The Hurricanes moved to the top of the standings, for at least 24 hours, after edging the Blues 30-23 in a thrilling Super Rugby encounter in Palmerston North on Friday.
It was far from flawless, with both teams guilty of far too many unforced errors.
However, the Hurricanes outscored the Blues by four tries to two - as both teams showed plenty of attacking endeavour.
Collecting the full-house five points the Hurricanes moved to the top of the New Zealand conference, where they overtook the Chiefs, and the global standings, where they moved past the Brumbies and Stormers.
The Blues remain rooted at the bottom of the standings, heaping further pressure on coach John Kirwan after their worst start ever.
Blockbusting wing Julian Savea scored two of his team's tries, as the Wellington-based Hurricanes recorded their best ever start to a Super Rugby season - four wins from four.
Veteran hooker Keven Mealamu said it was difficult to take after a much-improved performance from the Blues, who were in the game until Savea's second try five minutes from time.
"The effort's definitely there, we're working hard, we've just got to get over that slump at the moment," Mealamu said.
"It's not about luck, it's about working hard to get ourselves a win. We're all behind each other. We were close but not close enough."
The Hurricanes took only six minutes to breach the Blues' defence, leaving tacklers standing as the ball went through nine pairs of hands before TJ Perenara crossed for try.
They threatened again but Savea lost the ball on the line and then Blues fullback Lolagi Visinia scored a breakaway try, pouncing on a loose pass and sprinting 70 metres.
The Blues seized the lead when Brendan O'Connor made a break and set up a try for powerful wing Frank Halai, who had three defenders hanging off him when he finally touched down.
But there was a twist just on half-time, as Matt Proctor chased down a Beauden Barrett chip kick for the Hurricanes' second five-pointer, putting them ahead 18-17.
The lead changed twice in rapid succession after the break, first with a Blues penalty, then when Savea was finally rewarded with a try after several dangerous runs.
Savea found space outside fullback Nehe Milner-Skudder and latched onto the pass to score in the corner.
The scores then remained locked at 25-23 in favour of the Hurricanes for much of the second half, with both sides resorting to wild passes as they searched for a breakthrough.
It fell Savea's way five minutes from time, when the Hurricanes patiently built pressure and kept the ball alive with slick passing to give the wing his second try.
Man of the match: Tony Woodcock produced an impressive workrate, given his advanced age, Steven Luatua put his body on the line and Luke Braid relished the captaincy - making real menace of himself at the breakdown. You can always bank on Julian Savea to come up with some good entertainment value when he gets the ball in hand and Beauden Barrett was the general that controlled the game for his team. However, our award goes to Hurricanes captain Conrad Smith, who again showed his class, both on attack and defence, making all those around him look good.
The scorers:
For the Hurricanes:
Tries: Perenara, Proctor, J Savea 2
Cons: Barrett 2
Pens: Barrett 2
For the Blues:
Tries: Visinia, Halai
Cons: West 2
Pens: West 3
Teams:
Hurricanes: 15 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 14 Matt Proctor, 13 Conrad Smith (captain), 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Brad Shields, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Mark Abbott, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Reggie Goodes.
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 Chris Eves, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Blade Thomson, 21 Chris Smylie, 22 Rey Lee-Lo, 23 James Marshall.
Blues: 15 Lolagi Visinia, 14 Frank Halai, 13 Charles Piutau, 12 Francis Saili, 11 Melani Nanai, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Steven Luatua, 7 Luke Braid (captain), 6 Brendon O'Connor, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Josh Bekhuis, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 James Parsons, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 18 Angus Ta'avao, 19 Hayden Triggs, 20 Akira Ioane, 21 Gibson-Park, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 George Moala.
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Jamie Nutbrown (New Zealand)
TMO: Aaron Paterson (New Zealand)
Captain18,570 posts
14 Mar 2015, 00:09
#1
14 Mar 2015, 00:09#1
