Fulltime - Blues 43 Lions 10
Blues 43 (R Ioane 2, Perofeta, Sotutu, Cowley-Tuioti tries; penalty try; Black 3 conversions & penalty, Plummer conversion) Lions 10 (Kriel try; Jantjies penalty & conversion)
BREAKING NEWS: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has just announced that anyone arriving into New Zealand from overseas will have to self-isolate, due to the coronavirus. That effectively ends the Blackcaps one-day series against Australia, and will make Super Rugby and the Warriors' NRL campaign virtually untenable.
80th minute - Lions are penalised, trying to break out of their 22. The Blues take a quick tap, but Duffie's flick on to Telea goes astray.
Fulltime and the Blues string their streak to four wins, moving to the top of the Super Rugby table - for now.
77th minute - Blues are on the Lions line, but the last pass from Akira Ioane is spilled by Gibson, as he is diving over.
76th minute - Blues earn a penalty in their own half and Plummer hoofs a massive touchfinder into the Lions 22.
72nd minute - Lions have an attacking scrum on the Blues line, but the home pack force a turnover and can clear. Parsons is subbed off, replaced by Tolai.
Remember, the Blues don't have All Blacks props Ofa Tuungafasi or Karl Tu'inukuafe tonight.
70th minute - Lions are camped in the Blues 22, receiving a string of penalties to keep the pressure on. Dalton Papali'i has failed a head injury exam and the Blues are warned for their infringing.
66th minute - Plummer has obviously replaced Black, Ruru comes on for Nock.
62nd minute - TRY to Sotutu
Blues mounting an attack, Ioane throws a loose pass, but when the Lions counterattack breaks down, Nock makes a long run back upfield.
When the ball moves right, Duffie finds Sotutu with one man to beat - he does so with ease. Plummer converts.
60th minute - Lions have the ball, trying to mount something from halfway, but Blues defence is staunch and forces a turnover.
Joe Walsh replaces Lindenmuth in the Blues front row.
58th minute - Rieko Ioane makes a half break, but his offload finds Rass, who is badly injured in a tackle and will need assistance off the field.
56th minute - The contest has become scrappy, with the Blues easing out of defence through a series of penalties.
54th minute - Jacob Pierce and Blake Gibson are replaced by Aaron Carroll and Akira Ioane for the Blues.
52nd minute - Lions are hot on attack and look certain to score, but Jantjies throws an inside pass that goes forward.
49th minute - TRY to Gerard Cowley-Tuioti
Papali'i offloads to start a slick interchange of passing among the Blues, with Faiane providing the final pass to his lock for the try. Black converts.
Narawa replaces Perofeta, with Duffie moving to fullback.
44th minute - TRY to Ioane
Blues earn an attacking penalty from a lineout and take another lineout. When the ball moves right, Faiane throws a nicely delayed pass to Ioane, who runs in for his second of the afternoon.
Black converts and the Blues also have a bonus point for their fourth try.
41st minute - From the kick-off, Sotutu makes ground and puts the Blues on attack. Perofeta makes a half break, but a dropped ball stalls progress.
Blues 22 (R Ioane, Perofeta tries; penalty try; Black conversion & penalty) Lions 10 (Kriel try; Jantjies penalty & conversion)
40th minute - Siren goes, as the Blues try to mount an attack from their own 22. Perofeta drops the ball and the half is over.
38th minute - From the scrum, Sotutu charges towards the posts and the Blues continue to press. The ball goes loose and Lions are penalised again.
PENALTY TRY to Blues
Vermaak is ruled offside and also deliberately knocked on, while trying to intercept the ball. Parsons would have scored if he received the pass, so automatic seven points to the Blues.
37th minute - From the defensive scrum, the Lions front row is penalised for collapsing, directly in front of the posts. Blues elect for another scrum.
36th minute - Telea makes another run and passes to Faiane, who finds Nock, before the move breaks down.
35th minute - Jantjies slots a penalty to close the gap.
