Blues Rugby

In their first game at Eden Park following a season that Blues fans would love to forget, Auckland destroyed their arch-rivals, the Crusaders, 34-15.

This was not just a win. It was a statement.

The Blues crossed the chalk five times while keeping the Crusaders try-less (with a bit of help from TMO Ben Skeen). They dominated the seven-time champs in almost every facet of the game, controlling territory and possession. They showcased a brand of creative rugby that their opponents had no answer for, offloading at will and spreading a carries. You'd think they were playing league out there. Their set pieces still need some fine tuning, but when it's all said and done the scoreboard is what matters the most.

Players who underperformed last year looked like entirely new men. Perhaps the best example of this was captain Ali Williams. Many Blues fans were surprised with his appointment as captain because he played with little passion and effort. But thus far, he has proven himself a capable captain, leading the team with his workrate and physical play, both of which were missing from his game last year.

He wasn't the only one who showed some improvement. George Moala has run like a beast and hasn't been the liability on defense that he was last year. Tom McCartney is running the ball powerfully and has improved his ball security. Young guns Charles Piutau and Steven Luatua built on their promising debuts from last year, looking like they could be key Blues players for years to come, and topping it off is Piri Weepu, who has managed to keep the weight off and is making plays from the back of the ruck.

New acquisitions Frank Halai and Chris Noakes have wasted no time settling into their new uniforms. Halai has built on his outstanding Sevens season with four tries in his first two Super Rugby games. Noakes, despite some ordinary seasons in the ITM Cup with the Highlanders, has run the backline with authority, with his cross kick to Halai being one of the highlights of the night.

Carter and Dagg were the only real threats coming from the Crusaders, who looked out of sync for most of the night. They were superior in the scrums and the line-outs, but couldn't produce anything from them. The loss should make for an interesting rematch in Christchurch later this year.

It's only been two games but it's clear that these Blues mean business. Tonight was the first Blues game in a few years where I actually struggled to find a seat. They've got their fans back, now it's time to keep them.

Today's 30-16 victory over Australian conference leaders, the Brumbies, caps off the longest winning streak the Auckland Blues have put together all year - two.

Last week, they convincingly defeated the bottom feeders of the Australian conference, the Western Force in their home finale. These victories kept them out of wooden spoon contention and left Blues fans asking one question: where were these Blues all year?

They weren't perfect, but they definitely played with more accuracy and flair than they have throughout the season. Maybe it's because they had nothing left to lose. Or maybe the players were playing for their beloved coach. Either way, if the Blues had played this kind of rugby more often, this 2012 season could've gone a lot differently.

Injuries to key players have often been fingered as the culprit. Experienced All Blacks such as Keven Mealamu, Ali Williams, Jerome Kaino, Anthony Boric and Isaia Toeava have missed good chunks of the year, with the latter three only managing to play in the opening games. Other notable names on the injury list include promising young players Gareth Anscombe, Charlie Faumuina and David Raikuna.

But these injuries don't excuse the poor execution of the Blues players who remained healthy. The line-out was an absolute disaster. Their timing was off far too often and they lost their own ball with alarming regularity. Balls were often dropped, high balls were allowed to bounce and many of the passes were poor. These are the basic skills that players are taught throughout all levels of rugby and yet these professionals failed to display them.

Lam's selection policy was also very confusing. 41 players donned a Blues jersey this year. Injuries had a hand in many of those selections, but many of them were also one hit wonders who were dropped from the squad after they showed they weren't ready for the step up in competition. Players like George Moala, who had problems with his defensive alignment, Pauliasi Manu, who kept putting his hand on the ground, and even Lam's own nephew Ben Lam, who let high balls bounce, showed that Super Rugby is a big step up from provincial competition.

Perhaps just as confusing were the players who were repeatedly selected despite making constant mistakes. Lachie Munro was always selected for his goal kicking, despite being a liability in defense. Ali Williams was far from the player he used to be and never appeared to put much effort in his game play. In fact, the Blues line-out showed some improvement after his season ending injury.

Regardless of who's coaching next year, whether it be John Kirwan or Kieran Crowley, the Blues roster will be undergoing some big changes. Kaino and Toeava have already indicated that they will be heading to Japan. Many other players have simply not shown good enough form to secure themselves in for roster spots. Apart from those mentioned above, players such as Weepu or Mathewson have not shown the form that led them to All Blacks selections in previous years.

The last two weeks of the season should provide Blues fans with a glimpse of hope. The fine play of Sevens stars Charles Piutau and Sherwin Stowers provide them with possible replacements for the departing Toeava and the possibly departing Rudi Wulf. Steven Luatua appears like he can be a capable replacement for the possibly retiring Anthony Boric and Faumuina reminded us why he was initially selected for the All Blacks squad a few weeks ago.

Hopefully, next season continues on from the way this one ended. New Zealand's biggest rugby market needs a winning team again, or else the Warriors may take more fans away.

