Blues shake off slow start to beat Brumbies

The Blues have shaken off a sub-par first half to rack up a 38-10 trans-Tasman Super Rugby win over the Brumbies at Eden Park in Auckland.

Blues halfback Finlay Christie scores against the Brumbies right on halftime
Photo: Photosport

The win – the 13th from a New Zealand team in the trans-Tasman competition – means the Blues top the ladder on 15 points, leading the Hurricanes on points differential with the Crusaders third just one point astray.

A 16th minute try to hooker Kurt Eklund gave the Blues an early 7-0 lead, but the Brumbies hit back with a Noah Lolesio penalty before Connal McInerney’s late try looked set to give them the halftime lead.

Otere Black levelled the scores at 10-10 in the 37th minute, then halfback Finlay Christie finished Rieko Ioane’s initial break with a sizzling run through the flat-footed Brumbies defence to score.

Ahead 17-10 at the break, the Blues came out firing at the restart, with winger Bryce Heem scoring after just two minutes.

Tries to AJ Lam and TJ Faiane rounded off a clinical second half for the Blues, who looked dominant at the set piece and at the breakdown.

Crusaders hooker Codie Taylor
Photo: Photosport

Earlier, the Crusaders notched up yet another big win with an eight-try 54-28 win over the Waratahs in Wollongong.

The defending champions scored four tries in each half in a dominant performance which faltered only briefly midway though the second half.

The loss was the Waratahs’ 11th in a row this year and leaves them one defeat short of equalling the Rebels’ record 12-game losing streak for an Australian team in Super Rugby.

Eight different players scored tries for the Crusaders while Richie Mo’unga kicked 14 points as Scott Robertson’s side moved back to within a point of the Hurricanes.

The New Zealanders took an early lead through Mitchell Drummond’s eighth-minute try, but the kicking of Will Harrison kept the Waratahs in touch and the Crusaders were made to work for the win.

The full back slotted over a pair of penalties inside the first 30 minutes to minimise the damage despite Jack Whetton being sin-binned.

But three tries in the final 10 minutes of the half swung momentum firmly in the Crusaders’ favour.

Codie Taylor put the Crusaders 12-6 up before Sevu Reece sold the home defence a dummy that allowed him to sprint through and score.

On the stroke of halftime, Dallas McLeod finished off another fine Crusaders move that saw the Super Rugby Aotearoa champions take a 26-9 lead into the interval.

Scott Barrett’s try put the Crusaders further ahead two minutes into the second half, only for the Waratahs to rally and pull to within 10 points.

Two tries in two minutes from Jack Maddocks and Izaia Perese either side of a yellow card for the Crusaders’ Oli Jager gave the home fans hope.

But that was dashed when Leicester Fainga’anuku scored for the short-handed visitors while Bryn Hall crawled over the line to further enhance the Crusaders’ lead.

Will Jordan scored in the corner after Fergus Burke’s crossfield kick to leave Alex Newsome’s late try as a consolation for the Waratahs as the New Zealanders notched up their third win in a row against Australian opposition.

– Reuters/RNZ