Say what you will of the Blues but when they are on song they are a joy to tune in to.

They were a class apart for periods of their resounding 41-14 Super 14 win over the Lions in Auckland last night.

The six tries-to-two result over a befuddled South African outfit protected their place atop the standings and they now head into this week's bye with a three-point buffer.

The Blues are sitting pretty on 23 points, followed by the only unbeaten team this season, the Sharks, with fellow-South Africans the Bulls on 18, ahead of the Western Force, Highlanders and Lions on 16.

The Sharks maintained their momentum by beating the Cheetahs 30-14 in Bloemfontein today, the Force celebrated their first home win when a sideline conversion from Cameron Shepherd enabled them to pip the Hurricanes 18-17 in Perth, and the Highlanders pleased the Dunedin faithful with a fine 33-17 result over the injury-plagued Reds.

In other matches this weekend, the Brumbies held off the Stormers to win 26-13 in Canberra and the Bulls bludgeoned the Waratahs 32-19 in Sydney.

Much has been made of the resurgence of South African teams this year but the manner of the Lions' loss showed many chinks remain when they venture to New Zealand.

Blues coach David Nucifora pulled a number of selection masterpieces, unleashing huge No 8 Nick Williams for the first time this season and opting for veteran David Holwell to start at first five-eighth ahead of the benched Isa Nacewa and Luke McAlister.

Williams and lock/captain Troy Flavell were imposing figures for the Blues, giving their side plenty of go-forward momentum while Holwell steered the ship wisely, feeding his dangerous outside backs with aplomb.

They were aided by a Lions side who appeared a touch shy in the contract areas, which led to a surfeit of turnover ball falling into Blues hands.

The home side did not need a second invitation, turning those gifts into points as they sped away to a 34-7 halftime lead.

Two of their tries went to All Blacks wing Doug Howlett, drawing him level on 57 with Australian Joe Roff as the most prolific tryscorer in Super rugby.

The Hurricanes had no cause for complaint after being out-passioned by the Force in Perth where Shepherd produced a try in injury time then added a wide-angled conversion for the home side to steal victory.

The Hurricanes looked to have the match won when replacement first five-eighth Jimmy Gopperth swivelled over to score a try three minutes from fulltime, and converted to make it 17-11.

It was a controversial try, with replays showing Gopperth lost the ball but South African referee Mark Lawrence didn't call for the television match official.

The result saw the Hurricanes slump to eighth place on the back of successive losses, but at least they won off the field today when influential prop Neemia Tialata was found not guilty on a striking charge and will depart with his teammates for South Africa.

Long flights are the last thing on the minds of the Highlanders players, who enter their bye week buoyed by victory at Carisbrook over the Reds.

The last-placed Reds showed commendable character to drag themselves to 17-18 immediately after halftime before classy first five-eighth Nick Evans guided the Highlanders home with a fine dictatorial display.

Reds coach Eddie Jones has any number of issues on his plate, not the least being a mounting injury toll.

As well, he will be sweating on the availability of crafty flanker David Croft, who tomorrow fronts a judicial hearing in Brisbane after being sinbinned against the Highlanders, his third yellow card of the season.