Under Pat Lam, the Blues have fielded star-studded teams that were known for underachieving.

Earlier this year, I said that if the Blues don't make the finals this year then Pat Lam must go. Five games into the season, the Blues sit at last place in the New Zealand conference and already have their backs to the wall.

They have room for few losses and need to collect some bonus points if they want to turn their season around. With their current injury crisis, it will be not be an easy task.

The way the Blues have been losing is the cause for concern. They lost to the Crusaders even though they were at home and scored more tries.

The following week, they were outplayed in every facet of the game by the Chiefs in terrible conditions.

They managed to win in Pretoria, but then they followed that with a terrible game against the Stormers, where they gifted them a number of penalties, mainly in the scrum.

When they returned home the following week, they lost at the last minute to the Hurricanes after controlling possession, territory and the scoreboard for most of the game.

The Blues have always had great talent on their roster. Their scrum has always been strong, the second row has always featured All Blacks and they've always had an exciting backline. You could argue that they haven't had a great pivot to lead their backs but any well coached first five should be able to have a decent amount of success with that many weapons at his disposal.

Questionable selections and poor discipline have plagued the Blues throughout Lam's tenure. Just look at the players he has persisted with starting over the years.

Tasesa Lavea was never fit to lead the Blues backline (and clearly not Samoa's backline either); Onosa'i Auva'a, a ball running openside who shied away from the breakdown; Taniela Moa, a powerful ball running halfback who had a habit of box kicking the ball straight to the opposition; and an aging Joe Rokocoko who allowed as many tries as he scored through poor tackling.

Over the last few games, he has stuck with Lachie Munro at fullback, who seems to offer nothing other than goal kicking.

The game against the Stormers was a display of poor coaching. Pauliasi Manu repeatedly put his hand on the ground and was lucky not to get penalized even more than he did. Keven Mealamu's lineout throwing is clearly on the decline. Ben Lam, a regular fullback, allowed a high ball to bounce, which lead to Bryan Habana's try.

Luke Braid's suspension was just the icing on the cake.

Discipline, knowledge of the rules and situational awareness are up to the coach to fix. You wouldn't see the All Blacks committing those kinds of mistakes. Even when Quade Cooper kneed McCaw in the face, he didn't receive anything more a shove (although Brad Thorn shoves pretty hard). Pat Lam had great success in Auckland, but looking back at it now, he had some pretty talented Auckland sides.

Unless Pat Lam can somehow lead these Blues to Super Rugby glory, then he must go. Despite their playoff appearance last year, they have not improved since he took the reins.

Blues fans want to see a return to the top of the mountain, and clearly he hasn't helped that cause.

The Blues were an early-season favourite to go far in this year's Super Rugby season, and the Hurricanes were supposed to struggle, but it certainly didn't look that way tonight.

With a six-point lead and 30 seconds left on the clock, Hurricanes captain Conrad Smith scored a long-range try, converted and set up by Beauden Barrett, to snatch the game away from the struggling Blues. The Blues, despite only scoring one try to three, were leading for most of the game due to poor Hurricanes discipline in their own half.

Lachie Munro had a great game off the boot, but could not handle the pressure of being the last man on defense. He missed the tackle that led to Andre Taylor's try, and had a brain explosion when he allowed a ball to bounce for Cory Jane.

But he wasn't the only one. Benson Stanley, the normally-reliable tackler, missed a number of one-on-one tackles and a number of Blues were just bouncing off their opposite numbers. Also credit must be given to the Hurricanes. Andre Taylor was a danger on the counterattack, Perenara directed play well and Conrad Smith was his usual reliable self. It came as no surprise that he was the scorer of the game's deciding try.

The Blues dominated possession and territory and destroyed the Hurricanes forward pack at scrum time, but mental mistakes gave the Hurricanes a bonus-point win from long-range tries. Nonu may have achieved a bit of revenge by scoring the first try, but he'd probably trade that for a win.

The Hurricanes currently sit at third in the New Zealand conference while the Blues stay at last place and may have their backs to the wall for the rest of this Super Rugby season. Aucklanders definitely took notice of their team's poor showing during their three-game stretch on the road and attendance was far less than it was in their home opener.

The Blues dug themselves a bit of a hole in the first two weeks of the season. They lost two games that they were more than capable of winning against the Crusaders and the Chiefs. The first was close, but the second was a total disaster.

It seemed to get harder from there, with a two-game tour of South Africa against the Bulls and the defending South African conference champions, the Stormers, to come. If the Blues wanted a shot of winning a very competitive New Zealand conference, they would've had to start here.

They weren't perfect. They gave away a lot of penalties, but so did the Bulls, with 20 between the two teams. Nonu got better as the Blues got more possession in the second half, and Piri Weepu looked in shape. But the standout player was undoubtedly 20-year old pivot Gareth Anscombe.

