The visiting Blues were made to work hard for their 34 -18 win by their hosts, the Southern Kings, in the Super Rugby clash at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday evening.
Five minutes after the full-time siren hooter had sounded, the Blues ran in the bonus-point try after a terrific rally which ended leftwing Tevita Li touching down wide out. The conversion by substitute Matt McGahan failed but it was a fitting end to a hard-fought contest in which the Blues outscored the Blues 5-2 in the try count.
Despite the 16-point losing margin, the Kings produced a vastly improved performance.
The Kings had their moments in the first half and at one stage enjoyed a 10-5 lead but as the match wound its course, the class of the visiting Kiwis prevailed and by the time the teams changed ends at halftime, there were no doubts who the eventual winner would be.
The Kings were game competitors throughout but once the Tana Umaga-coached Blues got into their stride, their attacking ploys proved too much to contain. The Blues captain, hooker James Parsons, scored his side’s first try before rightwing Melani Nanai crossed twice in quick succession as the match reached the half-hour mark.
Flyhalf Ihaia West goaled both Nanai’s tries to wrap up the Blues’ first-half 19-point haul.
Kings halfback James Hall scored an opportunist 13th-minute try when he pressed the ball against the base of the upright and a conversion and a penalty by flyhalf Elgar Watts, gave the home side their first-half 10 points.
The Kings returned from the halftime break with a fresh sense urgency and went on to enjoy a decided territorial advantage which they exploited to good effect.
After a 43rd minute setback when West gave the Auckland-based side a three-point advance via a penalty (22-10), the Kings imposed themselves on the match and scored eight points which left them trailing 22-18. Hooker Edgar Marutlulle scored an unconverted try in the 53rd minute and fullback Jurgen Visser landed a long-range penalty six minutes later.
This must have raised hopes in the Kings’ ranks that they could be on the cusp of an upset win but they were unable to sustain the pressure later on in the match when they allowed the substitute Billy Guyton in for a soft try. West’s conversion took the scoreline out to 29-18 with 10 minutes’ playing time left.
It took the Blues all of five minutes after the siren had sounded to bag a bonus-point try (unconverted) through winger Li (34-18).
Scorers: Southern Kings 18 (10): Tries: James Hall, Edgar Marutlulle. Conversion: Elgar Watts. Penalties: Watts, Jurgen Visser,
Blues 34 (19): Tries: James Parsons, Melani Nanai (2), Billy Guyton, Tevita Li. Conversions: Ihaia West (3). Penalts: West - Africa News Agency
