Cake Tin painted Blues
Error error on the wall: Blues win despite slew of mistakes. Mark Geenty reports.
The Blues outmuscled then outpaced an error-ridden Hurricanes to get their Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign off to a flying start in Wellington last night.
A 65m dash to score by Rieko Ioane with three minutes left iced a 31-16 Blues victory in round one at Sky Stadium as the hosts were punished for illdiscipline, in a performance to worry coach Jason Holland.
The hosts were in touch when Asafo Aumua charged over for his second try in the 63rd minute, but in a scarcely believable touch judging blunder from Mike Fraser and James Doleman, Jordie Barrett was denied a good conversion and the Blues led 21-16 when it should have been a three-point game.
Still, the Blues put it to bed, an Otere Black penalty on a perfect goalkicking night for the first-five, then Ioane’s sprint from a Barrett kick sealing it four tries to two for a bonus point.
Referee Paul Williams played a big part, blowing 25 penalties, 14 of them against the Hurricanes who also lost James Blackwell and Du’Plessis Kirifi to yellow cards.
Ardie Savea, in his 100th match and first as captain, lifted his troops in a big performance and they never gave it away with their bruising ball carriers despite being their own worst enemies at times.
After making a sluggish start, the Hurricanes now face a daunting trip to Christchurch next weekend.
For visiting coach Leon MacDonald, it was job done, his forwards providing the platform and Black marshalling the backline with aplomb.
Remarkably, it was the Hurricanes’ first season opener in Wellington in eight years, since the Blues beat them 34-20 in round one in 2013.
The capital turned on a Saturday stunner but a typical early season first half didn’t go close to matching the weather.
Somehow, the Hurricanes led 11-7 at the break thanks to two monstrous Barrett penalties in the 38th and 41st minutes, with lock Blackwell in the sin bin for offside after repeated warnings from referee Williams.
The opening stanzas suggested something special as Blues flanker Dalton Papalii scored the first try inside four minutes. Still it followed two errors; one from Williams missing a giant forward pass from Black and another from Vaea Fifita watching a Devan Flanders pass bounce in front of him, as Papalii pounced.
Hurricanes wrecking ball Aumua was his menacing self and replied in the sixth minute with a solo effort, steamrolling three attempted tackles then cribbing his way over.
Caleb Clarke and Aumua were the most dangerous with ball in hand, but neither team could get on an attacking roll and there was some aimless kicking, too. So the Blues began muscling it up with rolling mauls and their scrum asserted some superiority.
By the half-hour mark the Blues were well on top and hammering away at the Hurricanes’ line, even though the endless scrums were sleepinducing, and when Blackwell got marched a try looked certain.
A wonderful bootlace tackle on Rieko Ioane by Hurricanes halfback Jonathan Taumateine, and a big turnover from Ardie Savea saved the day to set up Barrett’s monster right boot to do its best work.
Fifita was dragged at halftime for Kirifi then the Hurricanes lost lock Scott Scrafton to what looked a serious ankle injury.
Finally, the Blues finished something off as Akira Ioane stormed upfield and handed off a support player, then a Black crosskick found Clarke to put the visitors in front with half an hour left.
It became two tries in five minutes and another yellow, as the Blues kicked into gear. Kirifi was carded, and from a mammoth Blues scrum Stephen Perofeta strolled across for a 10-point lead.
Not so fast, as Captain Ardie hauled his boys up again. The skipper looked to have scored from an outrageous dummy but the try was disallowed, and Akira Ioane looked lucky to not be carded himself for a professional foul.
Then Aumua peeled off a lineout drive and stormed across for a double, Barrett’s conversion somehow disallowed and the Blues still with their noses in front entering the final 15.