Blues coach Sir John Kirwan hopes the roller-coaster ride he promised with his young Super Rugby squad ends on the upswing against the Chiefs in Auckland on Saturday.
Defeat to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last week closed the play-off door on the Blues, while the defending champion Chiefs have top spot in the New Zealand conference on their minds.
Kirwan says the Blues played some great football during the season despite missing the cut.
He wants his team to sign off in emphatic fashion at Eden Park as confirmation that they are on the right track in their development.
“We need to go out there and play for pride and show people we’re a force to be reckoned with moving forward,” he said.
With a host of players making their debuts in the competition and a new coaching staff, the Blues were the least fancied of the New Zealand sides at the beginning of the year.
They made an impressive start with wins over the Hurricanes and Crusaders and were still ahead on the win-loss ledger in mid-May.
But five losses in a row since then have dropped back to ninth spot.
Kirwan said one lesson for 2014 was the need for more consistency.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” he said.
“I think we got out of the gate very fast and during the grind we just needed to work a bit harder and win some of those tight games.”
Against the Chiefs, the Blues will farewell a large chunk of experience, with three All Blacks – locks Ali Williams and Anthony Boric, and outside back Rene Ranger – bound for overseas.
Kirwan acknowledges that the trio will leave a big hole to fill.
“We need to start again next year,” he said.
“I think we’re building something with these young guys and we just need to keep building.”
As part of that process, Kirwan wants to keep the coaching group, which includes former All Blacks coach Sir Graham Henry, intact for next year.
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