Super Rugby Pacific: Where Blues' shutout win over Chiefs ranks for coach Leon MacDonald

Blues coach Leon MacDonald said he was proud of his side's efforts in their shutout win over the Chiefs. Photo / Photosport

In his time as Blues head coach, there are two performances that stand out to Leon MacDonald as the side's best: their win in the Super Rugby transtasman final and their 33-14 victory over the Stormers at Newlands in 2020.

However, upon immediate reflection, MacDonald believes his side's shutout win over the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday night might top them both.

The Blues had to overcome a lot of adversity in the process of putting together the result. After playing three matches in the last week, they came in against a good Chiefs team and at one point saw themselves down to 13 men on the field.

But rather than cave in on themselves, the Blues managed the game well and stepped up on the defensive end as they needed to.

"In terms of the quality of opposition at home, and coming off three games last week, to be able to turn around and put that sort of energy on the park, it makes me hugely proud," MacDonald said.

"It's not just the players, there's a whole squad that contributed to that game and it shows us where we can get to. Now the challenge is to make sure that we can try and do that every week."

It was the team's sixth win on the trot and, earning a bonus point with a late try, saw them go to the top of the Super Rugby Pacific table - albeit momentarily, as the Brumbies took over later on Saturday night.

It also saw the return of several key players, who had big roles in getting the team through those difficult periods when they were dealing with a numbers disadvantage – having three players yellow carded in the match.

"Beauden (Barrett) had a fantastic game," MacDonald said. "I thought his ability to control field position, especially when we were down to 13 men, he was smart, put the ball in the corners, stuck the ball in the air and kept the ball in front of our forwards, which meant they had the energy to keep playing. Ofa (Tu'ungafasi) had a mighty game back on his more familiar side at tighthead.

"Everyone played well. When your back's against the wall like that, we had a choice of absorbing it, but we decided to counterpunch and come back at them, get off the line and keep doing what we've been doing. I thought the leadership was outstanding in our game sense and we can be really proud of that."