A squad laden with some outstanding & developing young talent (in the case of Akira Ioane an unfathomable prodigy) a returning star or two, a mostly new coaching staff combined with three wins in pre-season has created a maelstrom of much needed optimism around the Blues chances in 2016.

That’s totally understandable given the mediocrity the fans were forced to wallow in during the last two campaigns.

Just to pump the brakes slightly though, remember that given the situation he inherited, new Coach Tana Umaga had to approach pre-season in a different vain to the likes of the Highlanders, Chiefs or Hurricanes.

He needed to work on getting certain key combinations to gel, such as the midfield combination of Geroge Moala and Rene Ranger (lorks lawdy that duo is going to be soooo much fun to watch) thus has probably had to show a little more than other teams in order to achieve that.

But based on what they’ve shown, the structures both offensively and defensively that Umaga and his staff have introduced has been well grasped and that’s a good early sign.

As for how to judge the success of the Blues this year, even though I’ve picked a number of wins below, for the most part I’ll be going with a blend of old and new school techniques.

It’s hard to go past the tried and true “eye test”, so keep an eye out for whether they seem to stick to game plan, whether they maintain their shape on attack and defence and generally show good basic skill – catch, pass, good tackle technique and the like.

The new school element will be the statistics; keeping missed tackles and clean line breaks to singles figures, success rate at both set pieces above 90% (which is more than achievable given the tight five talent in the group) and penalties conceded also in the single digits.

While much has been written about the hiring Tana Umaga as coach (justifiably so) the recruitment of Paul Feeney and Alistair Rogers is as good a business decision as both will add their own unique but successful approach to rugby which will complement Umaga’s nicely.

I’m not going to sit here and tell that these Blues are title contenders based on three wins in pre-season.

But they are giving all the indications that they will be more than competitive, with the big challenge being maintaining that competitiveness when push comes to shove in late May and after the international window in June.

Prediction: 4^th in NZ conference; 7^th in Australasian Group; 10^th overall

Anything north of six wins would be a good return for the Blues this year but I can see them recording eight wins this year and several very close losses on the way to just missing out on a wildcard spot for the playoffs:

• The departure to sevens duties of the Ioanes and Ben Lam will be noticeable when the leave following round ten.
• Being paired up with Rene Ranger in midfield will provide George Moala with the impedus to claim the All Blacks second five starting spot for the first test against Wales.
• Patrick Tuipulotu will be a beast; Steven Luatua’s versatility and form will have him back on the All Blacks radar and Akira Ioane will continue to astound, amaze and thrill us.

2015 Regular Season Record

Won 3 Lost 13 (14th overall; 5^th in New Zealand conference)

Scored 282 points (3^rd worst)

Conceded 428 points (3^rd worst)

Coaches

Coach: Tana Umaga

Assistants: Glenn Moore, Alistair Rogers & Paul Feeney

2016 Squad

Props: Charlie Faumuina, Sione Mafileo, Nic Mayhew, Sam Prattley, Ofa Tu’ungafasi

Hookers: Quentin MacDonald, Matt Moulds, James Parsons

Locks: Josh Bekhuis, Hoani Matenga, Patrick Tuipulotu, Gerard Tuioti-Mariner

Loosies: Blake Gibson, Akira Ioane, Jerome Kaino, Steven Luatua, Kara Pryor, Jack Ram, Tanerau Latimer

Halfbacks: Billy Guyton, Bryn Hall, Sam Nock

First fives: Ihaia West

Midfield: George Moala, Rene Ranger

Utility Backs: Matt Duffie, Matt McGahan

Back Three: Rieko Ioane, Ben Lam, Tevita Li, Melani Nanai, Lolagi Visinia

Wider Training Group: Joe Edwards, Scott Scrafton, Namatahi Waa, TJ Faiane, Piers Francis, Michael Little, Jordan Trainor

Schedule Breakdown

4 games – BYE (Round 5) – 3 games– BYE (Round 9) – 5 games - INTERNATIONAL WINDOW – 3 games

Home Games                                                      Away Games

Fri 26 February vs. Highlanders (Auckland)      Fri 4 March vs. Crusaders (Christchurch)

Fri 11 March vs. Hurricanes (Auckland)            Sat 19 March vs. Reds (Brisbane)

Sat 2 April vs. Jaguares (Albany)                       Fri 8 April vs. Chiefs (Hamilton)

Sat 16 April vs. Sharks (Auckland)                    Sat 7 May vs. Kings (Port Elizabeth)

Sat 30 April vs. Rebels (Auckland)                    Sat 14 May vs. Lions (Johannesburg)

Sat 28 May vs. Crusaders (Auckland)               Sat 21 May vs. Force (Perth)

Fri 8 July vs. Brumbies (Auckland)                    Sat 2 July vs. Hurricanes (Wellington)

Fri 15 July vs. Waratahs (Auckland)

** Does not play Stormers, Bulls, Cheetahs & Sunwolves during the regular season **

Pre-Season Results

Thurs 4 February – won 59-7 vs. Rebels in Auckland

Sat 13 February – won 40-12 vs. Hurricanes in Eketahuna

Fri 19 February – won 24-12 vs. Chiefs in Pukekohe

Nigel Yalden is the Rugby Editor for Newstalk ZB/Radio Sport  

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