Caleb Clarke hat-trick powers Blues to first Super Rugby title in 21 years

Apart from Clarke's hat-trick, Akira Ioane and AJ Lam also crossed the whitewash while Harry Plummer finished with a 16-point haul after succeeding with five conversions and two penalties.

For the Chiefs, Simon Parker crossed for a try while Damian McKenzie added a conversion and a penalty.

The win is a momentous one for the Blues as it is their first full Super Rugby title win since 2003, although they were crowned Super Rugby Trans-Tasman winners in 2021. However, that was a shortened version of the competition which was contested between the New Zealand and Australian franchises during the Covid-19 period.

Emotions were running high just before kick off at Eden Park as a minute's silence was observed for former Highlanders and Maori All Blacks outside back Connor Garden-Bachop, who passed away in Christchurch earlier this week.

The match started at a frenetic pace with both sides giving the ball plenty of air but the Chiefs held a slight edge early on as they were camped inside the Blues' half during the early stages.

McKenzie had a chance to open the scoring early on when he lined up a long range penalty but his effort was wide of the mark. Soon after that the Blues took charge of proceedings when Ioane crossed for the opening try from close quarters and the Blues soon held a 10-0 lead when Plummer slotted a penalty in the 16th minute.

McKenzie then added a three-pointer of his own before Clarke got over for his first try in the 22nd minute when he crashed over after Hoskins Sotutu and Rieko Ioane laid the groundwork with strong carries in the build-up.

Plummer slotted his second penalty in the latter stages of the half which meant the home side had their tails up as they held a 20-3 lead at half-time.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors in the 51st minute when George Dyer was yellow carded for offside play on defence, after referee Nic Berry had given the Chiefs several warnings prior to that for similar offences.

With a numerical advantage, the Blues upped the ante on the attack and shortly after Dyer's deparure Clarke crossed for his second five-pointer with Plummer adding the extras to give his side a comfortable 27-3 lead.

Ten minutes later, the Blues launched an attack off the back of a lineout deep inside Chiefs territory and after Stephen Perofeta was stopped close to the posts, the ball was shifted outwide to Clarke who shrugged off a tackle from McKenzie before clinching his hat-trick.

With the score 34-3, the match was in the bag for the Blues but the Chiefs did not surrender and Parker crossed for a consolation try after excellent work from Anton Lienert-Brown in the build-up.

Despite that score, the Blues were not done and they sealed an emphatic win when Lam burrowed his way over the try-line in the 73rd minute.

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