Blues 24 (R Ioane, Manu tries; Perofeta conversion & 4 penalties) Waratahs 21 (Fitzpatrick, Kepu, Hooper tries; Foley 3 conversions)
Thanks for joining us tonight for this gritty Blues victory. Probably not enough to rekindle their playoff chances, but it shows they are still playing with pride and determination.
80th minute: Blues 24 Waratahs 21
The Waratahs steal the lineout and gain advantage, but they string together enough phases to burn up that advantage and eventually Ryan spills the ball.
The siren has gone and the Blues win to continue that trans-Tasman dominance, extending it to 38 games now.
Phew!
80th minute: Blues 24 Waratahs 21
Blues win the lineout and the Waratahs are penalised for a side entry into the maul. Kirkpatrick is on for Perofeta and he clears.
79th minute: Blues 24 Waratahs 21
After 19 phases on the Blues line, Beale kicks across field for Folau, but it's too far and the ball is in touch. Great defence, Blues.
76th minute: Blues 24 Waratahs 21
Waratahs win the lineout, but when the forwards go one-off towards the line, Akira Ioane holds up Paddy Ryan in a maul and the Blues win possession inside their 22.
75th minute: Blues 24 Waratahs 21
Ruru is called for a late tackle on Phipps on the 40 and Foley kicks to the corner for an attacking lineout.
71st minute: Blues 24 Waratahs 21
TRY to Waratahs! The Waratahs attack from deep and have their opponents on the back foot.
Hooper latches onto the ball about 20 metres out and evades the last couple of tacklers for a try. Foley converts and it's a nailbiter.
69th minute: Blues 24 Waratahs 14
Blues are building pressue in the shadow of the posts, but when they spill the ball, Peyper pings the Waratahs for offside. Perofeta put the margin beyond a converted try.
65th minute: Blues 21 Waratahs 14
Staniforth for Hannigan, Hegarty for Naiyaravoro.
The Blues destroy the Waratahs scrum and kick deep for an attacking lineout.
61st minute: Blues 21 Waratahs 14
From an attacking scrum, Akira Ioane makes metres and the Waratahs are caught offside. Perofeta pads the margin with another three points.
60th minute: Blues 18 Waratahs 14
Ruru replaces Pulu at halfback for the Blues. Phipps steps in for Gordon and former Kiwi Curtis Rona for Feketi among the Waratahs.
56th minute: Blues 18 Waratahs 14
When Foley's pass goes loose in centrefield, Rieko Ioane gathers and sprints off, only to be called back for a knock-on.
53rd minute: Blues 18 Waratahs 14
Manu and Tamoaieta replace Wright and Mafileo to prop the Blues scrum.
51st minute: Blues 18 Waratahs 14
Waratahs steal a lineout against the throw, but Naiyaravoro loses the ball when trying to offload in a couple of tackles.
48th minute: Blues 18 Waratahs 14
Waratahs spread the ball and Naiyaravoro makes ground. Folau is stopped a metre out and the ball is scrambled into touch, Blues ball.
45th minute: Blues 18 Waratahs 14
From a midfield penalty, Waratahs kick to the corner for an attacking lineout and rumble it from 22 out. They spread it, but the Blues steal possession on their own line to clear.
41st minute: Blues 18 Waratahs 14
Blues kick off for the second half. They've led at halftime in four games this season - and lost the lot.
Halftime: Blues 18 Waratahs 14
Blues win a scrum and Pulu just hoofs it into touch, rather than risk losing their edge into the break.
The Aucklanders have created some opportunities, but will need to tighten up their defence to hold off the Sydneysiders over the second 40 minutes.
37th minute: Blues 18 Waratahs 14
Parsons makes a break for the Blues, and Perofeta and Pulu carry the movement towards the Waratahs posts. When they're held up, Peyper backtracks for an offside penalty and Perofeta kicks the points.
33rd minute: Blues 15 Waratahs 14
TRY to Waratahs! From the restart, the Waratahs are on attack. Folau makes another break and offloads to Beale.
When he is halted near the line, Kepu is there to grab the ball and dive over in the corner. Foley converts.
30th minute: Blues 15 Waratahs 7
TRY to Blues! In centrefield, Perofeta steps through a gap and finds Duffie in support.
When his run ends, he throws a long pass to Manu down the sideline and he stretches across in a tackle. Perofeta's conversion attempt misses.
25th minute: Blues 10 Waratahs 7
TRY to Waratahs! From the lineout, the forwards rumble towards the line and Fitzpatrick, poised at the back of the maul, simply follows his mates over the line for a try.
Foley converts.
