The China Mail - Blues relish chance to defy Crusaders home finals record

A 59-34 hammering at the hands of the Waikato Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday night left the Blues ranked fourth on the final regular season standings and contemplating an unenviable trip to Christchurch.

The 13-time champion Crusaders have never lost a home play-off match, dating back to the inception of Super Rugby in 1996 -- a record that spans 32 matches.

Victory over the Chiefs would have handed the Blues home advantage for next week's clash of the teams ranked third and fourth.

Cotter believes his players will shake off that disappointment and relish the challenge of toppling the defending champions, who have won four from four games at their new indoor stadium which opened last month.

"What better place than Christchurch to demonstrate our ability and solidarity," Cotter said.

"We're certainly not going down there as favourites but going down there as underdogs.

"The Crusaders are thriving down there aren't they? But there are good players in this team, we're a good team, we need to back each other up."

Cotter says a handful of key players are set to return to action next week, including 144-Test All Blacks playmaker Beauden Barrett and veteran lock forward Patrick Tuipulotu.

Their experience was missed as the Chiefs pulled clear from 19-15 up at halftime.

The home side scored six of their nine tries after the interval, including a double to winger Dan Sinkinson.

Cotter said his team were guilty of too many "soft moments".

"We looked at the stats straight after the game and funnily enough we dominated just about all the stats except the scoreboard," Cotter said.

"It's those couple of soft moments and couple of lost opportunities that count heavily against a team like Chiefs.

"I think one key thing for us is to be able to manage pressure better. There are a lot of young players out there and I think that's a learning curve for us."

The second-ranked Chiefs bounced back from a loss to the Crusaders, a result that had ended a seven-match winning streak.

They will host the fifth-ranked Queensland Reds next week while the top-qualifying Wellington Hurricanes will be at home to the sixth-ranked ACT Brumbies.

K.Leung--ThChM