VIDEO: Blues spoil Ardie Savea's party
SUPER RUGBY AOTEAROA REPORT: The Blues ruined Ardie Savea’s centenary celebrations for the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday with a storming second half to open their Super Rugby Aotearoa season with a 31-16 victory.
Jodie Barrett’s booming boot had the Hurricanes ahead 11-7 at half-time only for the Blues to strike back with three second-half tries.
Savea, marking his 100th game in Hurricanes colours and his first as captain, had a powerful game with essential turnovers, crushing tackles and powerful running with the ball.
But the All Blacks loose forward and one-man tank could not do it on his own and as much as he put in a sterling effort the Hurricanes were unable to hold back a powerful Blues pack stacked with a raft of Test players.
“In the second half we still struggled with our set-piece but we did well to re-organise and focus on the basics and get some good go-forward [ball] and score some tries,” Blues captain Paddy Tuipulotu said.
But, like the previous day when the Crusaders beat the Highlanders 26-13, there were multiple penalties and two yellow cards and Tuipulotu said discipline would be a key element in the competition.
“The refs are going to be harder on the off-side, and there’ll be a lot more penalties,” Tuipulotu acknowledged.
“But in saying that, it’s for the good of the game and for us as players we’ve got to adhere to those [laws] and try and keep pushing the boundaries but not too much.”
There was a try apiece in the opening six minutes – to Dalton Papali’i and Asafo Aumua – before Barrett made his mark in the closing three minutes of the first half.
He banged over two penalties from near the sideline and close to halfway when the Hurricanes were down a man with James Blackwell in the sin bin.
It had the Hurricanes five points ahead going into the second spell but the lead did not last long.
Caleb Clarke latched on to an Otere Black cross-kick to put the visitors back in front and a Stephen Perofeta try, converted by Black, pushed the Blues out to a 21-16 lead.
The Hurricanes narrowed the gap with a well-worked line-out move which produced Aumua’s second try before the stronger finishing Blues piled on a penalty by Black who also converted a 70-metre runaway try by Rieko Ioane.
Man of the match: Ardie Savea and Asafo Aumua were both outstanding for the Hurricanes. However, the award goes to Blues loose forward Akira Ioane who was a p0werful ball runner. He kept the Hurricanes’ defence busy with his big frame and his speed.
The scorers:
For Hurricanes:
Tries: Aumua 2
Pens: Barrett 2
For Blues:
Tries: Papalii, Clarke, Perofeta, R Ioane
Cons: Black 4
Pen: Black
Yellow cards: James Blackwell (Hurricanes, 32 – repeated infringements); Du’Plessis Kirifi (Hurricanes, 53 – cynical play, not rolling away)
Teams:
Hurricanes: 15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Wes Goosen, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Jackson Garden-Bachop, 9 Jonathan Taumateine, 8 Devan Flanders, 7 Ardie Savea (captain), 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Scott Scrafton, 4 James Blackwell, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Fraser Armstrong.
Replacements: 16 Ricky Riccitelli, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Alex Fidow, 19 Reed Prinsep, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Luke Campbell, 22 Peter Umaga-Jensen, 23 Salesi Rayasi.
Blues: 15 Stephen Perofeta, 14 Mark Telea, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Harry Plummer, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Otere Black, 9 Sam Nock; 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Dalton Papalii, 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu (captain), 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Kurt Eklund, 1 James Lay.
Replacements: 16 Luteru Tolai, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Josh Goodhue, 20 Tom Robinson, 21 Adrian Choat, 22 Jonathan Ruru, 23 Tanielu Tele’a.
Referee: Paul Williams
Assistant referees: Mike Fraser, James Doleman
TMO: Brendon Pickerill
AFP & @rugby365com
