2019-03-09 10:22

Cape Town – Four tries from winger Rieko Ioane has helped the Blues secure their first win of the Super Rugby season after they downed a plucky Sunwolves side 28-20 in Auckland.

The Blues came from 6-0 down to lead the Sunwolves 15-13 at half-time with two tries from Ioane and a penalty and conversion from Harry Plummer.

Rikiya Matsuda scored all the Sunwolves points with a converted try and two penalties.

Ioane scored twice more in the second half with Otere Black adding a penalty, while Uwe Helu scored a second try for the Sunwolves.

“It’s been a tough few weeks,” a relieved Blues hooker James Parson said after the Blues dedicated the win to the memory of former squad member Michael Tamoaieta, who died last week.

“The way our scrum performed tonight it was all for Mikey, he was with us tonight.”

Next week the Sunwolves travel to Australia to take on the Reds while the Blues have a bye. 

Scorers

Blues

Tries:  Rieko Ioane (4)

Conversion: Harry Plummer

Penalties: Harry Plummer, Otere Black

Sunwolves

Tries: Rikiya Matsuda, Uwe Helu

Conversions: Rikiya Matsuda (2)

Penalties: Rikiya Matsuda (2)

Teams

Blues

15 Melani Nanai, 14 Tanielu Tele’a, 13 TJ Faiane, 12 Sonny Bill Williams (captain), 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Harry Plummer, 9 Augustine Pulu, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Blake Gibson, 6 Tom Robinson, 5 Josh Goodhue, 4 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 3 Sione Mafileo, 2 James Parsons, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe

Substitutes: 16 Matt Moulds, 17 Marcel Renata, 18 Lua Li, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 Dalton Papalii, 21 Sam Nock, 22 Otere Black, 23 Levi Aumua

Sunwolves

15 Semisi Masirewa, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jason Emery, 12 Michael Little (captain), 11 Jamie Henry, 10 Rikiya Matsuda, 9 Jamie Booth, 8 Rahboni Warren Vosayaco, 7 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 James Moore, 4 Tom Rowe, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 1 Pauliasi Manu

Substitutes: 16 Nathan Vella, 17 Alex Woonton, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Uwe Helu, 20 Dan Pryor, 21 Keisuke Uchida, 22 Hayden Parker, 23 Phil Burleigh