Wynne Gray: John Kirwan looking to find some flow

The Blues coach John Kirwan. Photo / Getty Images

Defending champs on their home patch against the bottom team in the competition.

On that basis the Waratahs will just have to turn up at their home ground in Sydney to collect the points from the troubled Blues who have been unable to grasp a victory this season.

That logic will accompany most who follow Super Rugby and are swayed by statistics which show the Waratahs have scored 14 tries this year while the Blues have managed only seven. In other set-piece, breakdown and tackle areas the sides are quite similar.

That gap in scoring firepower is the noticeable area of difference and one the Blues have responded to after their bye week.

Coach John Kirwan has ditched first five-eighths Ihaia West who has played every minute of their five games and has an impressive 84 per cent success rate with his goal-kicking. He has also dispensed with Lolagi Visinia who has started four games at fullback.

Those decisions and a switch from centre to fullback for Charles Piutau and promotion to start at centre for George Moala have come as the Blues try to find some potency behind their pack.

Now Kirwan has hitched his faith to Daniel Bowden to guide his backline, a player who has returned after four seasons in the UK and Japan and has now recovered from a foot problem.

Bowden may be fit but he will need to be sharp to tune in to the pace of Super Rugby without any match practice and provide accurate goal-kicking.

The work of the Blues pack has not been the problem. They have delivered well in the set-piece and their loose-forward combinations have been a strong component of their work.

The problems are behind that group. They bring individual moments of potency but the combined flow of a garden hose suffering from several kinks.

Fixing that sporadic output is the domain of Kirwan as both selector and head coach. Some choices in his squad are making up the numbers, others such as Pita Ahki have been injured while the decline in form and favouritism of others like wing Tevita Li is baffling.

Those who watch training speak about a better flow to the backline formation who will attack their task of finding a win against the Waratahs. That hope has flickered but never left the Blues camp this season.

Promise and delivery are different components as anyone who has watched unopposed practice sessions will attest and if this latest reshuffle brings more of the same, the inquisitions will get worse.