Blues captain Keven Mealamu is ruing some poor handling after his Auckland side lost to the Sharks 26-12 in their Super Rugby match in Durban on Sunday morning.
The South Africans scored a try in each half to the visitors' four penalties, the Sharks leading 16-9 at the break.
Mealamu's blaming his Blues' inability to hold possession as costing them any chance at a second straight win.
The All Black hooker says there was a lot of effort but the execution was off and it's a real shame they couldn't look after the ball better.
The Blues coach Pat Lam says his side gave away too much ball to have any chance, turning it over 26 times.
The Blues' preparation for their second match of the season was curtailed by limited training. They left for South Africa less than a day after upsetting the Crusaders at Eden Park, overnighting in Sydney, but didn't train till Thursday.
The Blues players with Christchurch connections decided to stay with the side in South Africa after the big quake, with five-eighth Stephen Brett and centre Jarrod Payne given the option to return to New Zealand because they have family there.
But both chose to stay with the team.
On Saturday night the New South Wales Waratahs also scored their second victory, thrashing the Queensland Reds 30 to 6 in Sydney.
