Dazzling Blues bamboozle Melbourne Rebels 71-28 in Super Rugby Pacific slaughter

At Eden Park, Auckland: Blues 71 (Akira Ioane 2 tries 7min, 13min, Finlay Christie try 22min, James Tucker try 24min, Hoskins Sotutu try 31min, Rieko Ioane 3 tries 36min, 51min, 63min, Mark Telea try 39min, Stephen Perofeta try 58min, Caleb Clarke try 77min; Perofeta 8 con), Rebels 28 (Pone Fa’amausii try 2min, Josh Canham try 5min, Brad Wilkin try 74min, Reece Hodge try 81min; Hodge 4 con). HT: 47-14

Home sweet home. Leon MacDonald’s Blues celebrated their first match at Eden Park in over a month with their best attacking performance of the Super Rugby Pacific season to underline their 2src22 title credentials.

The Blues, on a perfect Friday night for ball-in-hand footy, buried an outmatched Melbourne Rebels side 71-28 with an attacking masterclass to run in 11 tries in total, seven of them coming in a spectacular first half, to extend their win streak to 1src – now just two short of the franchise record mark of the 1997 championship-winning outfit.

MacDonald’s men have maybe played better. Maybe. That 25-src shutout of the Chiefs in Hamilton was clinical, and the victory the following week against the Crusaders in Christchurch notable. But they have not looked more dangerous in 2src22, led by a hat-trick performance from in-form centre Rieko Ioane who carried for 121 metres, beat 7 defenders and unleashed 2 clean breaks.

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MacDonald would be rapt with the performances of all his men. Prop Ofa Tuungafasi showed some welcome deft touches to go with the power stuff, Akira Ioane, in just his second match of the year, was impressive with two scores and 1srcsrcm on the carry, while James Tucker, Kurt Eklund and Hoskins Sot