Long wait for Blues between bonus points

With a trail of players behind him, Junior Poluleuligaga slides in to score one of the Blues' four tries. Phil Walter/ Getty Images

In terms of substance the Blues were still off the mark but they achieved a long-awaited maximum pointer against the Stormers.

It has been a fair old delay, an interval stretching back to the match between the same sides last season to find a four-try bonus point win for the Blues.

There has been little sign of similar rewards this season.

In seven games the Blues could not find successive wins until the triumph on Saturday.

They made hard work of that success before two tries in the final 10 minutes delivered the bonus point.

Qualifying for the playoffs is still a longshot for the Blues but they could not get any more out of the Eden Park match. And with each win there will be a little bit more anxiety from those trying to nail down their place in the final four.

The Blues' run home does not involve any matches against the leading quartet - Crusaders, Waratahs, Brumbies and Hurricanes - although they have a tough road trip to South Africa before a finish against the Chiefs.

But if the Blues continue to labour and claw their way to wins, coach David Nucifora will be happier by the match. He extolled the "grind" his side showed at Eden Park.

"What I liked about that win tonight was our ability to just grind it out," he said. "A lot of teams win ugly, but winning four tries to nil, I was pretty pleased with the way we managed to maintain the pressure on them and just take the points.

"We need to keep improving but I think we are seeing a gradual improvement in the side and that will continue over the next few weeks.

"We won't kid ourselves," Nucifora said. "We know we're not playing super footy just yet. But we're getting better."

The Force are the next opponents, a side without a win in their debut Super 14 season. They could have won a couple like their most recent match with the Highlanders, but inexperience, injuries, basic mistakes and an inability to close out games has cost them.

Lock Rudi Vedalago is the latest casualty, breaking his lower left leg having only just returned from a wrist reconstruction while hooker Brendan Cannon has a damaged shoulder.

Midfield back Scott Staniforth will have to pass judicial scrutiny tonight after being cited for a dangerous tackle, if he is to play on Friday at North Harbour Stadium.

"The Blues will have to be tackled because they will attack us from everywhere," Force coach John Mitchell said.

"That loss to the Highlanders was the most disappointing for us this year. It was a game we should have won. "We are learning the harsh realities of this competition and at the moment we deserve to be where we are."

In a game of moderate skill, the Blues were a shade sharper everywhere than the Stormers, who lost hooker Hanyani Shimange and skipper De Wet Barry to the sinbin for ill-discipline.
The Blues scrum and lineout both worked on the same night while their defence was belligerently stingy.

Nucifora said the Blues of old would not have been able to hang tough and grind out a similar win.

Apart from a couple of 10-minute blocks, the Stormers scarcely threatened.

For the second successive match midfielder Rua Tipoki sparked the Blues while his tackling and communication drew praise from the coach.

"He's playing against some pretty big men the last two weeks and he's obviously very light on his feet. He can find a hole that doesn't need to be too big and get us on the front foot," the coach said.

Makeshift first five-eighths Isa Nacewa was an influential figure again until he shifted to the wing to allow the reintroduction of Luke McAlister.

There were immediate glimpses of his class.

His variety of kicks, choices on attack and power suggest he will stay to wear the No 10 jersey this week.

The tough task will be deciding who makes way for Nacewa.