Mark Telea has delivered another Super Rugby special for the Blues when they needed him most, scoring four tries to propel his side to a crucial win over the Hurricanes in wet, testing conditions at Eden Park.
Telea sealed the 36-25 win in the final minute with his fourth try of the evening, giving the Blues some breathing room over the Hurricanes in the standings with the two sides jostling for fourth place and a home quarterfinal.
It gave the Blues a scoreline that better reflected their dominance for large parts of the match with a fine kicking game from Harry Plummer - donning the No.10 jersey for the absent Beauden Barrett - allowing his team to play in the right parts of the field.
But those long phases of dominance would suddenly come unstuck with errors and the Hurricanes would make the most of them each time to keep clawing their back in to the contest and making those brave enough to be sitting in the Eden Park stands that little bit more nervous each time.
The Hurricanes opened the match positively with a penalty goal from Jordie Barrett but the Blues were quick to respond with Telea's first try of the evening off the back of a fine 50-22 from Plummer.
The Blues then found themselves back on the attack soon after thanks to a poor throw at a Hurricanes lineout - an area the visitors had extreme problems with as they turned it over five times in the first half alone, mostly to not-straight throws from Asafo Aumua.
While the slippery ball was giving the Hurricanes grief, it seemed to be fine for the Blues as they strung together 10 phases before Hoskins Sotutu eventually rumbled over to score.
Sotutu looked to be in for a second try minutes later but some opportunistic Hurricanes defending managed to pry the ball loose before he could get it down, giving them some reprieve for a moment before Telea stung them again regardless with another beautiful run.
Having built a 19-3 lead, the Blues had their first lapse in pressure with a handling error off the ensuing restart and the Hurricanes made sure to use the attacking platform it gave them to get themselves back in the contest.
Ardie Savea, simply monumental for his side once again this evening, made the initial break in the Blues' defence before handing it on to Cam Roigard to finish, cutting the deficit to nine points late in the first half.
The gap could've been closed further by Barrett with a penalty after the halftime hooter but he shanked it in the wet, windy conditions - an unfortunate start to a rough goal-kicking streak.
Down 19-10 coming out of the break, Barrett then missed another kickable penalty to start the second half and failed to convert Billy Proctor's 50th minute try to leave his side still trailing despite a rare instance of momentum for them in the game.
That said, who else to swing it back in the home side's favour than Telea as he stepped and slid through five defenders from a standing start near the line to score a much-needed try for the Blues and his third five-pointer of the evening.
That made it 24-15 heading into the final quarter of the match which, with fatigue, new players and a wet ball all in play, become a chaotic finish.
With a penalty getting them into good attacking position, the Hurricanes struck back through Kini Naholo on the right wing but another missed conversion by Barrett left them trailing by four points.
The Blues then responded two minutes later off a flawless lineout move with Bryce Heem, who also had an impressive performance for Auckland with a rare start, breaking the Hurricanes line before handing it off to Rieko Ioane to finish near the sticks.
At 31-20 with five minutes to go, that should've sealed the match.
Not so fast.
With a scrum just outside their 22, the Blues fired the ball off to their backline but the ball went to ground and the Hurricanes pounced, with Proctor grabbing the loose ball and offloading to Naholo to score in the 77th minute near the posts.
Despite the much easier conversion attempt that followed, the Hurricanes opted to give Brett Cameron the tee to replace the out of form Barrett but he too missed with his attempt, leaving them trailing by six in quest of a miracle.
But instead of that miracle, they got Mark Telea.
The Blues went short with their restart which Caleb Clarke managed to secure before going to ground. The Blues shifted the ball to the right before Heem grubbered a cheeky ball through the unset the Hurricanes line for Telea to give chase to.
The Hurricanes scrambled back but three players couldn't manage to get to it as they skidded towards their line in desperation, instead watching on as Telea dove in to score and take away what could be a crucial bonus point from them.
The win sees the Blues shift momentarily into third ahead of the Brumbies who are playing the Chiefs later this evening in Canberra but more importantly it created a five-point buffer between them and the now-firmly fifth-placed Hurricanes.
Going into the final week of the competition, the Blues host the Highlanders, fighting to keep their season alive, at Eden Park while the Hurricanes host the second-placed Crusaders.
It may still be the regular season but one gets the feeling playoff rugby has already arrived.
Blues 36 (Mark Telea 4, Hoskins Sotutu, Rieko Ioane tries; Harry Plummer 2 cons, Stephen Perofeta con)
Hurricanes 25 (Kini Naholo 2, Cam Roigard, Billy Proctor tries; Jordie Barrett con, pen)
HT: 19-10
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