Blues dispatch 14-man Highlanders
MATCH REPORT: The Blues have trounced the Highlanders to advance to the Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals, where they will face either the Brumbies or Hurricanes next week.
Despite a slow start that enabled to Highlanders to take a 6-0 lead after half an hour at Eden Park, the hosts stormed their way back into the match.
The Blues scored in five unanswered tries for the 35-6 win.
The unbeaten New Zealand team knocked the southerners out of the competition.
Reduced to 14 men early in the first half after Highlanders hooker Andrew Makalio was red-carded, the Dunedin-based franchise wasn’t helped by a barrage of injuries that forced the likes of Thomas Umaga-Jensen, Marino Mikaele-Tu’u, Scott Gregory and Billy Harmon from the field.
Their presence wouldn’t have stopped the might of the Blues, though, as Beauden Barrett bagged a brace and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck dotted down for his first try for the Aucklanders since his move to rugby union from the NRL.
As such, the Blues have booked a semi-final date with the winner from the last quarter-final of the weekend, while the Highlanders bring an end to their dire campaign, which is head coach Tony Brown’s final as the franchise’s boss.
Their presence wouldn’t have stopped the might of the Blues, though, as Beauden Barrett bagged a brace and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck dotted down for his first try for the Aucklanders since his move to rugby union from the NRL.
The 2018 Dally M medallist was in sparkling touch and continued to push his case for All Blacks selection, creating a try for Beauden Barrett on 48 minutes before slashing through for his own on 69 minutes.
"You can never get comfortable against the 'Landers, they are a side that always fights for the full 80 [minutes]," captain Barrett told Stan Sport.
"We took a bit of time to find our groove. But it's great that we finally expressed ourselves and got used to playing our game again."
As such, the Blues have booked a semi-final date with the winner from the last quarter-final of the weekend, while the Highlanders bring an end to their dire campaign, which is head coach Tony Brown’s final as the franchise’s boss.
The scorers:
For Blues:
Tries: A Ioane, Barrett 2, Lam, Tuivasa-Sheck
Cons: Perofeta 5
For Highlanders:
Pens: Banks 2
Teams:
Blues: 15 Stephen Perofeta, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 11 Mark Telea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Dalton Papalii (captain), 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Tom Robinson, 4 James Tucker, 3 Ofa Tuungafasi, 2 Kurt Eklund, 1 Alex Hodgman.
Replacements: 16 Soane Vikena, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Adrian Choat, 21 Sam Nock, 22 AJ Lam, 23 Zarn Sullivan.
Highlanders: 15 Connor Garden-Bachop, 14 Fetuli Paea, 13 Thomas Umaga-Jensen, 12 Scott Gregory, 11 Mosese Dawai, 10 Marty Banks, 9 Aaron Smith (captain), 8 Marino Mikaele-Tu’u, 7 Billy Harmon, 6 High Renton, 5 Josh Dickson, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Jermaine Ainsley, 2 Andrew Makalio, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Leni Apisai, 17 Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18 Saula Mau, 19 Max Hicks, 20 Shannon Frizell, 21 Folau Fakatava, 22 Liam Coombes-Fabling, 23 Denny Solomona.
Referee: Angus Gardner
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe, Stu Curran
TMO: James Leckie
Source: Rugbypass & SuperRugby