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Sparked by a dominant first half display the Blues ran in three unanswered tries to beat the Highlanders 30-12 at Eden Park on Saturday night. Central to the improved start was Bryn Hall who wanted to make an impact in his first start and he achieved that with a snappy display at halfback with his quick penalty kicks gaining valuable ground in a tight first half.  It would be difficult to imagine a more impressive starting display, especially after the emotion surrounding the disclosure of the stroke suffered by incumbent halfback Piri Weepu. Along the way he displayed the great strength New Zealand rugby enjoys in the halfback position.  Hall was all fire from the outset and conceded nothing to his All Blacks rival Aaron Smith who had the misfortune to be behind a pack that didn't give him the comfort that Hall enjoyed.  Hall also produced the play that produced the opening try, albeit fortuitously when his intended kick into the Highlanders 22m area rebounded off...

London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith refused to blame any refereeing decisions for his side's 20-15 defeat at the hands of Leicester. London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith refused to blame any refereeing decisions for his side's 20-15 defeat at the hands of Leicester. Logovi'i Mulipola's second try for the visitors was awarded on the advice of the television match official and late on Irish crossed the line for what would have been a winning try only for the TMO to rule it out for an earlier knock-on. Smith said: "We weren't at our best and that's the reason why we lost. If we had played to our best I might have been jumping up and down about a couple of matters. From the screen I saw, George Skivington seemed to get under Mulipola and I didn't think it was a knock-on at the end as there was an involvement from their player." Irish had to rely on penalties for their points with four successes from James O'Connor and...