The Blues put in a strong second half to beat Moana Pasifika. Photo / Photosport
Moana Pasifika 19
Blues 45
History didn’t repeat at North Harbour Stadium.
Moana Pasifika’s only win over a New Zealand team came against the Blues at the same stadium last year and this was something that had certainly stuck with the visitors.
The result had been spoken about during the week, but the way the Blues started the game, you would have thought they hadn’t learned any lessons.
Play was concentrated around the middle of the park to start the fixture, with plenty of kicks back and forth on a night with perfect conditions for runs with the ball in hand.
Tana Umaga’s men gained the upper hand early on, swarming the breakdown and putting too much pressure on the Blues by about the 10th minute which resulted in multiple penalties being conceded.
Moana Pasifika borrowed from the Springboks playbook with a midfield lineout move, which was swiftly followed by Millennium Sanerivi barrelling over the line to give the home team a 5-0 lead.
The Blues continued to face sustained pressure and conceded five penalties between the eighth and 18th minute and the clock ticked past the 20th minute before Moana Pasifika conceded their first penalty and relieved pressure on the visitors.
Vern Cotter’s side were able to take advantage of their first sniff of the tryline with a well-worked set piece that saw prop Marcel Renata level the scores and Stephen Perofeta convert to hand the Blues the lead.
Moana Pasifika hit back themselves with a play straight off the training ground to give Sanerivi his second try of the night, this time converted by William Havili.
The Blues continued to look ill-disciplined throughout the first half and had conceded eight penalties in the first 33 minutes, but each try from Moana Pasifika only encouraged the visitors to wake up.
An injury to Ben Ake did not distract the Blues from a strong run from the remaining forwards inside the 22 before the ball was swung out wide and Kade Banks ran the ball into the corner with two defenders wrapped around him.
The 14-12 lead from the Blues at halftime seemed harsh on Moana Pasifika, who looked much the better team going into the sheds.
Whatever Cotter said to his team at halftime shot thousands of volts of energy into the Blues, who looked a completely different side in the second half.
The visitors scored almost straight after the kickoff, putting heavy pressure on their opponents before Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu grounded the ball just to the right of the posts to extend his side’s lead.
The Blues’ pedestrian first half made each player look like they were performing at 100km/h and another try, this time from substitute James Mullan – his first since moving up from Canterbury – came from a strong charge, aided by his pack, in a move that started at the 5m line.
Whatever was going right for Moana Pasifika in the first half did not go well in the second.
Despite some flashes of brilliance, including an impressive line break from Israel Leota, the home team couldn’t hang with the Blues.
Perofeta was next to score a try, starting with an impressive dummy off a turnover ball followed by an almost unobstructed run to the line.
He was unable to convert his own try and was taken off just after 60 minutes, having put in an impressive performance with the boot and off the high ball.
Beauden Barrett took his place and it didn’t take long before he crossed the tryline as well. Some patient play from the Blues deep inside Moana Pasifika’s 22 saw the ball eventually flung out wide, making its way to the first five-eighth following a drop from Banks.
Moana Pasifika continued to show fight through to the end, Chris Apoua able to score the second try of his career after some strong runs from the team’s forwards.
However, the Blues continued their onslaught, spreading the tries around again, this time to substitute Terrell Peita.
Moana Pasifika are now 10 games without a win, while the Blues take a bonus point with them into second place on the Super Rugby Pacific ladder.
Moana Pasifika 19 (Mills Sanerivi 2 tries, Chris Apoua; William Havili 2 cons)
Blues 45 (Marcel Renata, Kade Banks, Patrick Tuipulotu, James Mullan, Stephen Perofeta, Beauden Barrett, Peita tries; Stephen Perofeta 4 cons, Beauden Barrett con)
HT: 12-14