He played hurling with his local club James Stephens and was a member of the Kilkenny senior inter-county team from 1935 until 1945.
In 1936 Blanchfield added a second Leinster medal to his collection before lining out in a second consecutive All-Ireland final.
Limerick were coming into their prime at this stage and gained revenge for the defeats of 1933 and 1935 by trouncing ‘the Cats’ on a score line of 5-6 to 1-5.
The All-Ireland final pitted Kilkenny against Tipperary in the unusual venue of FitzGerald Stadium in Killarney.
In spite of this the team bounced back in 1943 with Blanchfield adding a sixth Leinster medal to his already impressive collection.
The subsequent All-Ireland semi-final provided what was regarded as the time as the biggest shock in the history of the championship.
Almost 70,000 people packed into Croke Park to witness a classic encounter, with 5,000 more fans being locked out of the stadium.