Cape Town - The Highlanders, as expected, were far too strong for the Blues in Friday's Super Rugby clash between the sides in Auckland as they cruised to a 34-16 win.
The Blues played with plenty of attacking intent, but they were met by a rock-solid Highlanders defence throughout the contest.
The visitors took a 20-11 lead into half-time, and by the end of the match they had scored five tries to two from the Blues, securing a valuable bonus point.
Highlanders No 6 Shannon Frizell had a match to remember, scoring a hat-trick of tries as his side moved up to third in the New Zealand Conference and fifth on the overall log.
The Blues, meanwhile, stay bottom of the NZ Conference while they are 14th on the combined log.
More to follow …
Scorers:
Blues 16 (11)
Tries: Jonathan Ruru, Tumua Manu
Penalties: Bryn Gatland (2)
Highlanders 34 (20)
Tries: Dillon Hunt, Shannon Frizell (3), Kayne Hammington
Conversions: Lima Sopoaga (3)
Penalty: Sopoaga
Teams:
Blues
15 Stephen Perofeta, 14 Jordan Hyland, 13 Orbyn Leger, 12 TJ Faiane, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Bryn Gatland, 9 Jonathan Ruru, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Kara Pryor, 6 Dalton Papali'i, 5 Jimmy Tupou, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Ofa Tu'ungafasi/Mike Tamoaieta, 2 James Parsons (captain), 1 Pauliasi Manu
Substitutes: 16 Matt Moulds, 17 Ross Wright, 18 Sione Mafileo, 19 Ben Neenee, 20 Murphy Taramai, 21 Sam Nock, 22 Tumua Manu, 23 Matt Duffie
Highlanders
15 Ben Smith (co-captain), 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Rob Thompson, 12 Tei Walden, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Kayne Hammington, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Dillon Hunt, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Jackson Hemopo, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Ash Dixon (co-captain), 1 Daniel Lienert-Brown
Substitutes: 16 Liam Coltman, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Alex Ainley, 20 Elliot Dixon, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Fletcher Smith, 23 Matt Faddes
