Blues Rugby

Even without several All Blacks, the class of Stephen Perofeta and Mark Telea amongst others was too much for Simon Cron's side as they search for their first ...

Meanwhile, Zach Kibirige has genuine pace and he had a real ability to make a tackler miss. He came up with a couple of crucial turnovers to get the visitors out of trouble as the Blues attacked their line Sam Spink’s first 80-minute performance was full of classy touches, working tirelessly with 15 carries for 95 metres. Toni Pulu used all his experience to terrorise the Blues at the kick-off, twice sneaking his way in-between Blues bodies to disrupt their maul and earn the turnover. There’s no doubt he will add to his two caps with the All Blacks this year if he continues this form He finished well in the corner to put the game out of reach early in the second half, his fourth in four games.

The Western Force's 15-year Super Rugby hoodoo against the Blues has continued, going down 30-17 at Eden Park in spite of a spirited performance.

Winger Zach Kibirige finished off a fine all-round performance for the Force with a late try to add a bit more respectability to the scoreline when he scored a slaloming solo try with five minutes to play. Undeterred, the Force ploughed on and were able to enjoy capitalised on a sustained spell of possession when Toni Pulu picked up a low pass at his ankles to score, although the Blues again responded through a Ricky Riccitelli converted try. For all the Force’s endeavour and flashes of quality with the ball in hand, a seven-minute spell towards the end of the first half doomed their chances.

The 21-year-old has submitted an early contender for try of the season after some aerial aerobatics for the...

Karl Te Nana added, "I like the commitment from him. [All Blacks](https://wwos.nine.com.au/all-blacks) player and Blues stalwart James Parsons labelled the try "freakish". [clicking here](https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=wwos&redirect_uri=https://wwos.nine.com.au&newsletter=true)! "They definitely come with a tactic to put it in the air early – but this one, a little bit closer to the line – that is some serious hops" he said of the 29th-minute effort. The timing of the hops, that is going viral." [Tiger facing ban over act AFL is 'trying to prevent'](https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/news-2023-nathan-broad-facing-ban-over-patrick-parnell-tackle-adelaide-crows-vs-richmond-tigers/5f9d16c0-1848-4679-802e-c079e0a02a6b) [Blues](https://wwos.nine.com.au/blues). [Western Force](https://wwos.nine.com.au/western-force). "Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, his 10th match and it's his first try for the Blues and it's an absolute pearler. [Wallabies land Suaalii in major code war win](https://wwos.nine.com.au/rugby/nrl-news-2023-joseph-suaalii-leaves-roosters-for-wallabies-bid-in-big-win-for-code/537cc1bb-0449-471d-8deb-ee9d3b935b06) [Hardwick lifts lid on 'unusual' Dusty benching](https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/news-2023-dustin-martin-injury-concern-richmond-tigers-beat-adelaide-crows/7071877d-a35f-4cb3-9191-56cdec401116) After a relatively sedate start to proceedings at Eden Park, the Blues winger got the home crowd up with the opening try of the contest with the

Simon Cron has made four changes to his side starting side against the Blues, with Sam Spink to make his debut for the Force.…

Stephen Perofeta has had to step into fly-half in a refashioned Blues side dealing with WC protocols and a growing injury list. Prop Nepo Laulala, Test halves Finlay Christie and Beauden Barrett, centre Rieko Ioane and winger Caleb Clarke have each been rested due to New Zealand Rugby’s World Cup protocols. Former London Wasps outside centre Sam Spink will make his debut after an injury in the pre-season ruled him out for the first few rounds. Join The Roar for live scores and updates from 1:35pm (AEDT). 0 Perofeta

Wonder try by wing Jacob Ratumaitavaki-Kneepkens gets the Blues under way at Eden Park but the Aussies provided some of their own brilliance.

“It’s probably the hardest team in the world to crack in terms of the All Blacks in the starting line up. We’ve got a lot of young boys who are waiting for a chance like this.” Luckily I got a bit of air time on that and the rest is history.

