The Blues have put the embarrassment of last season's Super Rugby loss to the Sunwolves behind them with a 24-10 win in Tokyo.

Trailing 10-5 at halftime, a repeat of last year's shock 48-21 defeat appeared on the cards. However, the Blues dominated Saturday's second half, scoring 19 unanswered points to end a three-match losing streak.

While the Blues are still a distant last in the New Zealand conference, a second win from seven games pulls them clear of the battling Japanese side. The Sunwolves sit at the bottom of the overall standings with seven-straight losses.

In a match dominated by errors and a hefty penalty count, some dreadful Sunwolves defence and a horrendous error count in the second half were most decisive.

Powerhouse No.8 Akira Ioane scored his seventh try of the season and replacement flanker Dalton Papali'i brushed aside multiple defenders to put the Blues in command. Winger Jordan Hyland capped his debut by crossing for his second try near fulltime.

The match began in inauspicious fashion for the visitors when lock Patrick Tuipolotu - playing his 50th match - was shown a yellow card for a no-arms tackle. The Sunwolves capitalised, powering 10-0 ahead, capped by a neat try from Tim Lafaele. Centre Lafaele bagged a hat-trick in last season's historic match, in which his team notched a first win over Kiwi opposition.

However, Jamie Joseph's team were opened up too easily from that point on, with Hyland crossing before halftime when he shrugged aside two poor attempted tackles.