He wasn't in the opening day 22 and only had a short stint off the bench against the Chiefs, missing his only attempt at goal. But against the Bulls, Lam gave him the starting nod, and it paid dividends.

The Rosmini College product hasn't received the same sort of hype as Aaron Cruden and Tyler Bleyendaal, the men who led the Baby Blacks backline before him, but since making his provincial debut as a 19-year-old in 2010, he has improved every year. Michael Hobbs' regression against the Chiefs opened the door for his first Super Rugby start.

And what a start it was.

In a 29-23 victory, Anscombe scored all of the Blues' points in Pretoria. The first was an intercept try in the second minute where he showed off the speed that made him successful in Auckland. The second was just a brilliant job of spotting a gap in the defense. He was also on target with his goal-kicking, with his only misses being from kicks that were past halfway.

Since the days of Carlos Spencer, the Blues have had loaded backlines but no one notable to lead them. In recent years they have relied on the poor-tackling Stephen Brett, the error-prone Tasesa Lavea, ineffective Jimmy Gopperth and natural fullback Isa Nacewa. They had Nick Evans for a year, but he was poorly utilized, playing fullback instead of his usual position.

After impressing for Auckland in his first two seasons, Anscombe has given Blues and Auckland fans hope that they might have a great pivot again. He didn't play for the Blues last year and was part of a lackluster Auckland team that failed to return to the playoffs. But his Blues debut, in a hostile environment, has reignited that hope.

Anscombe has a bright future ahead of him. He faces another challenge next week in the form of the Stormers. If he can continue playing like he did Sunday morning, the Blues may end up back in the hunt for a playoff position.

It's only been two weeks, but the Blues have already lost two games that they could've and probably should've won.

They began by losing to the Crusaders at home despite having two tries to their one. They almost won it in the final seconds with a drop goal, and their overall performance was not bad. They even managed to beat the Crusaders' scrum and run the ball well.

You can argue that the Crusaders are just that good, but they did it without Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Zac Guildford. The Blues on the other hand had a fairly healthy roster, only missing Tony Woodcock and Ma'a Nonu from their starting line-up. Not to mention Eden Park had one of its biggest audiences in a long time. Considering the next meeting between the two will be in Canterbury, the Blues may look back at this game as one that got away.

But Week 2 was another story. The final scoreline doesn't even do justice to the Chiefs' dominance.

The Chiefs started fast, scoring 29 points in the first half, while only allowing six. Tim Nanai-Williams was an absolute terror and Aaron Cruden looked like Dan Carter. The Blues were outplayed in every facet of the game, whether it be at the breakdown, set piece or open play despite having talent at every level. They were left tackling at the air for most of the game and couldn't even win their own line-outs despite having the All Black trio of Kevin Mealamu, Ali Williams and Anthony Boric and couldn't win the scrums against a front row that was down to its third-string tighthead.

In the second half Pat Lam tried to inject some life into the Blues attack by putting Piri Weepu in at halfback. For a while the Blues looked like they were gaining some momentum, but it was only a matter of time until the Chiefs stepped up the pace again. Tawera Kerr-Barlow had some long breaks and Sam Cane terrorized the Blues breakdown. The Blues continued to threaten, only to have the ball taken away by either penalties or turnovers whenever they got close.

The Chiefs deserve credit though. The combo of Kerr-Barlow and Cruden did  great job of marshaling the backline and kicking the ball. Craig Clarke did his best Victor Matfield impression in the line-outs, and their defensive line scrambled to every tackle. But the number of missed tackles, own line-outs lost and handling errors indicate that the Blues lost the game as much as the Chiefs won it.

If you're an NFL fan, you'll probably know about the Philadelphia Eagles' 2011 season. They had a number of key acquisitions in the defense which, coupled with their explosive offense led by MVP candidate Michael Vick, was supposed to make them a Super Bowl contender. Vince Young even called them the Dream Team.

What happened?

Their defense was average at best, their offense and former MVP candidate was a mistake machine, and the Eagles missed the playoffs despite playing in a division where no team reached double-digit wins.

Right now, that's what the Blues look like. They acquired Ma'a Nonu and Piri Weepu in the summer and boast a roster with 14 All Blacks in it, including New Zealand Player of the Year Jerome Kaino.

Weepu is their Michael Vick. He was a nominee for IRB International Player of the Year last year and came into this season with a lot of hype. In his first game he was terrible in his defense and looked out of shape. In Week 2 he definitely looked a lot better, but still couldn't inspire the Blues to a comeback.

Again, it's only Week 2, but the New Zealand conference looks to be incredibly competitive this year. The Blues have already dug themselves a two-loss hole and head off to South Africa next week, which is another challenge in itself.

They will receive some help in the form of Nonu's debut in the blue jersey. The Blues need to get something in the win column soon, or else this may end up being just another disappointing season. Pat Lam, us Aucklanders want to see another title. You've got the goods, now use 'em.