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Razzle dazzle Blues recover from horror start to thrash Rebels

The Blues overcame a horror start against the Rebels to put on a thrilling display of free-flowing rugby to claim their 10th straight win of the season.

Fans at Eden Park were left stunned after watching their side cough up two tries in the opening five minutes of the match with sloppy play at the lineout.

The 14-0 margin was the only highlight for the visitors though, as the unfazed Blues came roaring back to pile on the points for a 71-28 win.

After falling behind, the Blues managed to spark their comeback just three minutes later on the back of a Kurt Eklund linebreak in the middle of the field which finished with Akira Ioane touching down in the right corner.

From there, the floodgates were well and truly open.

After Ioane scored a second try five minutes later, Finlay Christie, James Tucker, Hoskins Sotutu and Rieko Ioane all got scoring credits for some superb team tries from the Blues as time and time again the Rebels tacklers fell off at crucial moments.

Finlay Christie dives in to score against the Rebels.

The razzle dazzle flair, reminiscent of the champion Blues of yesteryear, was best reflected by the Auckland side's final try of the first half though.

After settling the ball on their 10-metre line off the restart, the Blues worked the ball to the middle of the field with Ofa Tuungafasi making the initial break.

Tuungafasi got away a superb offload to Eklund who then linked up with a steaming Tucker to take the ball into the Rebels' half.

Tucker offloaded to Finlay Christie who, despite having six scrambling defenders all around him, managed to find Rieko Ioane who then attacked the broken line before giving the ball to Mark Telea on the right wing to finish.

Telea streaked for the corner, soaring in the air like an NRL star as a last-gasp tackle attempted to take him into touch, but he got the ball down clean and the Garden of Eden was rocking.

Mark Telea dives in to score against the Rebels.

Stephen Perofeta, who had a hand in creating multiple tries in the first half, converted all but one of the tries in the opening 40 minutes to give the Blues a resounding 47-14 lead at the break.

The Rebels did well to stop the bleeding for the first 10 minutes after the break, however a dropped ball on halfway allowed the Ioane brothers to shine with Akira collecting a lucky bounce to streak into the Rebels' 22 before Rieko finished for his second in the left corner.

The Blues continued to score at a rate of a point a minute from there with Perofeta touching down before Rieko Ioane earned a hat-trick.

Entering the final 15 minutes of the game, fatigue from the high-flying match appeared to be kicking in as the Blues made multiple errors to ease up the relentless scoring - a worrying trend from the Auckland side of late.

Eventually, the Rebels were able to make good on the extra chances with a consolation try, but Caleb Clarke responded instantly, finally crossing over in the 77th minute after a superb evening.

Clarke was back at his attacking best all night, hitting the line with power and pace like he did in his breakout rookie season before he was finally rewarded with an easy try to finish the match.

Caleb Clarke makes a linebreak against the Rebels.

The Rebels added one last try after the hooter but the damage was done.

While the scoreline was impressive and serves as a confidence booster to the team after a turbulent pair of wins in Australia, coach Leon MacDonald will want to focus on his side's lineout this week after a poor evening at the set piece.

The lineout was the one area of the game the Blues had issues with throughout the evening - and was the catalyst for both of the team's errors that allowed the Rebels to jump out to an early lead.

Despite not being tryscorers in the blowout, MacDonald will be pleased with Dalton Papalii and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's performances alongside the efforts of Clarke, Perofeta and the Ioane brothers.

MacDonald and the Blues now get to sit back and watch their opponents for next week, the Reds, take on the Highlanders in Australia in Saturday's other game knowing they've sent a firm message at home.

They're at the top of the table for a reason.

Blues 71 [Rieko Ioane 3, Akira Ioane 2, Finlay Christie, James Tucker, Hoskins Sotutu, Mark Telea, Stephen Perofeta, Caleb Clarke tries; Stephen Perofeta 8 con]

Rebels 28 [Pone Fa'aumasili, Josh Canham Brad Wilkin Reece Hodge tries; Reece Hodge 4 con]

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