24th minute: Blues 10 Waratahs 0
Folau creates an overlap and sends Cam Clark towards the corner, but he's tackled high by Papalii in the corner.
Peyper rules a penalty and yellow card, so the Blues are a man short for 10 minutes. Foley kicks to touch for a lineout.
22nd minute: Blues 10 Waratahs 0
The Blues turn the ball over, but cannot break out of their own territory. A misdirected clearance from Ledger - out on the full - allows the Waratahs another attacking opportunity.
21st minute: Blues 10 Waratahs 0
A terrible pass from Pulu evades all his teammates and the Waratahs gather to launch an attack. The Blues manage to scramble them into touch.
19th minute: Blues 10 Waratahs 0
Kaino creates a turnover and when the Blues spread the ball, they draw their rivals offside at a breakdown. Peyper awards a penalty and Perofeta extends the lead.
13th minute: Blues 7 Waratahs 0
Manu is guilty of a dangerous tackle and the Waratahs kick to the corner for an attacking lineout.
Pulu intercepts the ball and sets Rieko Ioane loose with an open field. He's chased down metres short of the line and when he tries to scramble across the line, he's penalised for not releasing the ball.
Eighth minute: Blues 7 Waratahs 0
TRY to Blues! From a midfield scrum, Pulu hacks the ball up field and it flirts with the touchline.
The Waratahs defence gather it up, but spill it and Rieko Ioane gathers for a try. Perofeta converts.
Fifth minute: Blues 0 Waratahs 0
Peyper pings the Blues for entering a breakdown from the side and Foley slices the penalty attempt right.
Second minute: Blues 0 Waratahs 0
South African Jaco Peyper is in charge and he awards the opening scrum to the Blues.
Pre-match
Another feature of this Blues line-up is a debut for Caleb Clarke, son of former All Blacks centre Eroni Clarke.
Clarke Jr was one of the stars of the Blues' Brisbane Tens triumph in the pre-season, but was robbed of a Commonwealth Games sevens medal, when he needed an appendix operation.
He's an exciting prospect.
*****
Kia ora, good evening...
Welcome to the much-hyped (for the wrong reasons) encounter between the top-ranked Australian conference side and the bottom-placed NZ team.
At stake is the two-year winning streak for NZ franchises over their tran-Tasman rivals, now at 37 games, after the Crusaders canter over the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday night.
The Blues come into Brookvale Oval off an historic 20-13 home loss to the Jaguares - the Argentines' first victory over an NZ team and their first in New Zealand. Decimated by injuries, the Aucklanders have been fielding a virtual development team in recent weeks, but get back a couple of experienced heads in Jerome Kaino and Patrick Tuipulotu this week.
Experienced players named in Blues squad for Waratahs showdown at Brookvale Oval
The Waratahs have been racked by controversy, with Israel Folau speaking out about his religious beliefs and Nick Phipps running amok on his stag night. They enjoyed a bye last week, but crashed 29-0 to the touring Lions in their last outing.
Before that, though, they ran up four straight wins.
The TAB likes the Waratahs to win this, paying $1.40 against $2.80 for the Blues.
Waratahs: 1-Tom Robertson, 2-Damien Fitzpatrick, 3-Sekope Kepu, 4-Ned Hanigan, 5-Rob Simmons, 6-Will Miller, 7-Michael Hooper (captain), 8-Michael Wells, 9-Jake Gordon, 10-Bernard Foley, 11-Taqele Naiyaravoro, 12-Kurtley Beale, 13-Lalakai Foketi, 14-Cam Clark, 15-Israel Folau.
Substitutes: 16-Hugh Roach, 17-Harry Johnson-Holmes, 18-Paddy Ryan, 19-Tom Staniforth, 20-Jed Holloway, 21-Nick Phipps, 22-Curtis Rona, 23-Bryce Hegarty
Blues: 1-Ross Wright, 2-James Parson, 3-Sione Mafileo, 4-Patrick Tuipulotu, 5-Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 6-Jerome Kaino, 7-Dalton Papalii, 8-Akira Ioane, 9-Augustine Pulu, 10-Stephen Perofeta, 11-Caleb Clarke, 12-Rieko Ioane, 13-Orbyn Leger, 14-Tumua Manu, 15-Matt Duffie.
Substitutes: 16-Matt Moulds, 17-Pauliasi Manu, 18-Mike Tamoaieta, 19-Ben Nee-Nee/Lyndon Dunshea, 20-Murphy Taramai, 21-Jonathan Ruru, 22-Dan Kirkpatrick, 23-Terrence Hepetema.
Newshub.
