Blues hoodoo: 'Hopefully, we can put that behind us now'

The Blues had been entrapped in what became a wildly one-sided rivalry with the Crusaders over the past decade, with just one win in their past 18 contests. That record changed a little for the better for the Aucklanders on Saturday.

It’s not just the Blues who have endured a frustrating run of results and capped season success during the Crusaders’ dynastic era under Scott Robertson, but the team’s fixtures against the Cantabrians always had a little extra spice.

Blues coach Vern Cotter is hoping the 26-6 victory over the reigning champions in miserable Auckland conditions was just the win his team needed to feel removed from their recent history hoodoo.

“Hopefully, we can put that behind us now that the victory is there and the boys found a way,” he said following the win.

“The second half was very good. We made the most of their halfback being sin-binned. Defensively, they had a few problems. They couldn’t clear ball well, and the boys focused on that going back out [after halftime].”

Among those problem areas was the line-out, where the Crusaders managed just 47 per cent success over their 17 attempts. Stalling much of that play was an impressive effort from the Blues forwards, led by the return of captain Patrick Tuipulotu.

“We’re going to take it as it comes,” Cotter added. “We had some good lineout plans during the week and Laghlan [McWhannell] managed to get up and steal a lot of their ball and set us up well.”

The Blues forwards will inevitably take great confidence from the performance on the weekend into their next match against Moana Pasifika at Eden Park, a team Cotter had plenty of good things to say about.

“They’re an improved side and with our game plan, and how we play up front, there’s going to be a battle up front. So we’re going to back up after this physical game into another physical game.”

Another confidence boost from the Crusaders game would have been felt by first five-eighth Stephen Perofeta, who had an uncharacteristically woeful kicking night the week prior against the Waratahs, a game the Blues barely escaped with the win.

“He worked hard around his goal-kicking and how he organised play. He had a game plan that was reasonably simple for him and Finn [halfback Finlay Christie] and the rest of the team, and that’s a sign of a champion.

“He didn’t have a great week last week and was frustrated, but he put that frustration behind him and he crafted his week well and got the results.

“He’s a very instinctive player and he sees space well. It was a great performance and a great turnaround.”