– This article was originally published on Stuff and is reproduced with permission
Beauden Barrett returned in style, while All Blacks team-mate Anton Lienert-Brown was left in a sling, as the Blues went 2-0 in the Battle of the Bombays with a commanding display in Hamilton on Saturday night.
In his first game since a head knock against the Highlanders a fortnight ago, Barrett pulled the strings superbly and put on some classic star plays in a three-try, 25-0 shutout of the Chiefs at FMG Stadium Waikato.
With fellow ABs Hoskins Sotutu and Rieko Ioane also in good touch after a fortnight out, too, the visitors fought off three yellow cards and a stint with 13 men, to hand the Chiefs a double dose of defeat following their win at Eden Park five weeks prior.
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In front of a crowd of 11,611, it was a second successive home loss for the Chiefs, having had three tries ruled out on a night of frustration where they couldn’t capitalise on their numerical advantage after an initial Blues onslaught.
Adding to their woes was star centre Lienert-Brown leaving in the seventh minute clutching his shoulder after a cleanout from Sam Nock, and from 13-0 down at halftime, they couldn’t find the strike they needed to get themselves back in the contest.
Having survived their two-man deficit without any score added, Barrett then came up with double delight – a beautiful offload and then a crosskick – in setting up the second of Tom Robinson’s two tries which put the Blues well clear.
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Both teams had late changes – Emoni Narawa and Kaleb Trask out for the Chiefs, and Fin Christie a late withdrawal in the warmup for the Blues, then after Lienert-Brown’s injury things quickly got worse for the hosts.
After a 10th minute yellow card to Kaylum Boshier for a tip tackle on Josh Goodhue, the Blues’ pressure eventually told five minutes later when Robinson rolled over on an inside ball from Kurt Eklund.
Stephen Perofeta slotted penalties either side to make it 13-0 after half an hour, as the Chiefs camped inside their own end and found themselves staring down a 7-1 penalty count from referee Paul Williams.
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All of a sudden the momentum was all theirs, though, in the late stages of the half, and it was the visitors’ turn to see their penalty count rise, but somehow, even camped in their 22, with 13 men, they held on.
Luke Romano was sin binned in the 36th minute for playing the ball in a ruck, but a charging Pita Gus Sowakula was held up, then Nock joined his mate in the bin after not rolling from a tackle, and though it looked like the Chiefs finally had points after the halftime siren, with Samisoni Taukei’aho diving in the corner off a nice lineout play, Ofa Tuungafasi was proven a hero with his desperate tackle in fact seeing the ball knocked on.
The big moment
It had to be Tom Robinson’s brilliant try to open the second-half scoring in the 54th minute. On the back of a double dose of Beauden Barrett brilliance – a back-flick offload then a pinpoint crosskick – the blindside flanker had his double and after the conversion the Blues were out to 20-0.
Match rating
6/10: There were still patches of fine play, but it was never able to reach any great heights such was the lopsided scoreline, and a flurry of yellow cards.
The big picture
The Blues advance to 6-1 and will take a big dose of confidence into the short turnaround to their Good Friday clash against the Crusaders in Christchurch, while the Chiefs are now 4-3, nine points behind the table-topping Crusaders, and face Moana Pasifika in Hamilton next Saturday.
MVP
In his first game back from the head knock suffered against the Highlanders a fortnight ago, Beauden Barrett showed his classic mix of game control and star plays to prove a highly influential figure as the Blues made the most of all their chances.
Blues 25 (Tom Robinson 2 tries 16min, 53min, AJ Lam try 74min; Stephen Perofeta 2 con, 2 pen) Chiefs 0. HT: 13-0
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