Blues 22
Force 22
The Blues offer something for everyone. Thrilling play mixed with ineptitude, glowing rugby interspersed with childish errors.
Exasperating for coaches but the sort of uncertainty which makes every venture to their games a trip into the unknown.
There is nothing Crusader-like about the Blues, nothing solid, guaranteed or predictable.
They
were at it again yesterday in Perth but this time with a twist.
The Blues had stopped in Perth on their return journey from South Africa. It was an awkward layover but the winless Force were a side ready to be scalped for a bonus point victory.
That would have placed the Blues at the head of their five-team conference. Instead they return home today in fourth position.
Staunch defenders will point out the small margins between the New Zealand franchises and the difficulty in qualifying for the finals from the Kiwi pool.
That may be so but the All Black-laden Blues were taking on the Force, who had fewer internationals, were without a win this year and had lost their talismanic flanker David Pocock.
They still had some useful clout from the glittering James O'Connor to a hardworking international loose trio and veteran lock Nathan Sharpe.
But the Blues should have banked a win against that lot.
Instead they conjured up a draw, the first in the three seasons of coach Pat Lam's tenure. And that was mighty fortuitous.
When five-eighths Stephen Brett banged over a great 40m injury-time penalty for the stalemate, he and his teammates looked mighty sheepish.
Their handshakes came with apologetic looks and words to their Force opponents.
"It was disappointing, our execution was not up to scratch," captain Keven Mealamu said.
The skipper began the late comeback when Force forward Jono Jenkins was sinbinned with less than five minutes left.
The hosts were 10 points ahead but Mealamu burrowed over for a try and Brett converted before drilling his final act penalty.
The 22-all stalemate left the Blues with every result on their three-game trip and still shy of a 50 per cent winning record in the 30 games since Lam took over in 2009.
They lost comeback lock Ali Williams to an early leg injury and openside flanker Daniel Braid was struggling with upper-body damage.
It was not the sort of performance from the Blues to cause the Hurricanes great anxiety ahead of their clash at Eden Park on Saturday.
But the Blues will be relieved to get some reward when they review the tape. Jared Payne cut down Alfi Mafi when his side broke 50m downfield before Sam Wykes was denied a try by the combined tackles of Chris Lowrey and Isaia Toeava and an unconvinced television match official.
The Blues were not immune. They missed chances from the questionable crosskick tactics used by McAlister and Brett, muffed a 5m attacking scrum they took rather than a penalty kick while Lowrey and Toeava were gunned down in great tackles.
There remains a lack of rhythm in the Blues, they seem unwilling to take enough sting out of opposing teams before they spread possession. They are too lateral, too reliant on searching for fast, flashy fixes.
They need to tighten up, set more foundations from an all-international front five and sort out their kicking game.
However, they squeezed some reward from a shoddy performance while the Force were left to lament. "It stinks," captain Sharpe said, "we controlled the game for the majority of it."
