The Blues have kept their season alive with their most dominant showing of the season, beating the Western Force 40-19 on Friday night.
The Force came out firing and had early chances, but the Blues’ defensive grit held firm, stopping two likely tries with pressure and forced errors. Once the Blues got some front-foot ball, it didn’t take long to turn momentum into points.
A powerful scrum five metres out in the 15th minute set the platform for the opener, with Marcel Renata spotting a gap and crashing over. Minutes later, a clever Beauden Barrett kick and a ruck turnover put the Blues back in striking range. Cole Forbes linked up with Rieko Ioane to get close, and after a few hard carries, Barrett found Forbes again who strolled over to take a 12-0 lead.
The Force dominated possession late in the first half, but the Blues stood tall on defence stopping two near-certain tries with desperate pressure that forced knock-ons and gave the visitors no space. Eventually, the Force cracked through via a lineout drive in the 36th minute, closing the gap to 12–7 at the break.
The Blues wasted no time reasserting control. Straight from the second-half kickoff, they set a lineout drive on the 10-metre line, with Dalton Papali’i peeling off the back to launch the attack.
Strong carries from Xavi Taele and Rieko Ioane pushed the Blues into striking range. Then Barrett spotted acres of space out wide and flung a miracle ball to AJ Lam, who finished superbly to extend the lead to 19–7.
The Force struck back quickly reducing the lead, but the Blues immediately went on the attack, after forcing a five metre scrum the Blues put on a massive shove and gaining a penalty advantage and firing the ball wide to AJ Lam who looked to score a double, which was ruled out due to a knock on in the buildup.
The Blues set another scrum and this time wouldn’t be denied, with Laghlan McWhannell charging over to extend the lead once again.
In the play of the game, Forbes bagged his second try in style. Following a free kick from a scrum, Barrett spotted the Force winger drifting infield, leaving space down the right edge. He wasted no time, delivering a pinpoint kick into Forbes’ hands, who gathered cleanly and finished in the corner to push the Blues out to a 33–14 lead.
The Force wouldn’t go away, adding a third try late, but the Blues had the final say. Forbes nearly had a hat-trick from another Barrett cross-kick but couldn’t finish it. From the resulting scrum, Josh Beehre bashed over to seal the win and the all-important bonus point.
Dominance at set piece laid the platform for a strong performance, with the Blues earning multiple scrum penalties and applying pressure on the Force up front.
Barrett steered the ship brilliantly, unlocking the defence with sharp passing and pinpoint kicking. Patrick Tuipulotu and Dalton Papali’i were rocks on defence, each notching two turnovers, and combining for 35 tackles.
A big step forward, but the job’s not done yet. A massive test awaits in Suva on Friday against the Fijian Drua and you won’t want to miss it.