Retiring Waratahs captain Phil Waugh felt the failure to accumulate more points during a dominant first quarter put his team under pressure in the Super Rugby playoffs match with the Blues in Auckland on Friday.
The Waratahs were up 5-0 early on but finished 26-13 down to end their season while the Blues will play in the semi-finals.
By comparison, the Blues had scored points when getting into Waratahs territory and took their opportunities better than the visitors.
"They played smart football. I thought Stephen Brett and [Luke] McAlister controlled the game very well. Once they were under pressure they turned us round and put us under pressure," he said.
"It was a difficult night for us. You can't question the guys' character and effort. We just played not the smartest football."
"We could've played down their end a bit more and not put ourselves under as much pressure as we did."
"In saying that we had a good crack and the guys, in terms of their character stood up and did as well as we could. I was pretty proud of the guys."
Waugh said the Blues had the ability to go further in the finals, they had the ability to score points, defend well and they were also a team that travelled well.
Coach Chris Hickey said he felt the Waratahs played well in the first 20-30 minutes.
"We had six or seven opportunities but we didn't take away enough points, we only took away the one try and in the second half the Blues came out and played smart football," he said.
"They controlled field position and on the back of that some possession and then they just kept accumulating points from that and that just became too much for us to overcome."
Hickey wasn't prepared to use the injury woes that have afflicted his side as an excuse.
He said it was a credit to the skipper Waugh and those who had come into the side to be where they were because every player had stepped up to the mark.
"That in itself is an achievement but you never like to go straight out in semi-finals," he said.