Rieko Ioane shines as the Blues surge to victory over the Waratahs. Video / Sky Sport
Blues 48 Waratahs 21
Two weeks into the transtasman competition and on the face of successive commanding victories the Blues could be considered genuine title contenders.
The true test of their credentials, though, won't be revealed for at least a week.
Ninety-eight points and 13 tries in two weeks is hard to scoff at – yet it does say everything about the dramatic drop in opposition from Super Rugby Aotearoa.
In many ways, the comfortable victory over the Waratahs at Eden Park on Saturday was a step back for the Blues.
The context surrounding this match was the Blues starting $1.01 favourites. The Waratahs were at $21, such is the dire nature of their nose-diving campaign.
The 10th consecutive loss for the Waratahs this season is a franchise record and while this effort represented an improvement in some regards on last week's 64-48 defeat to the Hurricanes in Sydney, they were still well off the pace. With three more Kiwi matches to come - the Crusaders next - there's no let-up in sight either.
Blues wingers Bryce Heem (L) and Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens celebrate beating the Waratahs. Photo / Photosport
For the Blues, their performance was a drop off in terms of attacking execution, lineout accuracy and defence on last week's 50-3 rout over the Rebels in Melbourne but they remain unbeaten with improvement to come.
Blues coach Leon MacDonald gave his side a C+ grade.
"The challenge in a game like this is when everybody is expecting you to win how do you bring that edge? That's something we wanted to try achieve and I don't think we nailed that which is disappointing," MacDonald said.
Welcoming captain Patrick Tuipulotu and All Blacks flanker Dalton Papalii back from significant injuries off the bench should provide the Blues an added edge in the coming weeks, too.
Two bonus-point victories leaves the Blues well placed for a tilt at the transtasman title. They have, however, played the two worst Australian teams and will get a real gauge when they welcome the Brumbies to Eden Park next Saturday.
"I've been really impressed with the Brumbies they're a really strong team and we're going to have to be better than we were tonight," MacDonald said.
"Things get serious now - we've got the Brumbies at home, Reds away and the Force. You'd say they're the three best teams to come home. We've got to keep improving and be better. I can guarantee some New Zealand teams are going to lose some games and we've got to make sure it's not us."
Other than their dominant rolling maul, Bryce Heem's hat-trick was the standout for the Blues. The former New Zealand sevens representative is enjoying his homecoming after returning from France this season - running for 181 metres against the Waratahs. Stand-in skipper Tom Robinson also continues to impress from blindside.
The Blues led 22-14 at halftime and only really kicked clear after Tahs hooker Harry Johnson-Holmes was yellow carded for collapsing a maul in the 57th minute. To that point, the visitors were much more competitive than anyone expected.
From the next play the Blues claimed a penalty try from a dominant scrum and eventually piled on seven-tries-to-three to leave the 14,000 crowd entertained.
Rieko Ioane of the Blues scores a try against the Waratahs. Photo / Getty
It was a different story at halftime, though, when MacDonald must have given his team a spray after watching them blow several try-scoring chances to constantly invite the visitors back into the match.
The Blues led 8-0 in as many minutes after Heem, a standout on the right wing, claimed the opening try but their execution then fell off a cliff.
First the Blues botched a lineout five metres out from the Tahs line; Akira Ioane then made a brilliant break and linked with Blake Gibson, only for the ball to be spilt at the attacking ruck.
Rieko Ioane and Heem combined on the counter from their own line but TJ Faiane kicked the ball dead in-goal searching for a one-play try.
In between times the Blues made two sloppy errors at the back of their maul.
Despite reshuffling their backline late and losing starting lock Max Douglas and second five-eighth Lalakai Foketi to injury in the first quarter, the Tahs seized on these repeated Blues mistakes to hit back with a double strike.
Prop Angus Bell strolled through a gaping hole – past Finlay Christie and Gibson – to give the Tahs a fighting chance and when Wallabies halfback Jake Gordon got his timing perfect to pinch a 48-metre intercept, the battling Sydney side moved within one point of the Blues.
Blues hooker Kurt Eklund's try from a driving maul edged the Blues clear at the break but it was far from convincing.
The Blues eventually got their act together in the second half. Despite their dominant result, the review will reveal plenty to improve if they are to make good in their promise to seek redemption and chase silverware.
Blues 48 (Bryce Heem 3, Tom Robinson, Kurt Eklund, penalty try, Rieko Ioane tries; Otere Black 4 cons, pen) Waratahs 21 (Angus Bell, Jake Gordon, David Porecki tries; Will Harrison 3 cons) HT: 22-14
