Coming off consecutive weeks of heart-stopping finishes, one of the last things Blues coach Leon MacDonald wanted to see was bonus rugby against the Highlanders at North Harbour Stadium.
With regulation time expired, both teams threw caution to the wind in the pursuit of the ever-valuable bonus point to extend the contest to 90 minutes, leaving MacDonald grateful that at least the result was already beyond doubt.
"It's good for our subs, who came on late to get some gametime, but the last 10 minutes this year have been hard to watch from the coach's stand," MacDonald said after the game, which finished with a 32-20 scoreline.
"I'm just glad the game wasn't on the line for that last 10 minutes, because that would've killed me."
First-five Stephen Perofeta's 78th-minute try had already essentially secured victory for the Blues, who were again forced to withstand a late comeback, which they successfully managed last week against the Chiefs, but not so the week before against the Hurricanes.
The Blues cause was done no favours by an outbreak of COVID-19 that forced changes to their gameday 23, including the loss of All Blacks first-five Beauden Barrett.
MacDonald admitted the changes played a role in their shaky first-half efforts, but stressed his side were prepared to suffer the inevitable spread of the virus, which has already forced the postponement of three Super Rugby Pacific games early this season.
"I think it had a part to play," he said. "We were shuffling the team around and the guys hadn't really trained in those positions.
"Those things don't help, but we have been training together as a squad, we've been expecting this to happen and we've talked about it, so I'd like us to click into it a bit earlier than we did.
"You can't fully protect yourself… when we're in our environment, we've got control, but when we go, home we haven't. We can only do as much as we can.
"Once it gets into the environment, it takes off pretty quickly. It's a bit of a wake-up call for us really."
MacDonald singled out Perofeta for another standout display in his late shift from fullback to replace Barrett in the No.10 jersey, as well as replacement fullback Zarn Sullivan, who was a menace with ball in hand.
But flanker Taine Plumtree perhaps made the biggest impression on the night, scoring two tries in an eight-minute stretch after the interval to swing the momentum his side's ways.
The 22-year-old was one of the highlights of Wellington's NPC campaign last year and translated that talent to the next level, with a powerful display against the southerners.
"He was great," says MacDonald. "He's an exceptional athlete, seriously quick and he's a big tall man.
"I think he actually injured himself pretty early on in the game, but he was so determined to stay out there that he gutsed it out, so he showed a bit of ticker as well."
Trailing 13-3 at halftime, the Blues found their feet in the second stanza, brushing off an undisciplined, error-ridden first half to surge back into the contest with a cleaner, more patient approach that unlocked their wealth of backline talent.
"First half, we just weren't accurate. We gave away silly penalties, and our setpiece and positional play was off, and we weren't coping with their kicking game very well.
"In the second half, I thought we were right on, controlling territory with a smart kicking game and putting pressure on them with our defence as well. All of our outside backs were getting the ball with some space and that's when we're at our best.
"We can be satisfied with that, but we're still searching for that 80-minute performance."
The Blues will try to record a third straight win, when they take on the Crusaders in a mouthwatering afternoon showdown at Christchurch next Sunday.
Join Newshub from 7pm Saturday for live updates of the Crusaders v Chiefs Super Rugby Pacific clash
