A Bryce Heem hat-trick yesterday headlined a rampant Auckland Blues 48-21 victory over the New South Wales Waratahs, while the Waikato Chiefs whipped the ACT Brumbies 40-19 and the Canterbury Crusaders downed the Queensland Reds 63-28, as New Zealand clubs went on a try frenzy in the Super Rugby Trans Tasman.
Heem’s triple was part of a seven-try romp for the Blues who have chalked up back-to-back bonus-point wins to lead the competition, while the Chiefs scored six against the Brumbies.
The Blues have posted 98 points from two matches in an impressive start to the competition, while the Waratahs have conceded 86 and along the way extended their losing streak to 10 for the club’s worst run of losses in Super Rugby.
Photo: AFP
It was by no means a perfect performance from the Blues, but their aggressive running game and powerful outside backs proved decisive with Heem scoring three times, Rieko Ioane once and Heem also setting up a try to hardworking flanker Tom Robinson.
Despite the high scoreline, following a 50-3 win over the Melbourne Rebels last week, Blues captain Robinson said his side still lacked consistency.
“We fell into that trap when we come out with a good start and then they fought back and we were into a dogfight,” he said.
“I don’t think we quite earned it until that second half, so it’s a work on,” he added.
Waratahs skipper Jake Gordon said that lapses of concentration let his side down.
“It’s been the story of the year. We put ourselves in good positions, we had the Blues stretched at points and then errors around the breakdown, loose ball, and the Blues did a great job off turnovers,” he said.
Along with tries to Heem, Ioane and Robinson, the Blues were awarded a penalty try and a try to Kurt Eklund while Otere Black landed four conversions and a penalty.
For the Brumbies, tries were scored by Angus Bell, Jake Gordon and David Porecki with all three converted by Will Harrison.
The Chiefs, who could consider themselves fortunate to sneak home over the Western Force last week in Perth produced a more confident performance at home in Hamilton, where their forwards dominated against the Brumbies.
Captain Brad Weber put the improvement down to a change of attitude.
“After our performance last week, we thought we’re going to have to go for it and the boys up front laid a good platform and we were able to score a few tries off that,” he said.
Backrower Luke Jacobson scored twice in the first half from pushover tries and lock Tupou Vaa’i scored from a lineout drive, while the Brumbies’ early points came from Len Ikitau who stepped around Damian McKenzie to score.
In the second half, McKenzie, Alex Nankivell and Anton Lienert-Brown scored tries, all converted by McKenzie, while Bayley Kuenzle and Rob Valetini scored for the Brumbies with Noah Lolesio adding the extras.
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