Rebels 23
It has been a pretty Good Friday for the Blues.
The Blues pulled away to defeat a spirited Melbourne Rebels outfit 40-23 at North Harbour Stadium in Albany tonight, the bonus point win moving them ahead of the Crusaders - temporarily at least - at the top of the New Zealand Super 15 rugby conference and to the top of the overall standings.
Two well taken tries to wing Rene Ranger and one each to wing Joe Rokocoko, second five-eighth Benson Stanley and a late match-sealers from centre Jared Payne and flanker Luke Braid secured the five points, but coach Pat Lam would not have been entirely happy with the performance against a Rebels team who have conceded some big scores away from home.
Their seventh win from nine matches takes the Blues to 39 points, although the Reds and Crusaders, both 35, would both go ahead of them with home wins tomorrow over the Waratahs and Highlanders, respectively.
The Blues looked class in patches but average in others in what was a muddling performance, with victory only secured in the final 10 minutes when Payne and Braid crossed for late tries.
They dominated possession and forced the Rebels to make a plethora of tackles, and that took its toll on the visitors late in the match.
The Blues backs were impressive with ball in hand but first five-eighth Stephen Brett was a mixed bag, replaced by Luke McAlister 12 minutes into the second half after landing just three of his eight attempts at goal in another ordinary kicking display although his general play could not be faulted.
The Rebels were dealt a blow before the match with the withdrawal of fullback Mark Gerrard because of a hamstring injury and their mood would not have brightened after the opening 20 minutes, the Blues jumping out of the blocks to a 17-3 lead.
In-form Ranger got the ball rolling with two neatly executed tries inside 10min, beating three soft attempted tackles in a 50m run down the left flank to open the scoring and then outsprinting the Rebels defence after a well weighted grubber kick from halfback Alby Mathewson following a Jerome Kaino-instigated midfield turnover.
A third try, to Rokocoko after yet another woeful piece of Rebels defending, boosted the score out to 17-3 and a sizeable score looked on the cards.
But, despite seeing little ball and being forced to make a mountain of tackles, the visitors hung in and scored two tries before the break to trail by just six points, 23-17.
League convert and former Warriors and Knights winger, Cooper Vuna, made something out of nothing when he found a gap in the line and burst 25m to score, while right wing Lachlan Mitchell finished of a move down the right flank after the Blues turned the ball over in midfield.
First five-eighth Danny Cirpiani's tidy kicking display kept Rebels in the match.
A brilliant runaway try to Stanley after he cleverly stripped Cipriani of the ball and sprinted 50m took the Blues to a comfortable 11-point lead early in the second half but Cipriani's boot dragged them back to within striking distance before Payne and Braid made the game safe.
Blues 40 (Rene Ranger 2, Luke Braid, Jared Payne, Joe Rokocoko, Benson Stanley tries Stephen Brett, Luke McAlister cons Brett 2 pens) bt Melbourne Rebels 23 (Lachlan Mitchell, Cooper Vuna tries Danny Cipriani 2 cons 3 pens) at Eden Park. Referee: Keith Brown.
- NZPA
