Super Rugby: 'Devastating' - Blues coach tells of reaction to death of prop Mike Tamoaieta

Tom Coventry joined the Blues coaching staff this season. Photo / Getty Images

Blues assistant coach Tom Coventry has spoken of the devastation felt by his team when they were told of the news of the sudden death of Mike Tamoaieta before today's match against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires.

The Blues fought until the end of their 23-19 defeat – their third loss of the season – and while Coventry said he and his fellow coaches tried to take the emotion out of the build-up to the match at Jose Amalfitani Stadium, the task faced by his men after the loss of the 23-year-old prop known as Mikey T on Friday would have been very difficult.

"It was a devastating team meeting when we had to announce that we lost our Mikey," Coventry said. "Our condolences go to his family and close friends and obviously the rugby public of North Harbour and the Blues.

"It was a tough day. We spoke about Mikey and reminisced about him and the influence he's had on our team. We tried to leave the emotion out of losing Mikey but we were very aware of him and were trying to perform for him.

"I don't think it had a big impact on the way we played. It was more to do with our structure and being able to nail down the key moments.

"It's tough. We'll get home and give Mikey a farewell during the course of the week. We get back to QBE Stadium which is Mikey's home province, so we'll have plenty to play for."

At Jose Amalfitani Stadium, Dalton Papalii's late converted try which narrowed the gap to four points put the Blues in the frame for what would have been an incredible comeback against the Jaguares. That they were still in with a chance at the end after going down 24-12 was a credit to their resilience after the shock they had received the day prior.

They had struggled to break down the Jaguares defence throughout, although they were unfortunate to have a try by Ofa Tuungafasi ruled out, and Papalii's score against the run of play created a frenzied final three minutes during which they couldn't convert from a final attacking five metre scrum.

"The disallowed try was pretty tough to take considering he was looking for some reason not to give the try – I couldn't see it," Coventry said. "We've had a couple of those go against us but we've got to be better than that."

They were crying out for some creativity, but with former All Black Ma'a Nonu struggling to find his groove and first-five Otere Black still finding his way too, they resorted to running into the opposition rather than around the defence.

"At times we tried to go through them and we didn't make a lot of headway. That begs the question that maybe we should have tried to put the ball in behind them a bit more and vary our attack a bit more at times."

With a potentially difficult game against the Sunwolves at North Harbour on Saturday, half of the Blues team, plus coach Leon MacDonald, have caught an early flight back to Auckland. Coventry and the rest of the team have remained and will be looking forward to coming home after losses to the Sharks in Durban and now the Jaguares and the news about Tamoaieta.

Coventry coached the tighthead prop for two years at North Harbour and spoke of his special qualities.

"He had a beautiful debut for us and earned a starting spot for us in that 2017 season," Coventry said. "He's going to be dearly missed. He had a big smile, was a happy go-lucky chap. He was always up for a joke and never took himself too seriously. He's going to leave a big hole in our team. We'll miss him dearly.

"When I first met him he had come straight from a building site and he still had his boots and Swandri on and was covered in sawdust. Mikey used to wear his hair pretty long around his shoulders.

"I was wondering who this rooster was who had turned up but that day he trained well above himself and earned the right to start regularly for the team. He quickly became a team favourite. He was a very infectious character."