Replacement winger Rudi Wulf scored two tries as the Auckland Blues overwhelmed the Queensland Reds 38-13 in a Super 14 rugby match on Saturday.
Wulf scored a try in each half at Eden Park as the Blues scored four tries for a bonus point and moved atop the competition standings at 3-1 midway through the fourth round.
Reds coach Eddie Jones earned a heavy fine last week for his attack on the referee who controlled his team’s third-round match, a 6-3 loss to the ACT Brumbies.
Jones left himself open to attacks on his own approach on Saturday for his team’s negative style, their focus on rolling drives, kicking, smothering defence and their attempts to kill opposition ball at breakdowns.
Flanker David Croft was sin-binned for the second consecutive match for a series of professional fouls, but he was only one of several Queenslanders bent on slowing Auckland’s running game by strangling their possession at rucks.
The tactic worked in the first half when a paucity of second-phase play saw the Blues struggle to a one-try, 13-6 half-time lead.
Auckland broke the shackles in the second half, lifting their forward effort to dominate both set and loose play and breaking or outflanking the Queensland defence through their outstanding back-line runners.
”It wasn’t a complete effort but we’re pleased with the win,” Blues captain Troy Flavell said. ”There are a lot of areas of our game still letting us down. There are a lot of passes that don’t stick, and if we want to be an effective, championship-winning team, we have to clean those up.”
Queensland competed until half-time but their one-paced approach was not enough to counter the Blues when they lifted after half-time. ”We were right in it at half-time, but the Blues came out wanting it more and they played better,” said Reds captain John Rowe. ”In the second half they played Blues-style football and we couldn’t compete.”
The Blues took 31 minutes to cross, through Wulf, after a breakout by Flavell and an outstanding run by Toeava.
Nacewa scored and converted their second try in the 50th minute, diving low through the Queensland defensive wall after Wulf and Toeava had opened up the screen with strong running.
Wulf had his second try in the 66th minute and flanker Jerome Kaino clinched the bonus point two minutes from full-time.
Nacewa kicked two conversions and a penalty, while McAlister added four goals from four attempts, including two penalties from 50m. — Sapa-AP