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Blues 28 - 20 Sunwolves
80 min: It's over! The Blues claim their first win of the season.
74 min: Another yellow card for the Sunwolves - Nathan Vella will go to the bin, deliberate knock on. Kick for goal to come. It's good.
71 min: Penalty won by the Blues on half-way.
67 min: The Blues win the penalty and will kick for goal, it's wide.
66 min: Great work in defence for the Blues and they win a scrum in good position.
62 min: Try - Uwe Helu, simple and patient from the Sunwolves putting together over 20 phases before the try , the kick is good and they're right back in it. Blues 25-20 Sunwolves.
58 min: TRY - Rieko Ioane, he has another one! Great work from the scrum from the Blues, it starts on the right wing and Ioane finishes it off on the left. Kick is wide. Blues 25-13 Sunwolves.
56 min: Yellow card for Semisi Masirewa who is binned for a deliberate knock on from an offside position.
53 min: Good attack from the Sunwolves but they give away a penalty- sloppy.
48 min: Try- Rieko Ioane, it's a hatrick for the winger a good move from the Blues with SBW running decoy before a cut out pass to Ioane who strolls over. Kick is wide. Blues 20-13 Sunwolves.
47 min: So close for the Blues, the ball goes wide and they have a two on one but it's Tanielu Tele’a who steps out.
44 min: Penalty for the Blues, kick for touc in good field position.
41 min: Back underway at QBE Stadium.
Half-time here at QBE Stadium.
38 min: Really good attacking work from Booth who finds a gap again, but the Sunwolves knock it on.
34 min: TRY - Rieko Ioane, off the scrum Akira picks it up off the base and gives a bullet pass out to his brother who goes in for his second of the night. Kick is good. Blues 15-13 Sunwolves.
33 min: Penalty to the Blues out in front - scrum called, it comes after some really good work on attack from the Blues, but very stubborn defence from the Sunwolves.
29 min: TRY - Rikiya Matsuda, fantastic work from Michael Little - he goes around the back for the offload to Rahboni Warren Vosayaco who makes the break and gives the inside ball to the first-five who goes over. Kick is good. Blues 8-13 Sunwolves.
25 min: Another good Blues attack as SBW gives an offload to Tanielu Tele’a who goes close, but there is a Blues knock on.
21 min: TRY - Rieko Ioane, really good from the Blues - winning a penalty and going for touch, stringing some passes together and the winger finishes off out wide. Kick is wide. Blues 8-6 Sunwolves.
18 min: The Blues have the ball now and the Sunwolves defence is standing tall. They get a scrum after a Blues knockon.
16 min: The Sunwolves look amazing with ball in hand, once again Booth is at the forefront of it.
14 min: Blues win a penalty and too will kick for goal, the kick is good.
10 min: Sunwolves earn another penalty and will kick for goal again. It's good.
8 min: Great attack from the Sunwolves again it's Booth but it's thrown out.
6 min: SBW hits the line with pace but the ball is knocked on after the offload.
3 min: Sunwolves win a penalty and kick for goal. It's good.
2 min: What a break from halfback Jamie Booth and the Sunwolves kick it out, 5m from the Blues line, big pressue here.
1 min: Kickoff here at QBE Stadium
A minute silence now for Mikey T who passed away last week.
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Kia ora, good evening and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the Super Rugby match between the Blues and the Sunwolves from QBE Stadium.
TAB Odds: Blues $1.14 Sunwolves $ 5.50
Pre-match banter: Sonny Bill Williams awarded Blues captaincy against Sunwolves
Sonny Bill Williams will captain the Blues as they chase their first Super Rugby win of the season against the Sunwolves at Eden Park on Saturday night.
It will be the first time in the All Blacks midfielder's Super Rugby career that he has been given the reins, in what shapes as a stern test against the surging Sunwolves.
After impressing during the pre-season, coach Leon Macdonald has awarded Harry Plummer with a start at number 10, with regular Otere Black moving to the reserves.
Loose forward Blake Gibson will make his first appearance, starting on the openside flank after being sidelined with long term injury. His return allows All Black Dalton Papalii to come off the bench after playing high minutes in the opening three games.
Towering lock Scott Scrafton will come off the bench after nearly one year out of the sport with an ACL tear.
Ofa Tunungafasi and Patrick Tuipulotu are both being rested in accordance with all Blacks policy.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks of long travel, short turnarounds, hot conditions, and performances that were below our capabilities,” said Macdonald.
"It's good to have some of our key injured players back to inject some freshness," said Macdonald. "Both in the starting team and off the bench."
The Japanese visitors are fresh off their history-making win over the Chiefs in Hamilton last week, and Macdonald expects them to carry that momentum through to Eden Park.
"Clearly the Sunwolves are a vastly different team with a lot of New Zealand and Australian players with Super Rugby experience.
"They proved their capability last week with the win against the Chiefs and we are under no illusions of the challenge they will bring."
Line-ups:
Blues: 1- Karl Tu’inukuafe, 2- James Parsons, 3- Sione Mafileo, 4- Gerard Cowley-Tuioti
, 5- Josh Goodhue, 6- Tom Robinson, 7- Blake Gibson, 8- Akira Ioane, 9- Augustine Pulu, 10- Harry Plummer, 11- Rieko Ioane, 12- Sonny Bill Williams (captain), 13- TJ Faiane, 14- Tanielu Tele’a, 15- Melani Nanai
Reserves: 16- Matt Moulds, 17- Marcel Renata, 18- Lua Li,, 19- Scott Scrafton, 20- Dalton Papalii, 21- Sam Nock, 22- Otere Black, 23- Otere Black
Sunwolves: 1-Pauliasi Manu, 2-Atsushi Sakate, 3-Hiroshi Yamashita, 4-Tom Rowe, 5-James Moore, 6-Hendrik Tui, 7-Shuhei Matsuhashi, 8-Rahboni Warren Vosayaco, 9-Jamie Booth, 10-Rikiya Matsuda, 11-Jamie Henry, 12-Michael Little, 13-Jason Emery, 14-Gerhard van den Heever, 15-Semisi Masirewa
Reserves: 16-Nathan Vella, 17-Alex Woonton, 18-Asaeli Ai Valu, 19-Uwe Helu, 20-Dan Pryor, 21-Keisuke Uchida, 22-Hayden Parker, 23-Phil Burleigh
