Blues win to go top
Joe Rokocoko bagged three tries as Auckland Blues registered a 50-26 victory over the Cheetahs in the Super 14 on Saturday.
Last Updated: 01/03/08 5:45pm
Joe Rokocoko bagged three tries as Auckland Blues registered a 50-26 victory over the Cheetahs in the Super 14 on Saturday.
The Blues ran-in seven tries in all as both teams collected a bonus point with the South Africans picking up four tries of their own.
It means the New Zealanders are top of the table after three matches with a maximum of 15 points.
They scored three times in a 15-minute spell before the break as they built up a 21-12 lead at the interval, but ran away with it after the re-start.
Isaia Toeava, Rokocoko and Rudi Wulf all crossed after weathering early Cheetahs pressure, and the hosts suffered a huge blow when captain Juan Smith limped off seven minutes before half-time with a knee injury.
It did not help the home team that Blues fly-half Nick Evans was in superb goal kicking form again for the visitors, converting six of the seven tries and succeeding with one of two penalty attempts for a personal haul of 15 points.
Toeava added to his first-half score while Anthony Tuitavake also crossed the tryline for the Blues on a hot afternoon in the central city of Bloemfontein.
Backs Gavin Passens and JW Jonker and forwards Heinrich Brussow and Kabamba Floors scored a try each for the Cheetahs with Conrad Barnard converting two and Meyer Bosman one.
The Blues remain in South Africa next weekend for their final tour match, a repeat of the 2007 semi-final they lost to the Sharks in the Indian Ocean city of Durban.
