Blues move top after putting 50 past Force

Super Rugby Pacific round-up

- BEN JAYCOCK

IT was a weekend of one-sided blowouts in Super Rugby Pacific as the Blues moved top of the table after thrashing Western Force 50-3.

A woeful Western Force were held try-less as the league's bottom side were bashed up front by a powerful Blues pack on Friday evening.

Scrum-half Taufa Funaki grabbed a double for the Blues but it was their forwards that got the job done, overpowering the Force on their way to four of their side's eight tries.

Following tries by prop Tu'ungafasi and Ofa hooker Ricky Riccitelli, fly-half Ben Donaldson kicked a penalty for the Force's only points.

The Blues gathered their own restart, with second rower Laghlan McWhannell crossing to make it 21-3 seconds later in a moment that seemed to drain the fight out of the Force.

If that didn't end their chances, silky interplay between brothers Akira and Rieko Ioane which ended with a try for Funaki to give the Blues a 28-3 lead at half-time surely did.

Any thought of a second-half fightback was quickly snuffed out when No.8 Hoskins Sotutu powered over on 43 minutes, before centre Corey Evans picked off a loose Force pass and crossed untouched soon after in one of the Australian side's more disappointing moments.

Soft defending was a theme throughout, the Force missing a whopping 28 tackles compared with the Blues' six.