That confidence paid off with a series of strong runs and quick phases finished off by Maama Vaipulu forcing her way over the line to put her team up after just the fifth minute.
The visitors didn’t seem prepared at all for the lightning-quick start by the Blues, compounded by impressive kicking from the home team causing chaos in the backfield.
A period of scrappy play eventually saw the ball land in Hollyrae Mete-Renata’s hands where her powerful running punched a hole through the middle of her opponents’ defence, eventually forcing Chiefs forward Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalel to be sent to the sin bin for slapping the ball out of halfback Tara Turner’s hands.
The Blues made the most of their player advantage, calling for another scrum and seeing Turner run in a try untouched off a well-worked play from the following scrum.
The errors started to mount for the Chiefs Manawa and the vicious attack from the Blues ramped up the misery the visitors felt inside the first 20 minutes.
The Blues were up by 21 inside 17 minutes after some tricky passing play saw a long pass fired out to winger Jaymie Kolose who popped the ball quickly back inside for Danny-Elle Fesolai to run the ball in for another try.
The Blues appeared to lose some of their firepower once the sides were back at 15 apiece, with Chiefs fullback Manaia Nuku providing the attacking spark her side seriously needed every time she touched the ball.
The Blues seemed more cautious on defence after some darting runs by Nuku, which allowed the Chiefs forwards to build through their phases and eventually make their way close to the try line.
Chiefs Manawa captain Mia Anderson was rewarded with five points after Ariana Bayler made a quick break off a lineout, but the try and subsequent conversion was quickly cancelled out.
Ruahei Demant’s kicking out of hand and off the tee was dominant throughout the match and her long kick into the corner off a penalty following the Chiefs’ opening try set the home team up very well.
The Chiefs couldn’t handle the ensuing maul from the lineout and the ball eventually found its way to Sylvia Brunt who carried three defenders over the line for another score.
The Chiefs Manawa had the final say of the first half, going back to where they had found earlier success with slow build-up play through their forwards.
Anderson was the beneficiary of this again when she picked up the ball off the back of the ruck under the posts and trucked through two defenders to give her side a hope of coming back.
The second half finished as the first ended with both teams looking much more even, but the Blues started to take a leaf out their opponents’ book with patient play.
Hollyrae Mete-Renata finally scored the try she deserved after dominating the midfield, but, instead of a powerful run off a quick ball, she simply picked the ball up off the back of a ruck and walked through untouched after 11 phases.
The Chiefs Manawa didn’t look too dispirited by this setback and started to take more risks in their attack, which led to Justine McGregor producing a wicked step just inside her own half, breaking away from multiple defenders and offloading to Shyrah Tuliau-Tua’a who used her pace to cross over for another five points.
Tuliau-Tua’a was back in the action quickly for the wrong reasons, being sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on when the Blues were starting to play with more freedom inside the Chiefs Manawa’s half.
The Blues capitalised on their player advantage yet again with dominant running from their forwards finished off with an Amarante Sititi try and Demant’s sixth conversion of the night.
The Chiefs were not the better team on the night, but the final score was slightly harsh on the team at the bottom of the table.
The first 20 minutes of the match were too much for the visitors to handle and individual errors cost them in key moments, but they came through with strong defensive play and some scary attacks which included Tuliau-Tua’a’s second try of the evening.
The Blues can feel happy they are back in the winning column, but the Chiefs showed that there is something positive for them to build on.
Blues 42 (Maama Vaipulu, Tara Turner, Danny-Elle Fesolai, Sylvia Brunt, Hollyrae Mete-Renata, Amarante Sititi tries; Ruahei Demant 6 cons)
Chiefs Manawa 26 (Mia Anderson 2, Shyrah Tuliau-Tua’a 2 tries; Carys Dallinger 2, Ariana Bayler cons)
HT: 28-14