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Blues 22 - 22 Bulls
As the hooter sounds Harry Plummer steps up to win the game and he misses it! The Bulls kick it out and it's a draw.
80 min: Blues win a penalty and will kick for the points and for the win.
78 min: Offside from the Bulls a big letoff for the Blues - plenty of time here - shocking kick! It's not out, but the Bulls kick it out for Otere Black.
75 min: TRY - Bulls, easy for the first five - he slices through under the posts and kicks the conversion to tie the game. Blues 22 - 22 Bulls.
75 min: This will test the Blues - Bulls kick to the corner and have a great chance to tie it up.
74 min: Really good passage from the Bulls - they kick it deep in the Blues half but the ball goes out - Blues gather and clear.
73 min: Blues go blind side where there's clearly no room - Rieko tackled out.
67 min: Ruru clears off the back of the scrum - Bulls lineout.
65 min: The Bulls get a good attack going but they lose the ball forward - Blues scrum.
63 min: TRY - Blues, Akira Ioane he's too big, too strong and he's over off the back of the scrum. Kick is good. Blues 22 - 15 Bulls.
62 min: Penalty won by the Blues - really close to the try line.
60 min: Rieko Ioane does well there to drag Manie Libbok dead and win the Blues a 5m scrum. Huge moment here.
59 min: Sloppy from the Bulls - a bad pass sees a knock on, Blues scrum in a really good spot.
58 min: So close from the Blues- Akira offloads to an open Blake Gibson and all he needs to do is hold on, but he loses it. Bulls scrum.
57 min: The Blues turn the ball over and kick the ball to the 22m in a blink of an eye, this game opening right up.
56 min: Really good move at the lineout for the Bulls and they are 10m out.
55 min: Once again , the Bulls get over the ball and win a penalty. They kick for touch.
53 min: TRY - Bulls. What a try! Cornal Hendricks gets the ball and beats Robinson on the outside - he puts through a grubber gathers and scores in the corner. Kick is good. Blues 15 - 15 Bulls.
49 min: The Blues are rolling with ball in hand now - throwing passes and playing fluent, the Bulls win a penalty at the breakdown though.
46 min: TRY - Blues. Great lineout move sees James Parsons dart down the right wing - the hosts regather and it's Scott Scrafton who scores. Kick hits the post. Blues 15 - 8 Bulls.
45 min: The conditions starting to look a little bit and a little bit more rugby is being player - Blues win a penalty and Plummer kicks one into touch.
43 min: Blues win a penalty and opt to kick for touch.
42 min: Knock on from the Bulls and the Blues push forward through Rieko Ioane - just 22 metres out now.
41 min: Kick off here in Auckland - off for the second half.
41 min: Knock on from Rieko Ioane will take us to half-time at Eden Park.
40 min: Shocker of a pass from Faiane who is guilty over overplaying - Bulls lineout.
39 min: Fantastic kick from Faiane who nudges it back to the Bulls' 22.
38 min: Big game of forceback here - kick after kick after kick.
36 min: The Blues look to advance now with ball in hand.
33 min: The Blues win another scrum after a Bulls knock on - the Blues are kicking it back to the visitors and need to get some field position.
30 min: Huge scrum from the Blues and they draw a maul and win a scrum - great work from the forwards.
27 min: The Bulls gather the ball on halfway and Ruru is called offside - penalty Bulls. Tried to kick for goal but it goes dead... Bad mistake.
25 min: TRY - Blues, Akira Ioane goes for a big run off the back of the scrum but it's Ofa Tuungafasi who scores. Kick is good. Blues 10 - 8 Bulls.
24 min: The Blues go very close - Ruru held up, Blues penalty.
22 min: Knock on off the kick off from the Bulls - great position for the Blues to hit back.
19 min: TRY - Bulls, really patient build-up from the visitors and they go over through Hanro Liebenberg. Kick is wide. Blues 3 - 8 Bulls.
18 min: A mistake from Ruru this time - his kick goes out on the full.
16 min: Plummer's penalty kick is good. Blues 3 - 3 Bulls.
14 min: The Bulls kick down field and Nanai leads the Blues' charge - under advantage now. Penalty called and the Blues will kick for goal.
11 min: Golden chance for the Blues and TJ Faiane can't hold on - knock on, Bulls scrum.
