An opening scoring blitz set up the Auckland Blues for a 41-14 drubbing of the Golden Lions to stay on top of the Super 14 rugby table in Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday.
The Blues took maximum points from the game with six tries, two of them to winger Doug Howlett, who finished the game level with former Brumbie Joe Roff’s Super rugby record of 57 tries.
But while the Blues could be proud of their first-half performance, in which they had a bonus-point try within half-an-hour, the second spell was a sloppy affair.
They led 34-7 at the turn and the only points in the second half were a converted try to both sides in the final 10 minutes.
But the game was almost wrapped up in the blistering opening burst, when the Blues caught the Lions napping and piled on 15 unanswered points.
They had too much power and pace for the visitors, and put added pressure on the Lions by close-marking flyhalf Andre Pretorius to cut down his options.
Big back rower Nick Williams, with his first touch of the ball in his first game of the season, broke through four tackles in a rumble up to the line that ended with a try to flyhalf Dave Holwell, also in his first start of 2007.
Minutes later Holwell converted a try by Rudi Wulf, then added a penalty and the Blues were up 15-0 after eight minutes.
In one of the Lions’ few forays up to the Blues’ line, Pretorius found enough room to lodge an acute cross kick, which Blues fullback Ben Atiga fumbled, allowing Louis Ludik to dive through and score his second try in Super rugby.
Pretorius’s conversion narrowed the gap to 15-7, but that was to be as close as the Lions would get.
The Blues bounced back with two tries from turnover ball, one to Howlett and the other to Atiga, and Daniel Braid was fortunate to be awarded a try by the television match official.
Holwell landed two more conversions to take the Blues ahead 34-7 at the turn with the only points in the second half coming from a converted try to Howlett in the 70th minute, which the Lions countered when replacement hooker Ethienne Reynecke was driven over from a line-out in the final minute.
As handling errors from both sides robbed the game of class in the second half, interest turned to the personal battle between Howlett and Lions fullback Earl Rose.
It started when Rose landed on Howlett’s head in a tackle and ended with the All Blacks wing twice sending the Lions fullback flat on his back in crunching tackles. — AFP
