How the Blues are using last year's 'heartbreaking' Final as motivation

At the end of every Super Rugby season, the champions are sent into a state of euphoria while their opponents are left to rue what could’ve been.

Unfortunately for the Blues, they fell short of championship glory in front of their home fans in Auckland last year.

The Blues were practically perfect throughout the regular season, having lost just one game en route to finals football.

Fans dared to dream of triumph and glory as Beauden Barrett and co topped the Super Rugby Pacific ladder at the end of the regular season, and carried their form into the playoffs.

Following a convincing win over the Highlanders in the quarterfinals, the Blues snuck by the Brumbies in a thriller – setting up a date with destiny in the final.

Coming up against the champion Crusaders, who were searching for their sixth title in as many years, the Final would somewhat define what was otherwise a brilliant campaign.

While the Crusaders were able to live up their champion status once again with a 21-7 win, the Blues were left heartbroken on the hallowed turf of Eden Park.

Blues assistant coach Tom Coventry has revealed how much of a “motivating factor” that loss is ahead of the new campaign.

“It’ll clearly be a motivating factor,” Coventry told Weekend Sport with Jason Pine.

“We had a pretty solid run through the course of last year and to miss out on the final to a pretty good Crusaders team was heartbreaking stuff.

“But you tuck that away, make that as extra motivation for a new season.

“If you’re looking at the form of some of the team’s in preseason this year, it’s going to be another tough road (to the final).

“The New Zealand teams, nothing between them, and obviously the other teams in the competition are getting better.

“Start again really, but you use that in the bottom of your belly just to remind you.”

The Blues are undoubtedly eager to go one better this season, and it all starts this weekend against the Highlanders.

While the new Super Rugby Pacific season kicks off on Friday night, the Blues will have to wait until Saturday to take the field.

Following on from a long and gruelling preseason, the Blues will travel south to Dunedin for the opening round blockbuster.

“They’ve had a good preseason, they’ve played really well. They’ve got a younger squad, new coaches,” he added.

“They’ll be very confident with the way they’ve gone.

“The old adage, when you go down to play at the roof in Dunedin, you need to be on your toes because the game is usually a little bit faster, the pace of the game can be telling for those guys that are a little bit underdone.

“They’ll be up for it for sure, and the results in preseason show that they’re very competitive.”