Blues coach Tana Umaga. Photo / Photosport
The Blues will cut loose and perform well for the full 80 minutes at some stage this season, but unfortunately for them and their supporters, it is likely to be when they are out of the playoff race.
It's already looking extremely doubtful that they will finish in the top
eight of the competition.
With eight matches to go and before this ninth round kicked off, they were in ninth, three points below the eighth-placed Jaguares, and are already talking about having to win every match with a bonus point in order to force themselves into finals contention. Those two losses to the Highlanders have cost them, and there is the ugly prospect of another match against the Chiefs still to come.
Starting with the Brumbies in Canberra tonight, that attempt to capture a free-flowing, attacking approach will probably suit them; they have the players to execute an expansive game plan, and they enjoy playing that way (let's be honest, most do), but if anything has restricted them this season it is pressure and expectation, and that will remain while they still have a mathematical chance of progressing past the round-robin.
Despite the work of coach Tana Umaga and mental skills coach Kylie Wilson, who became increasingly involved with the squad last year, Umaga's first at the Blues, and has now joined the franchise full-time, the Blues have remained what they would describe as "outcome" or "results" focused, rather than "performance" focused.
