Blues hit their stride with dominant win over Drua in Fiji

The Blues are on track to play finals football, with the defending Super Rugby Pacific champions claiming a comprehensive 34-5 win over the Fijian Drua in Suva. With Moana Pasifika on a bye, the Blues will finish round 13 inside the top six.

After beating the Western Force by 21 points last week at Eden Park, the Blues’ quest to qualify for the playoffs was alive and well, finishing the round in seventh. The Force would need to put a cricket score on the Brumbies to leapfrog the Blues this weekend.

The Hurricanes, who are now in sixth with the Force in seventh, aren’t playing this week.

As for the Drua, they will remain in last place on the standings, with their hopes of making the top six all but over. The Fijians only have two more matches in the regular season, hosting the Force before visiting Brisbane to take on the Queensland Reds.

Fans packed the stands ahead of a rare night fixture at home for the Dura, with Beauden Barrett eventually getting the match underway with a well-placed kick-off. It didn’t take long for the visitors to take control, with the Blues dominating possession early on.

On at least two occasions, the Blues did some damage at the set-piece, as the forwards made metres for fun with their rolling maul. These efforts off multiple lineouts nearly led to points in the fourth minute, with hooker Ricky Riccitelli knocking the ball on over the line.

It was a brief reprieve for the blue-wearing Drua, but the visitors regained possession almost immediately, and this time they made the most of it. Riccitelli was stopped just shy of the try line in the sixth minute before Marcel Renata dove over for the opener two phases later.

While Barrett missed the conversion, hooking the attempt wide left, the Blues were quick to make a statement as they took control of the match’s momentum. It was a sign of things to come as the defending competition champions unleashed more attacking pressure.

The Drua looked to make something special from nothing with a chip kick in-behind the Blues’ defensive line in midfield, but it nearly cost them. After pouncing on the loose ball, the Blues’ counter-attack sent winger Cole Forbes flying down the right edge.

Barrett threw an intercept close to the try line, but a knock-on gifted the Blues more possession with a scrum. While the Drua’s defence stood tall yet again, with inside centre Inia Tabuavou securing a penalty at the breakdown, there was something inevitable about the Blues.

While the Blues copped a blow midway through the first term with Anton Segner walking off the field with an injury, the visiting side added to their lead soon after. Taufa Funaki strolled over for the Blues’ second of the evening midway through the half, and Barrett knocked over a penalty.

Fiji is traditionally an incredibly difficult place for away teams to win in Super Rugby Pacific, but after 30 minutes, the away side in this fixture had taken a 15-nil lead. They showed no signs of slowing down either, with Joshua Fusitu’a crossing for the Blues’ third in the 34^th minute.

At the half-time break, the Blues walked off the park at HFC Bank Stadium with a stunning 22-nil over the Drua. There was a sense the Fijians had to score the first points of the second half to remain in the contest, but it didn’t play out that way.

With All Black Angus Ta’avao scoring six minutes into the half, it seemed the match was all but over with more than 30 minutes left to run on the clock. While the Fijians continued to give it everything, the Blues always looked comfortable.

There was a 20-minute stalemate with neither team adding to their score, which was another sign of the Blues’ dominance. Eventually, that point-scoring drought came to an end when Coles Forbes crossing with 14 left to play – the winger’s third try in two matches.

The Drua came within a couple of metres of scoring with 10 minutes left to play, with hooker Tevita Ikanivere cut down with the try line practically within reach. Openside flanker Isoa Tuwai dove over the line in the next phase, but a knock-on kept the Drua scoreless.

Fullback Selestino Ravutaumada had the final say with a try in the dying stages, and while that gave the Drua fans something to cheer about, it was simply a five-star performance from the Blues, who never looked like losing.