Rokocoko inspires the Blues
The Blues made a winning return to Eden Park as they ran in five tries past the Brumbies to secure a thrilling 39-34 victory.
Last Updated: 22/03/10 11:26am
The Blues made a winning return to Eden Park on Saturday as they ran in five tries past the Brumbies to secure a thrilling 39-34 victory.
Two tries from Joe Rokocoko and a storming performance from Rene Ranger had the Auckland crowd in raptures as the Blues raced to victory at their first game at Eden Park this season.
The Brumbies had led 16-10 at the break after a closely-fought first half, but the Blues turned on the gas early in the second period to charge ahead.
Not that it was a one-sided affair as the Brumbies thoroughly deserve their losing bonus point
For the second straight week it was the Brumbies pack that would get the scoreboard rolling. Off the base of a strong scrum the visitors drove at the Blues tryline with Salesi Maafu eventually crashing over after 10 minutes.
Matt Giteau added the conversion before exchanging penalties with Stephen Brett, who made sure the Blues secured some points from their first visit to Brumbies territory.
The Blues closed the gap when Rokocoko scored a scintillating try. Ranger bust through the Brumbies line before supplying a brilliant offload for the flying Rokocoko to score.
Giteau added two more penalties to give the Brumbies a 16-10 half-time lead.
Bang
The Blues started the second period with a bang, scoring two tries in the space of six minutes.
Ranger had the crowd on their feet again with a storming run, using his power and pace to touch down.
And the big centre was at the origin of the next try too, counter attacking from deep to put Blues on the front foot. Isaia Toeava found Benson Stanley out wide and the centre burnt up the touchline to finish.
Giteau replied with another penalty, but the Blues had their tails up and when Brett found Rokocoko out wide with a pin-point cross field kick-pass, the wing was all alone to score his second and the Blues' fourth.
Again Giteau replied with three points from the tee, only to see the Blues cross the whitewash again. After the Brumbies had fluffed the restart, Brett found Toeava on his inside, the full-back ran a great line and pinned his ears back to fly over.
Brett's conversion made the score 36-22 before the Brumbies struck back with replacement hooker Huia Edmonds bashing his way over from short range.
The Brumbies continued their fightback in the dying minutes as replacement scrum-half Patrick Phibbs sprinted 20m to score after Rocky Elsom broke clear. Giteau's conversion closed the gap to just two points and set up a grandstand finish.
The home side would have the last laugh however, the blue-clad pack bashed their way forward to set up Brett for the drop goal. The fly-half made no mistake, sending the ball between the sticks with just a minute left on the clock to secure victory.
