Blues coach Leon MacDonald has given Roger Tuivasa-Sheck a passing grade after his Super Rugby debut in their disappointing last-minute loss to the Hurricanes.
Tuivasa-Sheck has had to wait over a year to make his rugby union return due to Covid restrictions but looked at home in the No.12 jersey as he played the full 80 minutes in the 33-32 loss in Dunedin.
The 28-year-old finished the evening with 50 metres gained from 11 runs, made 13 tackles, and wasn't afraid to throw offloads he mastered during his time in the NRL.
MacDonald said he thought multiple Blues "played well" but he was particularly impressed with his new midfielder.
"I thought Roger had a very, very good game, considering it was his first real game of Super Rugby," Macdonald said.
"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."
Tuivasa-Sheck's promising debut was marred by an epic capitulation from the Blues though who lead 32-14 with 10 minutes to go before conceding three tries to lose the match.
Blues captain Tom Robinson said the side simply can't let that happen.
"I thought we executed what we wanted to for the majority of that game," Robinson said.
"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 now exit the Super Rugby Pacific bubble in Queenstown with a shot at redeeming themselves on home soil when they host the Chiefs at Eden Park on Saturday.
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