Blues vs Western Force: Blues playoff bound, Force have a 90 per cent problem

The Blues faced what was essentially a must-win match at Eden Park on Friday night and rose to the challenge.

The win furthers the reigning champs’ pursuit of a playoff berth, with a crucial bonus point helping bring them back into the picture in what is set to be an uber-competitive finish in the middle of the pack.

The 40-19 victory will no doubt cheer up Blues head coach ‘Stern Vern’ Cotter, who wasn’t mincing his words when questioning his men’s hunger this week.

Here are some takeaways from the Blues’ win.

Barrett is Razor’s man

Both Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie will be in the matchday 23 for the All Blacks this year, but it should be Barrett who starts in the No. 10 jersey.

Three try assists tonight, both via hand and boot, were the highlights, but the classy game management made up for some inaccuracies in the Blues’ execution.

The international veteran is ageing like fine wine, and his experience is invaluable in the first five role, something that was recognised by All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson last season, and should be again this year.

The combination of Barrett and Cam Roigard mixes livewire talent with traditional game management. Cortez Ratima and DMac off the bench provide a similar recipe, only inverted.

Barrett is the safest pair of hands at the All Blacks’ disposal, is the most qualified for the top job and is in superb form. Let McKenzie cause havoc in the closing minutes, after Barrett has taken care of business thorughout the opening hour.

Force have a 90 per cent problem

No team concedes more tries as a direct result of missed tackles than the Western Force. They’re a team that plays as much defence as anyone, and only the Drua have missed more tackles.

Early in this one, the Force played with the ball in hand more than usual, but only tackled at 84 per cent. The backline in particular were dropping off tackles, accounting for nine of the 16 early misses.

Carlo Tizzano can only do so much, and as far as one man wrecking balls go, the Wallaby is nothing but elite. But when not even a handful of your teammates are joining you in tackling over 90 per cent on the season, it makes winning a tall ask.

Each of the heavyweight sides have earned true contender status by having players across the park who nail their defensive assignments. The Force don’t have that, so their ceiling appears limited.

The team have also only won one game away from home this season, guilty of conceding more points when visiting than hosting.

Blues playoff bound

An overreaction to one win? Well, here’s the case for a late Blues resurgence on the competition ladder.

A deep dive into the remaining season schedule this week revealed the Blues as the team with, relatively speaking, the easiest run home over the final five rounds – this match included.

The Force were the highest-seeded team remaining on the Blues’ schedule, with three of the teams remaining also being the few sides between the reigning champions and a playoff berth.

That means the teams’ fate is very much in their own hands, as consecutive wins will both lift their chances and sink their opponents.

The only time the Blues will leave Auckland in the next five weeks is to face the last-placed Fijian Drua, a tough fixture no doubt, but a winable one.

As far as 21-point wins go, this performance didn’t inspire the utmost confidence, but a win’s a win, and scoring 40 points is a welcome improvement for a team who have struggled to execute this season. It is comfortably the highest points total scored by the Blues all season.

With the table as tight as it is, we can expect it to come down to the final round, when the Blues host a Waratahs team who are yet to win outside of Sydney.

The bonus point win places the Aucklanders, albeit likely to be temporarily, in the top six.