Blues 50-3 Force, Eden Park
Blues moved to the top as they trounced Western Force 50-3 in the latest round of the Super Rugby Pacific at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday.
This is sixth win for Blues in seven matches as they take their tally to 27 points while Force are languishing at the bottom of the table after losing six out of their seven matches.
Blues started the proceedings in the 13th minute as Taufa Funaki offloaded to Ofa Tu'ungafasi for the opening try in the 13th minute and Harry Plummer kicked the conversion to make it 7-0.
They doubled their tally by the end of the opening quarter as Ricky Riccitelli dived in the left corner and once again Plummer kicked the extras to make it 14-0 before Ben Donaldson kicked a three-pointer in front of the posts to kick the only points for the visitors in the game.
The home side struck once again as Papelii, who went past three defenders to send an inside pass to Laghlan McWhannell, who touched down before Plummer's conversion made it 21-3. The bonus point for Blues came at the stroke of the half time as the Ioane brothers freed up AJ Lam, who in turn offloaded to Taufa Funaki for their fourth try as the teams completed the opening half with a 28-3 lead.
Blues extended their domination into the second half as Hoskins Sotutu and Funaki scoring tries to make it 38-3 before a misfired pass from Chase Tiatia allowed Corey Evans to dot down extending their lead to 45-3. With no response from Force, Blues ensured they capped off a dominating game with a final try from Lam in the 76th minute as they completed a 50-3 victory.
Team line up:
Blues XV: Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Ricky Riccitelli, Angus Ta'avao, Josh Beehre, Laghlan McWhannell, Akira Ioane, Dalton Papali'i (c), Hoskins Sotutu, Taufa Funaki, Harry Plummer, Caleb Clarke, Corey Evans, Rieko Ioane, AJ Lam, Cole Forbes
Reserves: Soane Vikena, Joshua Fusitu'a, Marcel Renata, Anton Segner, Adrian Choat, Sam Nock, Lucas Cashmore, Caleb Tangitau
Western Force XV: Ryan Coxon, Tom Horton, Tiaan Tauakipulu, Sam Carter, Thomas Franklin, Tim Anstee, Carlo Tizzano, Reed Prinsep, Nic White (c), Ben Donaldson, Chase Tiatia, Hamish Stewart, Sam Spink, Bayley Kuenzle, Max Burey
Reserves: Ben Funnell, Marley Pearce, Joel Hintz, Lopeti Faifua, Will Harris, Ollie Callan, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Henry O’Donnell