Match Centre: Super Rugby Pacific: Blues 46-7 Brumbies

Blues 46-7 Brumbies, Eden Park

Blues came up with a dominating seven try performance as they trounced Brumbies 46-7 in the 9th round of the Super Rugby Pacific at Eden Park on Saturday.

This is seventh win for Blues in eight games as they move to the second place in the table while Brumbies are at third after losing their second match of the campaign.

Blues started the game with a setback as Taufa Funaki was sin-binned in the 6th minute as he infringed at offside near the try line but despite that they opened the account first as Hoskins Sotutu touched down in the 9th minute following a break from Dalton Papalii. Harry Plummer kicked the conversion to make it 7-0.

As the Brumbies failed to make a response, Blues had a dominating finish to the opening half as Caleb Clarke collected a flat pass from Funaki to touchdown and Plummer followed it with a conversion and a penalty goal to make it 17-0.

The third try for the hosts came at the stroke of half time as Sotutu picked the ball at the base of the scrum to crash over for his second try and Plummer was once again spot on with the extras as Blues went into the break with a 24-0 lead.

There was no respite whatsoever for Brumbies as the bonus point for Blues came in the 45th minute as Papali'i dotted down at the back of a maul but this time Plummer's conversion drifted wide to make it 29-0.

The problems compounded for the visitors as James Slipper was sin-binned in the 50th minute for a shoulder to the head of Laghlan McWhannell and Blues made use of the numerical advantage with Funaki collecting a loose ball to go over the line. Plummer's conversion meant Blues had a 36-0 lead by the end of the 54th minute.

The lead became 41-0 by the end of the third quarter as Ricky Riccitelli crashed over at the back of a line out drive before the first response for the visitors eventually came in the 64th minute when Luke Reimer dived from close range. Kurt Eklund capped off a fantastic game for the Blues with AJ Lam and Mark Telea setting him for the final try as they sealed a 46-7 victory.

Team line up:

Blues XV: Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Ricky Riccitelli, Marcel Renata, Patrick Tuipulotu (c), Laghlan McWhannell, Akira Ioane, Dalton Papali'i, Hoskins Sotutu, Taufa Funaki, Harry Plummer, Caleb Clarke, Bryce Heem, Rieko Ioane, Mark Tele'a, Cole Forbes

Reserves: Kurt Eklund, Joshua Fusitu'a, Angus Ta'avao, Sam Darry, Adrian Choat, Sam Nock, Lucas Cashmore, AJ Lam

Brumbies XV: James Slipper, Billy Pollard, Sefo Kautai, Darcy Swain, Cadeyrn Neville, Rob Valetini, Jahrome Brown, Charlie Cale, Ryan Lonergan (c), Noah Lolesio, Corey Toole, Tamati Tua, Hudson Creighton, Ollie Sapsford, Tom Wright

Reserves: Connal McInerney, Blake Schoupp, Rhys Van Nek, Nick Frost, Tom Hooper, Luke Reimer, Harrison Goddard, Jack Debreczeni,