A derby match which had a red-hot build-up and featured a first-half red card for Moana Pasifika’s Augustine Pulu was finished in cool fashion by the Blues at Eden Park this afternoon.
The home side, under pressure at the end of the first half as their near neighbours fought their way back almost to even terms at halftime, poured on 28 unanswered points in the second half to win 43-7.
The bonus point victory for the Blues lifts them to second on the Super Rugby Pacific leaderboard but equal on 15 competition points below the Hurricanes and above the Brumbies.
Moana Pasifika, who beat the Blues the last time these sides met, are clearly missing the quality and leadership of Ardie Savea and have won only one match this season.
The result and performance should be considered a huge setback and their head coach Tana Umaga, linked with an All Blacks assistant coach role during the week and who also lashed out at the Blues for allegedly not being the most cordial of neighbours.
Interestingly, after distancing himself from the All Blacks job, Umaga afterwards confirmed he had been in talks with new head coach Dave Rennie.
"I've been approached, I've had a few chats with Dave," Umaga told Sky Sports.
It now believed that Umaga's official naming as an All Blacks assistant is only a formality but there is little doubt he will be attempting to relieve his franchise of any potential distractions.
The visitors had an edge at the set piece and put a huge amount of pressure on the Blues’ scrum and lineout, but their defence, especially in the second half, was leaky beyond repair and their discipline was not up to standard.
Halfback Pulu received a yellow card for his high tackle on opposite Sam Nock which was upgraded to a 20-minute red card.
And, with under three minutes remaining, Moana fullback William Havili was yellow carded for another alarming high tackle on Blues loose forward Anton Segner.
There would have been grounds to upgrade that one to red too, but the fulltime siren sounded before a decision could be made by the television match official. Any further sanction will be handled by the competition's citing officer.
Tries from Nock and AJ Lam had put the Blues ahead, with Moana hooker Millennium Sanerivi replying for the visitors.
Ofa Tu’ungafasi went over from close range again for the Blues as they made the most of their dominance around the fringes, but another missed Beauden Barrett conversion attempt left the door open for Moana to come back before halftime and they thought they had when second-five Lalomilo Lalomilo and halfback Joel Lam crossed the line only to see both tries scrubbed out – the first for a technical issue and the second for obstruction.
Television footage from the Blues changing room at halftime showed them receiving a spray from head coach Vern Cotter and they responded by making the most of the wind at their backs and an improved effort from their pack which meant they spent almost the entire half in the opposition’s territory.
Marcel Renata, Sam Darry, Codemeru Vai and Mason Tupaea were beneficiaries in terms of second-half try scorers and while Moana Pasifika occasionally challenged through their set piece pressure and continuity game, a Blues defence which did for the Crusaders last weekend was too secure.
Umaga’s men had little left, and apart from an excellent return from injury for former All Blacks prop Atu Moli, little to celebrate.
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