Chris Rattue: Flash, dash, flop - same old Blues story

What was once the pride of New Zealand rugby is now a horror show of misused talent. Photo / Getty Images

It's official.

The Blues are ... the same old Blues, unfortunately.

In other words, they are not going to win the Super 14 title this year, next year, and probably for a long time.

As sure as Stephen Brett gets a kick charged down in every game, what was once the pride of New Zealand rugby is now a horror show of misused talent.

Maths says they can still make the finals. History says they won't, after blowing a surefire victory in Sydney.

The Blues do deserve credit on one score - they can be very entertaining, and that is not to be sniffed at.

They have been involved in two excellent games, viewing wise, against the Brumbies and Waratahs. So the news is not all bad.

They find and promote very interesting footballers, the latest being Rene Ranger. Then again, we should expect this, with the Blues being in the Polynesian rugby heartland, and the biggest population area in a rugby country.

But sport at this elite level is largely about winning, of finding ways to stick a large foot on prone throats.

This is what made the fabulous Auckland teams of old so fabulous - and they also knew how to play scintillating rugby.

Sydney was another heartbreaker where certain victory was squandered.

Who knows why Taniela Moa was on the field in the first place. The old rugby playbook decreed that you built partnerships between halfbacks and first five-eighths and didn't run them off and on like waterboys.

Presumably, the starting halfback, Alby Mathewson, was a bit tired or banged around or maybe his time was simply up.

Anyway, with the Blues hot on attack, and about to nail the winning points against the Waratahs, Moa lobbed a gorgeous little pass - the sort you use when putting the eggs into a supermarket trolley - and the rest was history: Tahs wing Lachie Turner intercepted and ran the length of the field to win the game for the home side.

Yes, these things happen, but they also happen more to a team like the Blues than they do to the perennial title-chasing and winning Crusaders, who have tried and trusted ways of making the enemy crack.

These botch-ups are also more likely to happen to the Hurricanes, who made an absolute hash of their home match against the Sharks by trying to hurl the ball about deep inside their own half in search of the winning points, with the scores tied near fulltime.

Surprise, surprise, the referee gave a rather vague and unconvincing ruck ruling against Colin Cooper's men - like a lot of rugby decisions it was difficult to know exactly why - and Ruan Pienaar nailed a long-distance winner that would have made the front page 30 years ago, but not in the era of dry fields and aerodynamic footballs.

You could only think of Dan Carter as the Hurricanes waited for Pienaar to slam the winner over.

Carter would have kicked the Crusaders on to hot attack, put the onus on the other side to take the risks and trusted something like his lineout to win a turnover.

This has so often worked for the Crusaders and, if it doesn't, the policy usually means that there is no damage done.

Attention to detail makes the difference. To these lay eyes Paul Williams, the replacement Blues fullback in the Sydney game, was lined up behind his wing, instead of in the hole that Turner used so wonderfully.

Not only that, Moa has always looked like a work in early progress, and probably always will.

What has often set the Crusaders apart over the years is the timing and positioning of their support. No team is perfect, but the Crusaders would have been far less likely to leave an inviting hole, let alone drop a pass into it.

There is no discernable change to what has become the Blues rugby culture. As with Eden Park, fancy bits get added on without ever fixing the base problems. No one can find a way of successfully clearing the decks, and starting again.

The Blues are still all flash and dash. The erratic Brett has done nothing to alter the mindset. Even if they had won on Saturday, they could not have been considered overly convincing against an ordinary Waratahs side.

Unlike the horrible Highlanders, at least you can live in hope with the Blues. Forlorn hope though, although it would be nice to be proved wrong.

* Phil Kearns was obsessed with claiming that generations of Auckland rugby teams cheated, as he commentated on Saturday night's match. This claim is right on the nose, coming as it did from a former Aussie front rower.

Ross Taylor - a record century and a fantastic smashing of a Nathan Hauritz over. And what a victory for Manu Vatuvei (left) and the Warriors!

The fearsome Bulls, the Super 14 champs, turn up at Eden Park on Saturday.

Weekend Winner:

Ross Taylor - a record century and a fantastic smashing of a Nathan Hauritz over. And what a victory for Manu Vatuvei and the Warriors!

What to Watch:

The fearsome Bulls, the Super 14 champs, turn up at Eden Park on Saturday.