Rugby: Lone Ranger provides spark

Rene Ranger. Photo / Getty Images

In looking for heroes from the Blues' defeat of the Brumbies, most searches will end at Rene Ranger's door.

The powerfully built Northlander is already the find of the season. He showed promise on the wing last year but he's exploded into life one berth closer to the action.

It was Ranger who made most things happen for the Blues at Eden Park. He hammered up the guts and off-loaded for the first try. He smashed his way through for the second and made an electric break from inside his own 22 for the third. His hand was in everything.

But while it was Ranger who stole the show, the input of coach Pat Lam shouldn't go un-noticed. It wasn't just Ranger who came of age in the 39-34 victory. Lam did, too.

In days of old, the Blues would have crumbled in the second half, had they endured as many setbacks as they did against the Brumbies. For 40 minutes they couldn't nail the execution.

It made life easy for the Brumbies - the Blues were running from deep, trying to find holes inside their own 22 and coughing up possession. In their desire to command the space over the ball at the breakdown, they conceded soft penalties.

They hit the break behind and Lam was fearful his men might toss it all in and try a new approach.

"I was really concerned they were going to go into their shells," he said. "It was on but we just weren't getting the execution right."

It was a message Lam hammered home. His view was that tactically his team were on the right track and it would have been disastrous to clam up, slow the tempo and play for territory.

So it was a call to get back to basics.

"If you want to be accurate at the breakdown you had better get there and a lot of times boys were going for it and we were just slow to react to get there and the ball was turned over or we were giving away penalties," said Lam.

With their confidence to continue attacking boosted, the Blues scored three tries in 10 minutes after the break and for periods looked like they had wound the clock back to 2003.

They played with pace and adventure and when they did indeed tidy their basics, they were irrepressible. They were able to find space deep inside their own territory and their support play was outstanding.

As a measure of how good the Blues were in those 40 minutes, Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles said they knew they would be facing a team that would attack from everywhere.

They knew they had to set a defensive wall and not drop off any tackles. But knowledge alone couldn't help them.

One on one, too many of their defenders were exposed, mainly by the power and pace of Ranger.

"He has been a real project because he is a free spirit in the way he plays," said Lam of his centre.

It wasn't just the fact that the Blues held their nerve tactically that impressed. There was an appetite to work the rolling maul off the lineout which suggested some serious analysis has been going on.

Technically the Blues were lacking. They couldn't build the momentum as effectively as the South African sides do, but that could easily be put down to a lack of practice.

The intent was there which is the important thing. They can refine the technique over the coming weeks and build a tactic that will make them more potent.

Stephen Brett, too, deserves praise for making the right call to drop a goal with four minutes remaining. Too many New Zealand sides shy away from the drop goal or make the mistake of leaving it too late - they ask the forwards to take it one time too many and lose the ball.

Brett didn't hold off pulling the trigger. Once he was under the sticks, he thought about running left, stopped and banged it over from close range.

It gave the Blues a five-point cushion but just as importantly, it gave them the ball back from the kick-off.

Meanwhile, injuries are finally starting to take a toll of the Brumbies. Veteran flanker George Smith (shoulder) and inside centre Christian Lealiifano (knee) were casualties of the fast, hard-fought game against the Blues.

Lealiifano could be out for at least six weeks with a suspected posterior cruciate ligament injury, while scans will determine whether Smith suffered any nerve damage.

"I got a good stinger out there trying to tackle [Blues fullback Isaia] Toeava and came off second best," Smith said in a TV interview.

Apart from injuries to star recruits Rocky Elsom and Matt Giteau, which kept them out of the opening round, the Brumbies have been blessed with good health through the early weeks of the competition.

Coach Andy Friend enjoyed the luxury of naming the same 22 players for four straight weeks before outside centre Stirling Mortlock was ruled out of the Blues game with neck and shoulder issues.

Mortlock's steadying defensive presence was certainly missed as his replacement Tyrone Smith and centre partner Lealiifano struggled to contain Ranger.

If Mortlock is fit to play against the Chiefs in Canberra on Friday, Tyrone Smith is likely to move in one to inside centre to replace Lealiifano.

It will be the start of a six-game run in Australia, with five of those matches at home.

A bonus point lifted the Brumbies to fourth, but only three points separate them from the next five teams, most of whom have a game in hand on the Canberra-based franchise.

Beating the Chiefs has taken on greater importance, as successive losses would leave them outside the top four and with the bye to come the following week, they would face the prospect of falling further behind the early pacesetters.