Blues beat Lions, Crusaders beat Sunwolves in Super Rugby

Winger Rieko Ioane scored two tries as the Auckland-based Blues overran South Africa's Lions 43-10 in Super Rugby Saturday, posting their first home win of the season. The match continued a major revival for Ioane, who lost his All Blacks starting spot at last year's World Cup in Japan, and for the Blues who move temporarily atop the New Zealand conference with a 4-2 record.

The Blues last won the Super Rugby title in 2003 but, with recent wins over New Zealand rivals and in matches home and away, begin to shape as title contenders.

The match was tight at first and the Blues led by only 15-10 after 35 minutes. But a penalty try just before the break, for a professional foul by Lions flanker Ruan Vermaak, gave the Blues a comfortable lead and confidence going into the second half.

"We let ourselves down with our discipline, they were camped in our 22 especially in the first half," Blues captain T.J. Faiane said. "But we stayed confident in our systems and not giving away too many penalties and for me that's the most pleasing thing."

The Blues were able to find huge amounts of space in the second half against a narrow and often disorganised Lions defense, which struggled to quickly address multiple attacking threats. The Blues backs and forwards combined in a series of superb attacking rushes that left the Lions flat-footed.

The Lions recently were South Africa's most exciting attacking team and their best performers on the road. But they have become one-dimensional this season, relying on lineout drives or building painstakingly through one-off runners. That made them easy targets for the Blues, who were able to isolate players and force turnovers.

"We pride ourselves on a fast start and a good start and I really think we had it," Lions captain Elton Jantjies said. "But psychologically our discipline just cost us."

Ioane scored the first try of the match in the eighth minute, using his power rather than speed to break the Lions' defense. The Lions replied with their only try in the 16th minute, breaking down the Blues resistance after multiple phases.

A superb try to fullback Stephen Perofeta after a Lions turnover gave the Blues a 15-10 lead and the penalty try put them comfortably ahead at halftime.

Ioane scored his second soon after the break as the Blues became increasingly dominant. Tries to Gerard Cowley-Tuioti and Hoskins Sotutu earned the Blues a valuable bonus point.

Later the defending champion Crusaders, reduced to 13 men in the last 15 minutes, stuttered to a 49-14 win over Japan's Sunwolves in Brisbane. The match was transferred from Tokyo as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

A scratch Crusaders lineup lacked the cohesion at first to break down a stubborn Sunwolves defense. Fullback George Bridge brought a touch of class, providing the last pass in tries to Sevu Reece and Tom Christie that gave the Christchurch-based Crusaders a 14-7 halftime lead.

The Crusaders started the second half with a try but the Sunwolves replied with a fine solo try to flyhalf Garth April to keep the game close at 21-14 after 55 minutes.

Reece's second and a try to Sione Havili gave the Crusaders a 35-14 lead before they were reduced to 14 men when replacement Hugh Roach was shown a red card for elbowing. They were down to 13 men when Reece received a yellow card but still managed tries to Braydon Ennor and Fergus Burke.

Saturday's match between the Jaguares and Highlanders in Buenos Aires will be played without spectators after the mayor of Buenos Aires banned mass gatherings. Fans will be allowed to attend all other matches in this round but from next weekend's eighth round and until further notice matches in Australia will be played in closed stadiums.

Later Saturday, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced all travelers arriving in New Zealand from midnight Sunday will have to self-isolate for 14 days, making most Super Rugby matches apart from New Zealand derbies impractical.

The Dunedin-based Highlanders, who are in Argentina, face quarantine if they can't return home by the deadline.

(Pic Credit: pixabay)