Blues hold off Hurricanes with 30-20 win at Eden Park

Blues 30-20 Hurricanes, Eden Park
Scorecard

Blues managed to 16 points in the second half as they sealed a 30-20 win over Hurricanes in their Super Rugby Aotearoa opening game at Eden Park on Sunday.

The win has taken Blues to the top of the table after the opening round while Highlanders are at second after they won their game against Chiefs on Saturday.

Fly-half Jackson Garden-Bachop started the proceedings with a ninth minute penalty goal for Hurricanes but Blues responded back strongly when Reiko Ioane offloaded to Caleb Clarke for the opening try and Otere Black improved it to make it 3-7.

Dane Coles brought Hurricanes back into the lead when he went past a desperate tackle from Beauden Barrett, who is making his Blues debut to score his side's opening try in the 15th minute but Garden-Bachop missed out on the conversion.

As TJ Faiane and Ben Lam exchanged tries in the 19th and 26th minutes, Blues had an edge heading into the break with a slender 14-13 lead.

After a quiet start to the second half, the home side stretched their lead further when Dalton Papali'i dotted down after gathering a grubber kick from Faiane while Black kicked the extras and followed with three more penalties making it 30-13.

Hurricanes had a consolation try from Jamie Booth in the 78th minute but that could not stop Blues from starting their campaign with a 10-point win.

Blues will head to FMG Stadium Waikato to take on Chiefs in the second round on 20th June while Hurricanes will host Crusaders at Sky Stadium in Wellington next on 21st June.