Winger Rieko Ioane scored two tries as the Blues overran South Africa’s Lions 43-10 to post their first home win of the Super Rugby season.

The match continued a major revival for Ioane, who lost his All Blacks starting spot at last year’s World Cup in Japan, and for the Blues who move temporarily atop the New Zealand conference on Saturday with a 4-2 record.

The Blues last won the Super Rugby title in 2003 but, with recent wins over New Zealand rivals and in matches home and away, they are beginning to shape as title contenders.

The match was tight at first and the Blues led by only 15-10 after 35 minutes.

But a penalty try just before the break, for a professional foul by Lions flanker Ruan Vermaak, gave the Blues a comfortable lead and confidence going into the second half.

The Blues were able to find huge amounts of space in the second half against a narrow and often disorganised Lions defence, which struggled to quickly address multiple attacking threats.

The Blues backs and forwards combined in a series of superb attacking rushes that left the Lions flat-footed.

The Lions recently were South Africa’s most exciting attacking team and their best performers on the road.

But they have become one-dimensional this season, relying on lineout drives or building painstakingly through one-off runners.

That made them easy targets for the Blues, who were able to isolate players and force turnovers.

Ioane scored the first try of the match in the eighth minute, using his power rather than speed to break the Lions’ defence.

The Lions replied with their only try in the 16th minute, breaking down the Blues resistance after multiple phases.

A superb try to fullback Stephen Perofeta after a Lions turnover gave the Blues a 15-10 lead and the penalty try put them comfortably ahead at halftime.

Ioane scored his second soon after the break as the Blues became increasingly dominant. Tries to Gerard Cowley-Tuioti and Hoskins Sotutu earned the Blues a valuable bonus point.