30th minute - TRY to Perofeta
Both teams turning the ball over, before Telea gets some space and finally makes the final pass to his fullback to score next to the posts.
Black converts.
28th minute - From the lineout, Sotutu makes a big run up the centre, but fails to pass to Knock with the line open. The ball is recylced, but knocked on.
27th minute - Lions turn the ball over on attack and the Blues are able to clear.
24th minute - Ioane makes a long run out of his own territory, but a knock-on by Duffie ruins the opportunity.
21st minute - Lions take a quick lineout and lose possession in their own 22, then infringe in front of their posts. Black slots the penalty to retake the lead.
20th minute - Telea again brushes off 7-8 tacklers, but just as things open up left, Sotutu's pass to Pierce is too high and goes into touch.
19th minute - Dayimani drops the ball just outside the Lions 22, gifting a prime attacking opportunity to the Blues.
16th minute - TRY to Kriel
Lions pound away at the Blues line and eventually break down the defence. Schoeman goes close and next carry, Kriel completes the job.
Jantjies slots the conversion for the lead.
14th minute - From the defensive scrum, Black clears.
12th minute - Great defence from the Blues forwards, who stop the Lions' driving maul from the lineout and force a turnover.
11th minute - Warner makes a carving run for the Lions and the Blues are offside in front of the posts. Jantjies kicks to touch.
Eighth minute - TRY to Ioane
From the lineout, Knock darts, the forwards carry it on, with Sotutu charging. Black seemed to swallow the ball with an open man on his shoulder, but the ball is recycled and Ioane is too strong for the defence.
Black misses the conversion.
Seventh minute - Another midfield penalty, another attacking lineout for the Blues.
Sixth minute - Blues' lineout struggles continue, as the Lions create a turnover and clear.
Fifth minute - Big runs from Telea and Faiane put the Blues in good position, and they earn a penalty for offside. Black kicks to touch for an attacking lineout.
Fourth minute - Lions pressing on attack, but Jantjies floats a pass forward.
Second minute - Blues infringe at the breakdown - Parsons is offside - and the Lions elect to kick for goal from a handy position. Jantjies drifts his attempt wide.
First minute - Lions playing with a slight tail wind in the first 40 minutes, but there's very little in it. Players and spectators observing a moment's silence for victims of last year's Christchurch mosque shootings.
Lions kick off and Ioane fields.
4:10pm - TAB has the Blues at $1.17 to win, with the Lions at $5.20
3:59pm - Late change to the Blues, with prop Karl Tu'inukuafe sidelined by a bothersome calf, replaced by Ezekiel Lindenmuth in the starting line-up.
*****
Kia ora, good afternoon and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the Super Rugby clash between the Blues and Lions at Auckland's Eden Park.
The home team find themselves in the slightly unfamiliar position of a winning record (4-2) seven weeks into the season, after following a triumphant swing through South Africa with a rare local-derby away victory over the Hurricanes.
Heady times for the Blues and the Lions - beaten finalists for the last three years - may look more like lambs to the slaughter, sitting afoot the South African conference.
Blues coach Leon MacDonald has had to spell captain Patrick Tuipulotu for an All Blacks-mandated rest, while star flanker Tom Robinson will sit next to him in the stands.
With coronavirus forcing the cancellation or postponement of sporting events around the globe, this may be the last live rugby we see in New Zealand for a while, so make the most of it.