The Blues have cruised past the Western Force at Eden Park, beating them 30-17 in their round five Super Rugby Pacific showdown.

"We knew the Force were going to come and bring it in, they're a really persistent team that you can't switch off (against) and we obviously saw that in the last 10 minutes," Blues captain Harry Plummer said. "We go to Palmerston North on Thursday, and really, we need to get something out of this tour, we need to come back with some points and so we need to regroup. "We've got to focus on our jobs here and we haven't been doing our jobs and that's on a personal level as well as a team level.

The Blues rebounded from the loss to the Crusaders with a 30-17 win over the Western Force at Eden Park.

[Jordan Lay](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/jordan-lay/) – 5 – On at 49 mins. Won an early penalty on the ball at the ruck after coming on and snatched another shortly after. Had some quality touches at first receiver. Looked dangerous on the counter-attack combining with Sullivan. [Harry Plummer](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/harry-plummer/) – 5 Blues’ best of the afternoon in a near-flawless performance on attack. His kicking game controlled the game well in the first half. Had zip and accuracy on the pass and looked dangerous when he sniped. [Hoskins Sotutu](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/hoskins-sotutu/) – 5 Made good metres out on the fringes in attack and got through 14 tackles in total. A nice offload to set up a try for Tu’ungafasi. Bagged a try running off the shoulder.

Leon MacDonald says rolling the Chiefs in Hamilton is one of the better feelings in rugby ahead of the latest instalment in the northern rivalry.

We know how good he is over the ball, he’s a natural leader as well, so it’s exciting to see him thrive. “We had a lot of opportunities to score more points, so there’s plenty to work on. It was a muddled week and we weren’t able to get a good training week in. Midfielder Bryce Heem, who limped off 10 minutes into the second spell, was the only fresh injury concern on Sunday, which could leave a choice between the fit-again Harry Plummer and Corey Evans at No 12 to face the Chiefs. Perofeta and Sotutu are at their five-game limits before All Blacks rest kicks in, but the Blues say they have been granted exemptions to play them through that. But we’re backing ourselves to go there and get the job done.” We’re going to have about 13 new players turning up Monday pretty fresh after a break, and pretty excited about the week ahead. And a lot of guys will be better for the hitout today as well.” We know that. “It’s definitely one of the games the guys get up for. It’s one of the better feelings in rugby. *

Blues prepare to welcome back a host of All Blacks for the unbeaten Chiefs this week.

It’s definitely one of the games the guys get up for. We were mixed around some of the core stuff you have to get right, the scrums and lineouts, so plenty to work on.” We weren’t able to get a good training in and it showed in the way we played,” MacDonald said. “We know we can play a game that can beat them if we’re on. It’s one of the better feelings in rugby. When he takes the line on he looks really dangerous,” MacDonald said of Perofeta. There’s a lot of guys that will be better for the hit out as well. We had a lot of gastro this week. We definitely didn’t have a lot of energy. “He was kicking the ball well out of hand. “He looked really good when we were able to get some go forward. “We looked a bit fatigued at the end.

Without several resting All Blacks, they failed to secure a bonus point against the struggling Aussies.

Remember, the Brumbies were unbeaten going into this game and are Australia's best hope of winning a Super Rugby Pacific title. But they clearly marked this ...

- Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens got a memorable try in a workmanlike win for the Blues. That was the largest crowd at a sporting event in NZ over a weekend that included top level rugby, league, and international one day cricket and football. Remember, the Brumbies were unbeaten going into this game and are Australia's best hope of winning a Super Rugby Pacific title. Players from both countries are being rested en masse, meaning it's pretty hard to take things particularly seriously when the main game of the weekend was effectively tanked by a Brumbies side that showed up without its best players. After perhaps the best start to a Super Rugby season in years, even decades, the ball has been decidedly dropped. Momentum is one of the key things in rugby if you're wanting to win, and that's not just on the field.