11 min: Mistake from the Bulls as they kick it out on the full - Blues lineout.
8 min: Advantage Bulls off the scrum - it's Ofa Tuungafasi who is pinged - shot at goal is the call, it's good. Blues 0 - 3 Bulls.
6 min: The Blues win the scrum but it's slippery - Scott Scrafton knocks the ball on.
5 min: The Bulls win a turnover and go close to scoring but Rieko Ioane gathers the kick - a knock on from the Blues sees the Bulls win a scrum.
3 min: Penalty won off the scrum - good heat from the Blues, they kick for touch.
1 min: Knock on from the Bulls as the Blues look to pounce from a good scrum position.
1 min: Kick off here at Eden Park into the driving rain! Lets go.
For all of those who aren't in Auckland tonight - it's bucketing down. Prepare for a error-riddled game with lots of kicking, I could be wrong though.
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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 Bulls from Eden Park.
TAB Odds: Blues: $1.26 Bulls: $3.75
Pre-game banter: Sonny Bill Williams returns to full training with Blues
The Blues have named a relatively unchanged line-up to take on the Bulls at Eden Park on Friday.
Coach Leon MacDonald has retained virtually the same starting line-up that battled to a 19-11 loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch last weekend.
All Blacks loose forward Dalton Papali'i was originally pencilled in for the run-on side at number eight but failed his concussion assessment following Wednesday's training, forcing a reshuffle in the forwards.
After starting 32 straight games, Akira Ioane was to be given a spell off the bench off the bench prior to the Blues' Queensland road trip next week. Instead he'll take his place at the back of the scrum, alongside captain Blake Gibson and Tom Robinson.
"Akira has worked hard on improving his game this year and he has been such a work-horse for us," said MacDonald. "Especially early on when we had injuries with the loose forwards.
"We have to remember he is still a very young man and we had initially looked to lighten his load and bring him off the bench this week."
"But while Dalton is very close to full fitness, we did not want to take any risks and will keep him back until next week. We know Akira will put in another big effort for us."
Hoskins Sotutu – son of former Auckland wing Waisake Sotutu – will come on to the interchange.
The backline remains unchanged, although star midfielder Sonny Bill Williams was back to full training ahead of an expected return to the field against the Reds.
The All Blacks midfielder hasn't played since injuring his knee in the Blues' round-seven clash with the Stormers two months ago, and MacDonald is hopeful he'll be ready to go next week.
"We're just trying to build his load back up. It's increased this week to what wouyld be a typical game week, and if he can tolerate that then he'll be good to go next week."
The Blues still have a mathematical chance of advancing to the playoffs, but MacDonald insists their simply focusing on putting together performances to be proud of.
"We are taking them one at a time and want to finish each really strongly. Then we add up the points and see if we continue into the post-season playoffs."
Blues: 1-Alex Hodgman, 2-James Parsons, 3-Ofa Tuungafasi, 4-Patrick Tuipulotu, 5-Scott Scrafton, 6-Tom Robinson, 7-Blake Gibson (c), 8-Akira Ioane, 9-Jonathan Ruru, 10-Harry Plummer, 11-Rieko Ioane, 12-Ma'a Nonu, 13-TJ Faiane, 14-Caleb Clarke, 15-Melani Nanai.
Reserves: 16-Leni Apisai, 17-Lua Li, 18-Marcel Renata, 19-Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 20-Hoskins Sotutu, 21-Augustine Pulu, 22-Otere Black, 23-Tanielu Tele'a.
Bulls:1-Lizo Gqoboka, 2-Schalk Brits, 3-Trevor Nyakane, 4- Jason Jenkins, 5-RG Snyman, 6-Marco van Staden, 7-Hanro Liebenberg, 8-Paul Schoeman, 9-Ivan van Zyl, 10-Manie Libbok, 11-Rosko Spekman, 12-Burger Odendaal, 13-Johnny Kotze, 14-Cornal Hendricks, 15-Warrick Gelant
Reserves: 16-Jaco Visagie, 17-Simphiwe Matanzima, 18-Wiehahn Herbst, 19-Jannes Kirsten, 20-Ruan Steenkamp, 21-Andre Warner, 22-JT Jackson, 23-Divan Rossouw
