Blues blow away Chiefs to end long wait for Super Rugby title

:Caleb Clarke scored a hat-trick of tries as the Auckland Blues overpowered the Waikato Chiefs 41-10 to win the all-New Zealand Super Rugby Pacific final on Saturday and land their first fully-fledged Super Rugby title since 2003.

The three scores from the All Blacks winger and further tries from Akira Ioane and AJ Lam proved more than enough for the Blues to finally end years of under-achievement at a sold-out Eden Park.

In wet conditions that suited their game, the Blues did as they have done all season - kick for position, pound away at the opposition with big ball carries and unleash their backs to take advantage of holes in the defence.

It was a fourth Super Rugby title for the Blues after 1996, 1997 and 2003, or fifth if you include the 2021 Trans-Tasman competition played during the COVID pandemic.

"I think it's going to take a while to sink in but we finally got the job done," said Clarke, whose father Eroni won the 1996 and 1997 titles alongside the likes of Jonah Lomu, Zinzan Brooke and Michael Jones.

"The 23 out here weren't doing it alone, we had a whole tribe behind us and so we're just super proud. We're just happy man!"

WORN DOWN

The Chiefs, also losing finalists last year, played with scraps of possession and were eventually worn down by the sheer number of tackles they had to make, leaving Eden Park with just one try and a penalty on the board.

"Very tough one tonight," said Chiefs skipper Luke Jacobson.

"Credit to the Blues, they came out and set it from the get-go and made it very difficult for us."

It was the direct power of the Blues pack that allowed the home side to open the scoring in the 12th minute through a lunge for the line from flanker Ioane.

Two big carries from skipper Patrick Tuipulotu, who