Blues: 1-Ezekiel Lindenmuth, 2-James Parsons, 3-Sione Mafileo, 4-Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 5-Jacob Pierce, 6-Dalton Papalii, 7-Blake Gibson, 8-Hoskins Sotutu, 9-Sam Nock, 10-Otere Black, 11-Mark Telea, 12-TJ Faiane (c), 13-Rieko Ioane, 14-Matt Duffie, 15-Stephen Perofeta
Reserves: 16-Luteru Tolai, 17-Joe Walsh, 18-Marcel Renata, 19-Aaron Carroll/Sam Caird, 20-Akira Ioane, 21-Jonathan Ruru, 22-Harry Plummer, 23-Emoni Narawa
Lions: 1-Dylan Smith, 2-Jan-Hemming Campher, 3-Frans van Wyk, 4-Willem Alberts, 5-Marvin Orie, 6-Marnus Schoeman, 7-Ruan Vermaak, 8-Hacjivah Dayimani, 9-Andre Warner, 10-Elton Jantjies (captain), 11-Courtnall Skosan, 12-Dan Kriel, 13-Manuel Rass, 14-Jamba Ulengo, 15-Tyrone Green
Reserves: 16-Pieter Jansen, 17-Sti Sithole, 18-Carlu Sadie, 19-Wilhelm van der Sluys, 20-Len Massyn, 21-Morne van den Berg, 22-Shaun Reynolds, 23-Andries Coetzee
Blues debut against Hurricanes would be 'dream' - Barrett
A return to Super Rugby against his former team would be the ideal scenario for Beauden Barrett.
The All Blacks playmaker has spent his first two days as part of the Blues squad, returning from an extended break after the conclusion of the Rugby World Cup last November.
While no firm date for Barrett's Blues debut has been confirmed by Barrett or the club, Newshub understands he will run out on Eden Park against the Hurricanes on April 11.
Speaking on Tuesday, decked out in the Blues training kit for the first time, Barrett pinpoints that clash as particularly mouth-watering.
"That would be the dream," Barrett says. "It wouldn't be a bad way to start, but I have to get myself to where I need to be to be part of this team.
"It will be fun and I'm sure it will be heated too."
But neither Barrett nor coach Leon MacDonald are prepared to lock the date in, given the 28-year-old's nearly five-month break from rugby.
Barrett must still get his head around a brand new playbook and integrate himself with his new teammates, while MacDonald's major concern is his new star player's physical condition.
"Nothing is confirmed," MacDonald says. "The guys out there are conditioned from 10 weeks of competitive rugby.
"Beaudy's last game was in October-ish - you can't just jump straight back into it without being physically ready.
"There are a lot of boxes to tick, but we are aiming for mid-April."
Barrett has confirmed his club rugby return on April 4. The two-time World Rugby Player of the Year will turn out for Coastal in the Taranaki competition - his boyhood club, now coached by older brother Kane.
"It's been 10 years and it's a club that I dearly love," Barrett says. "It's where it all began.
"I think it's important to connect with your club as much as possible, and to run around and play with my brother Blake will be fun.
"I hope I get to see a few familiar faces down there."
Barrett's time off included a trip to the NFL Super Bowl in Miami, an appearance at the New Zealand Golf Open, attending the Grammy Awards and time in Fiji with wife Hannah.
The 83-test All Black was criticised by fans and media for his well-publicised adventures, particularly after the Blues' one-win, two-loss start to the season.
Despite that, Barrett makes no apologies and believes the break will extend his career in the long term, after a decade of pre-season training programmes.
Barrett says he feels refreshed for his 2020 campaign.
"It's been a rare opportunity that I am very grateful for, after 10 years in New Zealand rugby.
"Just having extra time to do things I haven't been able to do before with my friends and family has been really fun.
"It's been beneficial to me and beneficial to my family, and I am grateful for it.
"I wasn't aware of it [criticism] to be honest. I don't read or listen to the press.
"I've been in no race to talk to people about my break, because it's been my break. How people have seen that is up to them, but I've really enjoyed it.
"This has been more about the future, not about what's been, and hopefully getting through to the next World Cup."
Barrett will spend the next three weeks learning the Blues playbook and working hard to regain full fitness.
But he is itching to get back on the park, especially given the mini-resurgence of the franchise in 2020, winning their last three games on the road.
"There is so much to get excited about, but what I really love is how grounded and hard working they are inside the camp.
"It's just one day at a time within the camp and we have worked really hard the last couple of days."
More to come
