The Blues hit a purple patch in Super Rugby
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The sleeping giant of Super Rugby might finally have awoken. The Auckland-based Blues beat the previously unbeaten Stormers during the weekend's fifth round to signal that a former major force in the southern hemisphere tournament may again be stirring.
The awakening of the Blues has long been anticipated and previous signs of a re-emergence have proved to be false alarms.
But the manner in which the Blues won in Cape Town on Saturday to end the Stormers' four-match winning streak and complete an unbeaten trip to South Africa has the team's fans hopeful again that long seasons of under-performance may be at an end.
A Blues lineup playing with confidence and able to harness the talent available in New Zealand's largest rugby catchment would be a formidable force in Super Rugby as the team has shown in the past.
The Blues won the inaugural title in 1996 and won again in 2003, when it was still the Super 12 format, before its form dwindled. They have made the semifinals only twice in the last 17 years and their more-recent record has been of dysfunction and under-performance. Since a semifinal loss in 2011, their best placing has been ninth.
A series of high-profile coaches — Pat Lam, John Kirwan and Tana Umaga — have been unable to turn around the team which has been the worst-performed of New Zealand's five franchises for most of the last decade.
They have had two main failings: an inability to win away from home and an inability to win against other New Zealand clubs.
Saturday's success, which followed its over the New South Wales Waratahs in Sydney and the Bulls in Pretoria, suggests they may have overcome the first of those shortcomings. But they have lost both matches against New Zealand rivals this season — to the Chiefs and Crusaders — and a clash with the Hurricanes in Wellington next weekend may determine whether they are still hamstrung by the second.
The Blues' current coach, former Crusaders and All Blacks fullback Leon MacDonald, believes the win over the Stormers signals his team has turned a corner.
"If we played like that I think we'd have no trouble winning in New Zealand," MacDonald told New Zealand's Radio Sport. "It's about being consistent.
"We're showing some growth in a lot of areas. We don't worry about where we're playing, we've just got to turn up every week and perform. The opportunity next week is the Hurricanes and we're going to have to get that right because they're a good team."
The Blues scored three tries to two against the Stormers, a strong showing against one of the best defensive teams in the tournament. They also produced a strongly disciplined performance, overcoming another area of weakness, and were able to punish the Stormers' lapses with three penalties.
The Blues have added depth this season, even before they've been joined by All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett, their main off-season signing. They have more unity of purpose than they've shown in the past and, for a change, haven't lost momentum around the 55-minute mark when they begin to run the bench.
"The first half (against the Stormers) was about executing the game plan and we did that brilliantly," MacDonald said. "We've struggled to get all the pieces working together at once and it finally felt like we were starting to get it.
"The set piece was operating well, our backs were seeing space well and executing our skills pretty well. In the second half it was more about defending really and playing smart rugby. They were different halves but both equally pleasing."
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