Leon MacDonald has spoken and Blues skipper Patrick Tuipulotu was most definitely listening in the wake of their surprise defeat to the Chiefs in Hamilton last Saturday night.
The Blues’ Super Rugby Aotearoa season hit a familiar skid with a second straight defeat to send the ambitious Auckland franchise tumbling back to the pack in the now tight race for second spot, and a likely crack at the Crusaders in the final in Christchurch. They host the Hurricanes at Eden Park on Saturday night to open the second and final round of qualifying games (though the mooted trans-Tasman competition to follow remains shrouded in doubt).
MacDonald, the third-year Blues head coach, was clearly irked after the 15-12 defeat to the Chiefs in Hamilton that left his side at 2-2 and on 10 competition points at the halfway stage. The Blues turned down six kickable penalties to chase tries via the lineout drive (and, in one instance, the scrum) and came up empty-handed each time as the home side stayed in the match, and stole it at the death via a Luke Jacobson break and Damian McKenzie try.
“From the box we were pretty happy to go to the posts, but they felt they wanted to try and get into the game and get their maul going, etc,” said MacDonald. “It’s something we’ll discuss. Tight games, you accumulate points when you can.”
Tuipulotu told Stuff this week that he had learned his lesson from the defeat and you could expect to see him point to the posts a bit more in the future should his team find itself in similar positions. Maybe starting Saturday against the Hurricanes, fresh off their own big victory in Dunedin.
“We weren’t happy with how we played,” said the Blues skipper who sat out Tuesday’s training session to allow a “sore” body some extra healing time. “There was ill-discipline, things we are usually good at, we didn’t seem to do. It’s almost like we didn’t work hard enough for each other and let them back in the game. You do that against a Chiefs side, let them get a bit of confidence, and they will punish you.
“Then you add in some improvements in game management around penalty kicks and whether to go for the line or goal … we’re trying to improve that and we should be better off.”
Tuipulotu confirmed MacDonald had spoken to him about the decision-making process around kicking for goal and, though it ultimately remained his call on the field, he said a clear message had got through.
“Definitely look to the sideline more, look for [assistant coach] Tana [Umaga] … it’s just understanding what pressure we’re under, are we strong at set piece time, and if it’s an easy kick, take the points. Certainly there are going to be times we feel like our forwards are getting on top and you want to keep that momentum and kick to the corner…”
Asked if hindsight reinforced the need to be more clinical in this decision-making facet, Tuipulotu said: “Yeah, very much so. We left a lot of points out there. In hindsight you’re always smarter, but at the time sometimes you back your instincts.”
Tuipulotu said the Blues might need to be particularly sharp this week against a Canes side that would have gained a lot from that 30-19 victory under the roof in Dunedin.