Blues blown off park

Rodney So'oialo hits Blues halfback John Senio in the Eden Park match last night. Picture / Dean Purcell

It was a meltdown usually associated with the Hurricanes. But in a role reversal last night at Eden Park, the visitors charged to a startling 37-19 victory to celebrate the birth of the Super 14 while the Blues dissolved.

After an unlikely and stilted first half, the Hurricanes reached into their attacking kitbag to claim five second-half tries and turn the game and the Blues superiority upside down.

It was a remarkable turnaround built on a resilient pack topped up by the energy and opportunism of brilliant attacking backs like Ma'a Nonu and Lome Fa'atau.

It was a shock for David Nucifora and his coaching start with the Blues and vindication of Colin Cooper's rhetoric that his side had to deliver. They did and repeated their win at the same venue last season.

A decent crowd of about 35,200 had arrived expecting more fireworks than the pre-match activities. It had been 111 days since they had been served up some serious rugby fare at Eden Park when Auckland won the last NPC crown.

The spectators' eagerness for action only met with serious frustration for almost half an hour as the sides battered away at each other testing their tackling techniques. A sure sign of the boredom came when the trite Mexican wave made its appearance.

The Hurricanes had a large chunk of the ball during that opening period but their attack lacked an edge to it and the more they were sacked by the rugged Blues defence, the more they reverted to individual surges by Tana Umaga or Jerry Collins.

Umaga slid through dangerously several times but messed up the offload while Collins, named as the most feared player in the series by a recent poll of Australian players, was dealt to effectively.

A couple of alignment hiccups with the Blues scrum were cured, the lineout drives started to return and from one incursion, Tasesa Lavea broke the game open.

He had been kicking for territory or slinging the ball wide and when he faked to do that again near the Hurricanes 22, the defence slid off the five-eighths. He took the gap and with the defences in retreat found Ben Atiga on the cut who scored.

It was a classy execution, and for the most part the Blues backs were more cohesive and threatening in their work.

McAlister converted the only try of the half and three other penalties the Hurricanes conceded to give the hosts a useful 16-3 lead at the break.

That margin and superiority was reduced quickly on the teams' return when the Hurricanes used an overlap and fullback Isaia Toeava used a reverse flick pass to put Fa'atau across the line.

The pair were in the action again to put Umaga in for another try although two passes in the move were very flat at best. Umaga left the field with a tender leg but Ma'a Nonu, who shifted from the wing to second five-eighths, scored two minutes later when he steamrolled a groggy Steve Devine and then battered his way over.

The pain became worse for the Blues when halfback John Senio was clobbered by powerhouse Chris Masoe who regained the ball and sent Fa'atau in for his double.

Blues: (B. Atiga try; L. McAlister con, 4 pen)

Hurricanes: (L. Fa'atau 2, T. Umaga, M. Nonu, J. Collins; tries, J. Gopperth 2 con, pen; D. Holwell con, pen)

Halftime: 3-16