Force eye a Blues boil over at Eden Park

h 00141608

The game in Lautoka was played in a mudbath, and the home team relished the rain in their 31-13 win.

The Blues benefited from the Chiefs' loss to the Crusaders to gain a share of second place in the competition.

Force coach Simon Cron told rugby.com.au, "Every game we play, every opportunity we get, we've got to learn from those games."

The lessons from the Drua game would help his players deal with wet-weather rugby for the rest of their careers.

"But we are focusing on some of the things we did really well and making sure we drive those home too, because when we play together, and we play for 83 minutes rather than 63, we're going pretty good."

However, they will have to make do without fullback Harry Potter, who suffered an ankle injury in Fiji and is to have surgery.

"He's pretty disappointed about it. He suffered the injury from being tackled from behind.

"However, the guys who are here, they get another opportunity to prove themselves, a good opportunity to step up."

One boost for the side is returning former Wallabies lock Sam Carter. He joined the side nine days ago after playing stints in Ireland and England.

"He does all the things that tight five players need to do. It's a combination of his head space, his experience and what he brings to a team as well as he's a tall human, which we have have a huge number of."