The Blues refuse to wave the white flag, despite their Friday night defeat in Christchurch all but confining the boys from the big city to another Super 14 season of under-achievement.

Where there's hope, there's a heartbeat and the official stance from a team that's now lost five of their last seven matches was "we can still do it". To have any chance of scrambling home from their current precarious position of 26 points with three matches remaining they'll need the maximum haul from here on in and a little bit more of the rub of the green than they received at AMI Stadium on Friday night.

The Blues, who scrummaged superbly, actually contributed plenty to an entertaining match and probably ended a stirring 80 minutes unlucky not to grab more than the three tries they managed as they went down 22-26 to the Crusaders.

They had two touchdowns rubbed out by the TMO, and several other potential ones undone by their own sloppy execution. They could also have done with the eagle-eyed video official ruling on the Crusaders' crucial fourth, and match winning, touchdown to Ti'i Paulo, when wing Sean Maitland clearly put a foot in touch before offloading.

To be fair the Blues were also their own worst enemies at times, most notably in the closing minutes when the normally reliable Nick Evans kicked dead when going for a short touch from a penalty. That shocking error denied the visitors one last chance at a match-winning try, though they would first have had to win their lineout which they struggled to do most of the night.

"It was disappointing not to get the win because we made a lot of the play," said Blues assistant coach Greg Cooper. "We recaptured a lot of the attacking spirit of earlier in the season. We made a lot of line-breaks, and probably a lot of individual errors both in defence and attack let us down in the end. But clearly we dominated quite long parts of the game."

But Cooper is adamant there is still something to play for as the Blues eye a finish of the Reds and Highlanders away and Hurricanes at home. They travel to Brisbane this week for a Friday night clash to kick off that tightrope walk to the finish.

"This puts us under extreme pressure and it's probably going to rely on some results going our way. But I'm adamant we can do it. We're going to have to be somewhere near our best to score maximum points, but we have to back ourselves."

Cooper felt with the Blues still able to get to 41 points and 40 being the average total of the fourth-placed side over the two years of Super 14 rugby, it was still game-on. "We can't afford to drop our heads, we've got to pick up on some of the positives [in Christchurch] and ensure we give ourselves a chance. That starts on Friday in Brisbane."

The Blues backline coach says the response from the players against a side as good as the Crusaders told him all he needed to about whether the fight was still in this outfit over the run home.

"We couldn't have asked for more in terms of attitude," said Cooper, confirming that the Blues players had executed the game-plan as called for. "There was intensity on the field, we got what we wanted in terms of attitude, and in terms of responding to how we wanted to play. It was just a little bit of inaccuracy on occasions that probably was enough in the end."

Anthony Tuitavake was a standout for the Blues, the sweet-stepping utility making a fine fist of his shift from wing to centre, proving a constant threat with his ability to break the line. It was a performance, Cooper reckons, that must have had the All Blacks selectors sitting up and paying attention.

"He's put himself forward as a potential All Black winger, and he clearly showed [against the Crusaders] he's a very good centre," said Cooper. "There's no question about Anthony's ability as a centre and wing, and I think he's done his chances of making the All Blacks this year the world of good."

Cooper deflected suggestions that Tuitavake should have been playing at 13 earlier, and perhaps the midfield pairing that finished the match of Isaia Toeava at second five and Tuitavake at centre would have served the team better. Nevertheless it is a salient point.

There was also denial from the Blues management in terms of the success of the surprise and unannounced positional swap of Evans and Isa Nacewa. Both had mixed matches, combining frequent errors with the odd flashes of brilliance and it was hard to see how the Blues tactical game benefited.

But Cooper wouldn't hear criticism of the switch.

"I think it worked. Nick covered ground well from fullback, and his entries into the line were good. And one of Isa's major strengths is his frontline decision-making, and I thought he did it well. There were a couple of inaccuracies by both players but in terms of controlling the attacking frontline and covering their tactical kicking game and giving Nick space to use his outstanding speed, it worked well."

One facet of the Blues game that was outstanding was the scrummaging, anchored by the straight back of the supposed "myth" Tony Woodcock. Though it wasn't lost on the Blues coaches that they still coughed up a try after monstering one Crusaders scrum as the bounce of the ball continued to go in the home team's favour.

Still, despite all the supposed positives the Blues still coughed up their fifth defeat in seven matches and for all intents and purposes are out of the playoff race with still three weeks remaining.

Cooper accepts that the team's critics, of which there are many, will continues to have their say. He just hopes that any assessment coming the way of the Blues is fair and balanced.

"When criticism is levelled at you there's always a degree of fact behind it. But at times there's not. Sometimes it's inaccurate.

"The important thing is we moved a step closer to creating more belief in what we're doing. You can have all the plans in the world, all the strategies, but players have got to go out there and believe in their own individual ability.

"In Christchurch we came off the field against a side known for its strong defence knowing that we'd shown the ability to split them open. But the frustration came in not quite finishing the job."

Too little, too late, almost certainly, to save another Blues season headed for ignominy.