S. Mortlock pen).

- HERALD ON SUNDAY