Blues coach Leon MacDonald is giving new addition Roger Tuivasa-Sheck a pass mark, after an impressive display in his side's 33-32 defeat to the Hurricanes in Super Rugby Pacific.
After returning early from NZ Warriors and rugby league at the end of 2021, Tuivasa-Sheck has had to wait to finally make his comeback in the 15-man code, where he caught the eye as a schoolboy at Otahuhu College.
COVID-19 lockdowns scuppered Tuivasa-Sheck's playing return for Auckland in last year's NPC, before his scheduled Blues debut was delayed again last week, when their clash against Moana Pasifika was postponed.
But Saturday finally saw Tuivasa-Sheck line up in blue, playing the entire 80 minutes of his Super Rugby Pacific debut.
Playing in the No.12 jersey, Tuivasa-Sheck, 28, ran 11 times for 50 metres and made 13 tackles, albeit missing three. One of those was on Hurricanes centre Bailyn Sullivan, as he sparked the move that produced a match-winning try for Ardie Savea.
While Tuivasa-Sheck hasn't yet hit the heights achieved during his NRL career with the Warriors, signs are encouraging the cross-code star will find his feet sooner rather than later, his coach says.
"I thought a lot of guys played well," MacDonald says. "I thought Roger had a very, very good game, considering it was his first real game of Super Rugby.
"He was always dangerous on the attack, he played within our structures really well.
"You can see he's still learning, some little detail around the breakdown, where he got penalised at one point, but next time you watch him play, he won't do that - that's the way he is.
"[There's] some good signs there, obviously."
Meanwhile, Blues captain Tom Robinson has vented his frustrations at the nature of his side's defeat.
Leading 32-14 inside the final 10 minutes, the Blues conceded three tries to throw away what should have been their first win of the season.
While the lessons learned will be plentiful for a young Blues side, Robinson admits those mistakes can't happen again.
"I thought we executed what we wanted to for the majority of that game," he says.
"In saying that, though, even in the first half, the only opportunities we gave them were off the back of our mistakes. We just weren't ruthless, we didn't close the door on them and that's what happened in that 70th minute.
"When you give a team like the Hurricanes go-forward, with the amount of strong and athletic ball-carriers they've got, if you give them momentum, they're hard to stop - and that's what they did."
The Blues will have a chance to bounce back for their maiden victory of 2022, when they take on the Chiefs at Eden Park next Saturday.
Join us at 7pm Friday for live updates of the Crusaders v Moana Pasifika Super Rugby Pacific clash
