No.8 Hoskins Sotutu has continued his tryscoring ways, grabbing a double to spark the Blues to a 31-17 victory over the Chiefs, but it wasn't enough to secure top spot on the Super Rugby Pacific table at the end of the regular season.
After the Hurricanes overwhelmed the Highlanders at Wellington earlier in the evening, the Aucklanders needed to match their bonus-point victory to finish level on the ladder, with a points-difference countback advantage.
The result was never really in doubt after halftime and with the final seconds counting down, the home side held the much-needed three-try buffer for the extra point - but lost that edge, when Chiefs replacement Josh Ioane dived over from a five-metre scrum.
Both teams suffered late defections to their originally named line-ups, with All Blacks centre Rieko Ioane and halfback Taufa Funaki dropping out of the Blues starting XV, and fullback Shaun Stevenson and winger Emoni Narawa lost from the Chiefs.
The changes saw the home side field their first-choice inside back combination of Finlay Christie and Stephen Perofeta for the first time in many weeks.
The Chiefs rocked their rivals in the opening minute, when hooker Badley Slater rumbled up the centre of the park and fullback Etene Nanai-Seturo dived over in the corner, but the try was disallowed for obstruction by prop Aidan Ross during the initial break.
Recovered from that early onslaught, the home side entered the opposition 22, drawing a series of penalties and finally converting a lineout maul into the opening try to hooker Ricky Riccitelli.
The Chiefs lost Ross to a yellow card for repeated offsides. From the penalty and lineout maul, flanker Dalton Papali'i charged for the tryline and Sotutu was next on the scene to score.
Ross returned to play, but Sotutu was caught impeding Chiefs first-five Damian McKenzie, as he chased a kick ahead, so the Blues were reduced to 14 men.
Ironically, Ross opened the Chiefs account, when he powered off from close range, after 10 phases on the tryline.
Leading 12-7 at halftime, but still shorthanded, the Blues struck soon after the restart, when winger Mark Tele'a dived over from a ruck.
The Chiefs seemed poised to answer, when Nanai-Seturo steamed onto an offload from halfback Cortez Ratima and entered the 22, but lost his pass forward, with No.8 Wallace Sititi eyeing the tryline.
Blues centre AJ Lam broke out of his half and found winger Caleb Clarke in support. When the move broke down, a series of attacking scrums provided the platform for Sotutu to claim his second try and the previous bonus point.
They weren't done, with flanker Akira Ioane powering over from the base of a ruck, but when Chiefs midfielder Quinn Tupaea scored between the posts with 10 minutes left, the bonus point began to look shaky again.
Blues 31 (Sotutu 2, Riccitelli, Tele'a, A Ioane tries; Plummer 3 conversions) Chiefs 17 (Ross, Tupaea, J Ioane tries; McKenzie conversion)
More to come
