Winger Mark Telea scored four tries for the Blues who beat the Wellington-based Hurricanes 36-25 to stiffen their challenge for a Super Rugby Pacific top-four place.
Telea scored twice in the first half, then twice in the last 15 minutes as the Blues struggled to hold out the resurgent Hurricanes.
The Blues dominated possession in the first 30 minutes but the Hurricanes came back into the match on either side of halftime.
Winger Kini Naholo scored two tries as the Hurricanes twice drew within six points of the Blues in the dying minutes.
But centre Rieko Ioane scored a vital try in the 74th minute and Telea skidded over for his fourth near fulltime to save the match.
After a standout performance against the Queensland Reds last week, Telea made a compelling statement in the battle to retain his All Blacks’ right winger jumper.
The Blues went into the contest in fourth place, one spot ahead of the Hurricanes on the Super Rugby table and the win takes them a long way towards hosting a quarter-final.
AAP
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
Yep Talea was excellent last night, in a game that could've gone either way, until the final 10 mins or so. The were some outstanding players showing out, apart from Talea, as in Ardie Savea, who completely outplayed his opposite, overall. Even the most underrated centre in Aotearoa Billy Proctor had it all over his AB opposite, in general play. His defence was great as was his attack.
Ankle-tapped Waterboy
Roar Rookie
He looks to be able to get to full speed within a couple of paces. Any data on that?
Bliksem
Roar Rookie
Telea is an very special player, he had no right to score any of these tries. He will be especially dangerous on wet and heavy fields during the RWC in France.