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KEY POINTS:
The Blues headed to South Africa yesterday relieved to hear good news on the injury front but still in limbo with their various expectant fathers.
Their bonus-point win in Perth was in danger of being seriously soured by injuries to captain Keven Mealamu, second five-eighths Benson Stanley and
halfback Taniela Moa.
All three limped off the Subiaco Oval but Blues coach Pat Lam explained yesterday their exits were more precautionary rather than any major damage having been inflicted.
"Keven twinged his calf after about five minutes but he was able to hang in there. Benson is having a scan on his hamstring and we are hoping he is going to be okay as well and Taniela was always flying back home anyway to be with his wife."
Because Sanzar rules require teams to have specialist cover on their bench, Northland hooker Francis Smith has flown out to join the squad in case Mealamu does not fully recover.
Grayson Hart has also joined the squad, which was planned regardless of Moa's injury as the starting halfback from Friday night is awaiting the birth of his first child as are Jerome Kaino and Joe Rokocoko.
Lam, himself a father of five, will no doubt be passing on all his knowledge of the best ways to induce labour. While the Blues are in good spirits after their 25-19 victory that was built on an encouraging mix of grit and enterprise, the coach would be a little more relaxed to see Kaino and Rokocoko back in action.
Stand-in No 8 Chris Lowrey was solid on debut and Lam was at pains to stress just how impressed he has been with the way the 22-year-old has settled in his rookie season.
But Kaino is a regular All Black and he knows how to front in tough environments, which is precisely what the Blues will encounter firstly in Pretoria, then in Cape Town.
This week's game at Loftus kicks off at 5pm, which inevitably means the heat of the day will still be lingering. The dual effect of soaring temperatures, altitude and a Bulls pack rejuvenated by the return of Victor Matfield will test the Blues more than the Force managed.
That combination will also test the tactical prowess of Lam as the Blues could run themselves to a standstill if they try to be too adventurous.
"The key thing for us is that we have got to be comfortable adjusting our gameplan," said Lam. "Not just from game to game but during games as well.
"We were 14-8 down at half-time. We had let in a couple of soft tries and not taken some opportunities while our kicking wasn't as accurate as we would have liked either in the first half.
"Keven and Justin Collins put a big emphasis [during the break] on the whole squad [contributing] and to keep possession.
"As a result of that we were able to apply more pressure and we scored some good tries."
Securing the bonus point provided extra satisfaction but the real highlight for Lam was seeing so many fringe players respond favourably to opportunity. Last year's Blues campaign was reviewed at length and the conclusion reached that success won't come by relying too heavily on the same players each week.
The full strength of the squad has to be harnessed. "History shows that you can't win with a select group of players - you need your whole squad," said Lam.
Blues 25 (A Boric, J Collins, C Lowrey, T Moa tries; P Williams pen, J Gopperth con) Western Force 19 (T Hockings, Dw Mitchell, A Whalley tries; M Giteau 2 con). HT: 8-14.
Two late drop goals lifted the Lions to a 34-28 win over the Cheetahs after they squandered a 21-11 lead at Ellis Park early yesterday.
The Lions scored two of their three first-half tries while Cheetahs flanker Heinrich Brussouw was in the sinbin and led 21-11 at the break, but the Cheetahs fought back to 28-28 with 13 minutes to go.
Then, former Springboks first five-eighths Andre Pretorius, returning from more than a year off with injury, snapped over a short-range drop goal in the 73rd minute, and starting first five-eighths Earl Rose put the finishing touches on a bonus-point win with a soaring drop kick in the last seconds of the match.
Lions 34 (A Willemse 2, C Grobelaar, H Mentz tries; E Rose 4 conversions, drop goal, A Pretorius drop goal) Cheetahs 28 (F Viljoen, H Brussouw, J Potgieter tries; Potgieter 2 conversions, 3 penalties). HT: 21-11.