Blues star performer Rene Ranger was described as a 'free spirit with an X factor' by his coach Pat Lam after the side's 39-34 win over the Brumbies at Eden Park on Friday night.
Ranger proved a consistent line-breaker for the side, made some big tackles and also scored a vital try in a 12-minute burst after half-time which yielded four tries.
"We've been doing a lot of work [with Ranger], especially Shane [Howarth] in particular, about working with the boys, staying in the system on attack and 'd' [defence] and putting a big onus on all those guys that he cannot be standing out there without any information," he said.
Joe Rokocoko, Isaia Toeava, Rudi Wulf, Benson Stanley and Stephen Brett all had to be talking to him to keep him informed.
"If he's got a smile on his face then he's happy," Lam said.
The communication between the back three players had improved after efforts put in at training during the week and they looked more assured, he said.
Lam said the side was pleased to get the bonus point win and admitted it had made it hard for itself by gifting a lot of points which was something the side would be looking to address before heading to the Waratahs in Sydney next weekend.
"I thought the character and the attitude, we just need to keep replicating that every week to ensure we can play the game we want to play," he said.
While the side was 10-16 down at half-time, Lam said the opportunity to move the ball in the way the side wanted was on, but it firstly had to tidy its execution.
"If you want to be accurate at the breakdown you had better get there and a lot of times boys were going for it and we were just slow to react to get there and the ball was turned over or we were giving away penalties."
Similarly, he said, he had full faith in the 22 players selected for the game and that was why when starting players took knocks that prevented them giving 100 percent, he preferred to get players on the field who could contribute fully.
"You've got to believe in your bench," he said.