The Auckland Blues stormed to the top of the Super Rugby standings by wearing down the Otago Highlanders 15-10 in a dour defensive derby in Dunedin yesterday.
The All Black-studded Blues secured the grinding away victory at Carisbrook without scoring a try, instead relying on the boot of scrumhalf Luke McAlister to notch all of their points through five penalty goals.
The win gave the Blues a clean sweep of their New Zealand conference opponents and extended their undefeated run in the southern hemisphere tournament to eight straight matches.
Blues skipper Keven Mealamu dedicated the win to ill lock Kurtis Haiu, who took himself out of the side to deal with a cancer scare.
“We played for a special man today ... Kurtis that one’s for you mate,” hooker Mealamu told reporters. “If you play a lot in your half against a side like [the Highlanders], they’ll sting you ... You’ve got to take the territory against a team like this.”
The Highlanders dominated possession for large stretches, but let themselves down repeatedly with discipline lapses and they were reduced to 14 men for much of the second half because of two yellow cards.
The first saw lock Jarrad Hoeata sin-binned for a ruck infringement on the stroke of halftime.
The second to replacement Aaron Smith was for a dangerous lifting tackle and it robbed the Highlanders of their full complement as they sought a potentially match-winning try with less than five minutes left.
The Highlanders trailed 9-0 after McAlister slotted his third penalty after the halftime siren, but came charging out of the blocks after the break.
Fullback Robbie Robinson capitalized on a drive to the line, clambering between two tacklers to cross right of the posts a minute after halftime for the match’s only try.
Robinson converted to bring the score back to 9-7, but McAlister’s boot held the Highlanders at bay twice more, his 66th-minute penalty maintaining the Blues’ five-point advantage.
Robinson crucially missed a 69th-minute penalty to shave the deficit to two points and the Blues defended grimly in the final minutes to grind out the win.
The Blues’ reign at the top of the Super standings may be short-lived, however, with Australian challengers, the Queensland Reds, able to claim back the lead with an away win over the struggling Wellington Hurricanes today.
The Highlanders’ third loss of the season leaves them clinging to sixth and the last playoff spot, six points above the Waratahs, who will hope to reduce the gap with a win over the Rebels today.
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