The Blues, determined to rid themselves of their "inconsistent" tag, held on for a 29-22 win over the Cheetahs in a cliffhanger finish to their Super Rugby match on Saturday.

It gave the Blues a third consecutive victory and they now have five wins from seven outings to be second in the New Zealand conference behind the Crusaders, who have the bye this weekend.

The bonus point win was also sweet revenge for the Blues, whose shock 36-32 loss to the Cheetahs last year cost them a chance to make the semi-finals.

This time they were not to be denied, running in four tries to three against the struggling Cheetahs, who languish at the bottom of the table with one win from seven outings.

Despite holding a 24-3 lead midway through the second half, the Blues had to fight for the win as the Cheetahs mounted a strong comeback with three late tries to be within a sniff of a draw at the finish.

"I don't think we had the edge we would have liked. We can walk away with our five points but we still have a lot to work on," admitted captain Keven Mealamu.

Despite dominating possession, the Blues were kept scoreless through the first quarter by the close-marking defence of the South Africans and their two first-half tries were both long-range affairs.

Joe Rokocoko opened the scoring when a raking touch finder by Riaan Viljoen had drilled the Blues back to their own 22.

From the lineout, Jared Payne and Stephen Brett opened up the Cheetahs defence and the move ended with the left-wing scoring in the corner and Luke McAlister added the extra two points.

Keven Mealamu set up the second try when he snapped up turnover ball and sent Brett and McAlister away on a 50-metre run to the line which resulted in Brett scoring the try and McAlister kicking the conversion.

The Cheetahs, who were denied a try when Wilmaure Louw dotted down after a 70 metre move only to be called back for an earlier infringement earned their first points on halftime with a penalty by Sias Ebersohn.

A McAlister penalty and his conversion of a try by hard-working back-rower Peter Saili pushed the Blues to a 21-point lead before the Cheetahs clicked into gear.

Livewire halfback Sarel Pretorius scored back-to-back tries with one conversion by Naas Olivier before Isaia Toeava scored the Blues' bonus point try to have the home side ahead 29-15 with six minutes remaining.

With the clock counting down, the Cheetahs fought their way up to the Blues' line where prop Coenie Oosthuizen barged over and Olivier's conversion gave the Cheetahs a bonus point for finishing within seven.

However, with a draw in sight, the Cheetahs were unable to score again in the final minute.

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