Saturday 20 June 2020 11:29, UK
Beauden Barrett slotted a drop goal shortly after he moved into fly-half as the Blues pulled away in the final quarter to win 24-12 over the Chiefs in New Zealand's Super Rugby Aotearoa on Saturday.
Barrett, who started the game at full-back, replaced Otere Black in the pivotal position with about 20 minutes remaining and put over the drop goal four minutes later to give his side a 16-12 lead.
He then added a 69th minute penalty and winger Mark Telea finished off the best move of the match three minutes after that to cap the 11-point burst that gave the Blues enough room to clinch victory.
Damian McKenzie slotted four penalties for the Chiefs, but it was the Blues who clinched their first win in Hamilton since 2011, with Hoskins Sotutu scoring their first try and Otere Black also adding points with the boot.
The Blues have now won their last six games, including a 30-20 victory over the Hurricanes in their first game of the new competition last week.
The constant rain swirling around Waikato Stadium and players still struggling with stricter rule interpretations by the referees ensured the game never really rose to a level of spectacle for the crowd of more than 20,000.
Both sides struggled with their handling, while referee Ben O'Keeffe was forced to issue more than 20 penalties, which led the players to get increasingly frustrated as the game wore on.
O'Keeffe also issued a yellow card to Blues loose forward Dalton Papali'i on the stroke of half time, while he had to issue the Chiefs with a team warning as the penalties mounted in the second half.
Super Rugby Aotearoa was the first professional rugby union competition to resume following the COVID-19 shutdowns and involves just the five New Zealand teams.
The Hurricanes host the Crusaders on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action from 4.30am.
