A torrid defensive assignment finally took a toll on the Highlanders as the Blues surged to a 28-9 victory in a one-sided Super 14 match in Auckland.

Making a mountain of tackles eventually proved too much for the Highlanders, who led 6-3 at halftime but couldn't withstand the power and pace of a Blues side looking increasingly like title contenders.

The Blues will remain at the top of the table after registering their fourth win from five games while the Highlanders slip to 2-3.

Blues captain Flavell marked his 50th appearance in Super rugby with his team's third try 10 minutes before fulltime.

"We didn't get into our stride in first half," Flavell said.

"We knew had to play structured rugby and once again discipline let us down.

"We talked about structure in the shed at halftime. We managed to make a lot of line breaks in the second half and support play was excellent."

Highlanders fly-half Nick Evans admitted his side ran out of gas in the second half.

"We're obviously disappointed," Evans said.

"We were in that game up until halftime but gave away a couple of soft tries.

"But to their credit, the Blues just kept coming at us and we just ran out of puff in the end."

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