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Auckland - An Israel Folau Super Rugby try-scoring record was not enough to stop a Blues victory over the Waratahs at Eden Park on Saturday.
As it happened: Blues v Waratahs
Folau scored for the Waratahs midway through the first half against the Blues for his 60th try, eclipsing the previous record of 59 by New Zealander Doug Howlett who retired 12 years ago.
But it was the resurgent Blues who celebrated at the final whistle with a 32-29 victory to complete four consecutive wins for the first time since 2011.
The Blues had raced to a 17-0 lead with tries to Tom Robinson and Caleb Clarke and an Otere Black penalty when Folau swing the momentum the Waratahs' way with his try.
Will Miller scored just on half-time to close the gap to 17-14.
In the second half both sides cancelled each other out with TJ Faiane and Ma'a Nonu scoring for the Blues and Black adding a penalty while Alex Newsome and Jake Gordon scored for the Waratahs with a penalty from Bernard Foley.
Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu said while four wins in a row was satisfying, letting a 17-point lead slip showed there is a lot of room for improvement.
"I'm proud of the way we came back in the last 10 (minutes) to hold them out. There's still plenty to work on if we want to get better," he said.
Scorers:
Blues
Tries: Tom Robinson, Caleb Clarke, TJ Faiane, Ma’a Nonu
Conversions: Otere Black (3)
Penalties: Black (2)
Waratahs
Tries: Israel Folau, Will Miller, Alex Newsome, Jake Gordon
Conversions: Berard Foley (3)
Penalty: Foley
Teams:
Blues
15 Melani Nanai, 14 Caleb Clarke, 13 TJ Faiane, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Otere Black, 9 Jonathan Ruru, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Blake Gibson (co-captain), 6 Tom Robinson, 5 Josh Goodhue, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu (co-captain), 3 Sione Mafileo, 2 James Parsons, 1 Alex Hodgman
Subs: 16 Matt Moulds, 17 Marcel Renata, 18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 20 Dalton Papalii, 21 Sam Nock, 22 Harry Plummer, 23 Michael Collins
Waratahs
15 Israel Folau, 14 Cam Clark, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Karmichael Hunt, 11 Alex Newsome, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Michael Wells, 7 Will Miller, 6 Jack Dempsey, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Ned Hanigan, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Damien Fitzpatrick, 1 Harry Johnson-Holmes
Substitutes: 16 Andrew Tuala, 17 Rory O’Connor, 18 Chris Talakai, 19 Tom Staniforth, 20 Lachlan Swinton, 21 Jake Gordon, 22 Kurtley Beale, 23 Lalakai Foketi
