Gregor Paul: Why the Blues remain a false promise

Blues players dejected. Photo / Getty

COMMENT:

It's obvious the Blues have improved in 2019. But it's just as obvious, too, that they are haunted by the same old failings.

The experience of watching them this year is different. They build hope in a way they never used to.

They compete harder and for longer – or at least they mostly have and they generate a sense of the possible becoming probable.

That was the case against the Hurricanes on Friday night. For the first half hour the Blues dominated.

They had the urgency and intensity to camp in their opponents' territory and create endless opportunities.

Even when they kept squandering them, there was so much determination to win the ball back and come again that it was surely only a matter of time before the Hurricanes' resistance would break and the tries would flood in for the Blues.

But the Blues remain all about false promise. They remain a side built on an illusion.

All that early pressure came to nothing. They failed to deliver when it mattered.

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Which was the same story when they played the Brumbies the week before and the Highlanders before that.

And indeed, the Chiefs before that which means the hype built around the Blues' four-game winning streak from mid-March to mid-April has been replaced with that familiar sense of a team slowly fading into yet another miserable campaign.

Tana Umaga of the Blues looks on during the Blues v Hurricanes. Photo / Getty

Whatever they hint at it and flirt with, they still remain a side well outside the playoffs and one increasingly unlikely to get there.

The question, as it always does, will soon become focused on the why they continue to disappoint.

And of course, it's here things will get tricky.

In specific regard to their latest loss, it could be attributed to the incredible spirit, resilience and guerrilla brilliance of the Hurricanes.

They kept themselves in the game solely on the incredible feats of Ardie Savea, the tenacity of TJ Perenara and the combined offerings of the Barrett brothers.

But that in itself only opens up more questions about the Blues – and why can't they also find a way to scrap and scramble and muster the impossible on the back of so little?

Somehow the Hurricanes managed to survive a 10-minute period in the second half when the Blues were camped 5m from their line, under the posts and with a man advantage.

An advantage the Blues had earned on the back of their scrummaging superiority and the pressure they were exerting. But the Blues couldn't convert that pressure.

Not in the way they should have or needed to. If they had been more composed and certain, they would have scored under the posts as soon as Jeff Toomaga-Allen was sent to the sin-bin.

That would have given them ample time to score again while the Hurricanes only had 14 men and come into the final quarter absolutely in control of the game.

Ofa Tu'ungafasi. Photo / Getty

Why they can't pounce on these moments remains a mystery. Why they can't turn the screw with controlled, disciplined, cohesive, accurate rugby when they have their opponent reeling is proving to be the unfixable blight.

There is one of obvious things that could be done to help improve matters. Which is to find a genuine high calibre halfback.

The Blues' story of underperformance is so readily attributed to their lack of a quality No 10, which is undoubtedly a problem.

But it is not the only personnel issue they have and of equal concern is the lack of decision-making, tactical control and accuracy they receive from their No 9.

The Blues have three halfbacks in their squad and not one of them looks the goods.

Augustine Pulu came off the bench early against the Hurricanes and proved again that he is a supremely combative runner and defender, but a wildly erratic passer of the ball.

His future has to be considered unsustainable given that passing is his core role. The other two Sam Nock and Jonathan Ruru are all heart and hard work but where would they sit in the national rankings?

A long way behind Aaron Smith, Perenara, Brad Weber and Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi. Probably behind Kayne Hammington too and that's the problem – the Blues are operating with a pool of halfbacks, all of whom are ranked behind the little known Highlanders reserve No 9 who is barely recognised outside of Dunedin.

So they need a better halfback, one who can change the tempo of the game, pick his options better and be more controlling and imposing. And one who can pass the ball better.

But even if they miraculously find that sort of halfback next year, it will only have solved one problem and given the continued lack of victories, the Blues have as many problems now as they did last year.

They remain the enigma they have always been, writing the same story of under-performance albeit with a greater sense of drama and suspense.