The Blues are preaching consistency as they look to make a serious impact on Trans-Tasman Super Rugby.
After an underwhelming Aotearoa campaign that saw them limp home in third spot, the Blues sit atop the table after week one of their shot at redemption.
A 50-3 thrashing of the Melbourne Rebels on Saturday night may have the mojo back for the Auckland-based franchise, but for assistant coach Tom Coventry, it's more about backing up a solid start to the Australiasian competition.
The Waratahs visit Eden Park on Saturday afternoon, and given they are considered the weakest of the Australian sides, the Blues have an opportunity to make another statement on their intentions in the inaugural tournament.
"Everyone acknowledged we probably weren't where we needed to be with consistency in the last competition, and now we get to reset ourselves and look at growing into this competition rather than getting too far ahead," Coventry says.
"It's very much a one-game-at-a-time focus.
"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves.
"For us, it's all about our performance and making sure we can back it up and have some consistency with what we're doing.
"It's important for us to work through this competition and get better at being consistent."
But despite a clean sweep of wins for the five Kiwi franchises in week one, Coventry isn't buying into a complete Aotearoa dominance of Super Rugby.
Pointing to two razor-close wins for the Crusaders and Chiefs, Coventry says the gap isn't as big as reflected by the results of week one.
"Everyone has been commenting on the fact that Kiwi teams were on top for this round, but there were a couple of close scores, and some of the teams who weren't up to speed in the first round will be better for it.
"If you look at the Brumbies and Force it came down to a couple of goal kicks at the end that could have drawn the match in Christchurch and won the game in Perth.
"Those two teams were highly competitive.
"What happens with competitions is teams usually grow into it - anyone who takes for granted it's going to be a walk-through with these Aussie team, they're highly mistaken.
"I don't think the competition is as divided as some perceive it to be."
The Blues will be hoping for two major reinforcements this week in skipper Patrick Tuipulotu and influential openside Dalton Papalii.
Both have been missing for several weeks with minor injuries, but there is a chance they will train this week in preparation for the Waratahs clash.
Regardless, Coventry is stressing the importance of continuing to improve on what they showed in Melbourne, and brush off the demons of Super Rugby Aotearoa.
"It was a much-improved performance [against the Rebels].
"We went about our work pretty well at wearing them down, used the scoreboard pressure with some nice goalkicking early doors, and by end of the first half got ourselves over the line through sustained pressure and a patient buildup.
"We spoke about being clinical towards the end of the first half and carrying that through into the second spell, which I thought we did well and finished over the top of them by scoring some pretty nice tries.
"We just need to follow that up this weekend."
Join Newshub for live updates of the Blues v Waratahs from 2:35pm Saturday.
