LIVE COMMENTARY (Be sure to refresh your browser)
Blues - 27 Highlanders - 24
FULLTIME - Click here for a full wrap.
80 mins - Sotutu soars to win the lineout, and that will be that!
79 mins - Penalty Blues at the scrum! Massive call. Barrett with a screamer of a touchfinder, lineout at their own 10m.
78 mins - Maul is rolled deep, but the Blues defence is superb. Held up, Blues scrum. Huge stop.
76 mins - Maul rolled, penalty advantage Landers! They cash it in. Tricky angle here for the shot at goal, they look to touch again.
75 mins - Nine phases and the Landers are losing ground. Smith bombs, Barrett reels it in but the penlaty is conceded. Landers find touch at the Blues 22m. Can they find the game-winner?
73 mins - Blues go deep from the restart. Landers march ahead, nNreki over halfway.
72 mins - Hunt from 36m on the angle...he's missed it!
71 mins - Huge swing play, as Parsons tries to leap over the ruck to dot down, loses it and the Landers launch a counter attack that ends with a chance for Mitch Hunt to tie the game up.
69 mins - Penalty for the Blues. They turn down the shot at goal and look for the killshot, 5m lineout.
68 mins - Blues look to play the possession game. Papali'i freed down the right edge, excellent run take play to near the Landers 22m. Nareki manages to scramble the ball away but he's taken into touch, Blues lineout at the Landers 22m.
65 mins - Blues drive the maul to within 5m. Penalty Landers, Blues off their feet. Huge relief. Lineout Landers at their 10m.
64 mins - Hunt clears but only as far as 15m from the flag. Another chance for the Blues.
63 mins - Barrett looks to the grubber, lineout Landers right on their own line.
61 mins - Rieko Ioane set to rejoin the fray from the naughty chair. Penalty Blues, they'll have an attacking lineout at the Landers 22m.
58 mins - TRY BLUES - Clinical maul from the lineout by the Blues and it's Dalton Papali'i who breaks away to grab his second try of the night. Black can't convert from handy range. (Blues 27-24)
57 mins - The rookie Gregory bungles another kick reception, Blues swing into gear on attack. Penalty Blues, they'll look to a 5m lineout.
53 mins - TRY HIGHLANDERS - Simple but effective from the Landers, who keep the ball tight and their big rigs charging forth. On the 8th phase, Shannon Frizell picks and powers his way 10m, carrying defenders over the line to score. What a momentum swing we have here. Conversion is over, and the Highlanders have the lead for the first time. (Landers 24-22)
51 mins - Ngane Punivai dives in out wide to score what looked to be a try, until the TMO steps in to reveal a Mitch Hunt knock on at the previous ruck. But the Blues will pay a price here, with Rieko Ioane shown a yellow card for an offside infringement. Blues down to 14. The Landers will opt for the 5m linout drive.
50 mins - Thwaites with a bullocking run through a monster holes, dragged down just inches short...
48 mins - Blues string some effective phases together but the movement is killed off by some great work at the breakdown by Mikaele Tu'u. Landers penalty, lineout at the Blues 22m.
45 mins - TRY HIGHLANDERS - Marino Mikaele Tu'u sparks the movement with a powerful run. Ball goes wide and Mitch Hunt bangs off his right foot to cut inside some weak defence and go 20m to dive in next to the posts. Easy conversion, ideal start for the visitors.
44 mins - Poor box kick from Nock, gives the Landers some offensive ball.
42 mins - Wide pass floated for Nareki and Clarke swarms him and drives him into touch. Blues lineout at their own 10m.
41 mins - Scrum Highlanders near halfway.
Second half underway...
HALFTIME
40 mins - Hunt misses touch and Clarke runs the ball out of the Blues 22m. Blues win a penalty at the breakdown, and that will do us for the first half.
39 mins - Landers roll the maul from the lineout. Looks to have disintegrated but the referee sees otherwise, penalty to the Landers.
38 mins - Penalty Landers. They find touch for a lineout at their own 10m.
37mins - Black drops one on a dime, finds touch metres from the Landers corner flag.
36 mins - Landers bring the intensity on defence, big driving tackle on Tuungafasi. Stray hand from the Landers, Blues will feed the scrum near halfway.
35 mins - Bombs traded, newbie Gregory can't take the Barrett swirler. Scrum Blues, just inside the Landers 10m.
34 mins - Sotutu off the back of the scrum, clears the ball deep into Landers territory.
31 mins - Landers with some front foot ball at the Blues 22m but skipper Tuipulotu launches a monster hit to force the ball free. Scrum Blues, Barrett clears to the Blues 10m.
28 mins - TRY BLUES - Clarke again, the kid is running riot. Breaks through the midfield at halfway, links inside with Rieko Ioane who accelerates clear of the nearest defender to peel off 30m and score. Black has his first miss of the night. (22-10)
27 mins - Barrett bombs, landers return fire and Clarke leaps to regather brilliantly...
26 mins - Scrum for the Blues at their own 10m.
23 mins - TRY BLUES - Debutant Scott Gregory scrambles to try and clear from right by his corner flag but Sotutu is there to charge down the kick, and Dalton Papali'i pounces on the scraps to score. Black slots the conversion from out wide. (Blues 17-10)
23 mins - Clarke with room to move, looks lethal everytime he gets the ball. Barrett stabs another kick through...
21 mins - Hunt from right in front, ties the score again. (10-10)
20 mins - Penalty advantage Landers, they're just a metre short of the line now. Ball is spilled, penalty cashed in.
17 mins - Thompson grubbers for Li, who keeps it in play brilliantly and Nock is forced to take the ball back into his own goal and ground it. Landers with a 5m scrum, great chance.
15 mins - Telea carves through a host of defenders to put the Blues back on the front foot. Sideline to sideline with their attack. They enter the Landers 22m but a penalty at the breakdown gives the southerners a chance to regroup.
13 mins - Blues win the restart and they're quickly on the attack. Black lands the wipers kick to Papali'i, who links with Clarke. Penalty advantage blown up. Black will take a shot at the posts, straight in front at 35m....nailed it. (Blues 10-7)
11 mins - TRY HIGHLANDERS - Great patience from the visitors, kept plugging away at the line ad it's captain Ash Dixon who makes the final drive to score next to the right-hand upright. Easy conversion (7-7)
10 mins - Landers keeping it tight, edging towards the line.
8 mins - Penalty Highlanders. Hunt finds touch at the Blues 22m.
6 mins - TRY BLUES - Off the back of some big carries from his pack, Caleb Clarke smells a half gap and ghosts through from 10m out, too powerful that close to the line and he drives over to score. Black converts. (Blues 7-0)
5 mins - Hunt clears to the 22m. Attacking lineout for the Blues.
4 mins - Landers clear to their own 10m. Ioane through half a gap. Nock with a clever grubber, finds touch a metre from the corner flag.
3 mins - Sotutu up with his first bulldozing carry of the night. Barrett drives the Landers back deep inside their own 22m, finds touch a few metres from the corner flag.
1 min - Highlanders fumble from the restart. She's a greasy pill out there tonight after a day of rain in Auckland. Blues scrum at their own 10m.
We're underway...
7:04pm - A moment's silence to commemorate Constable Matthew Hunt, who was a staunch Blues supporter.
7:03pm - Out come the Blues to a rousing reception from a decent crowd here at Eden Park, despite the rainy conditions.
Kia ora and welcome to play-by-play coverage, as the Blues try to continue their winning run against the southerners at Eden Park.
We bring you live streaming written commentary, video highlights (be sure to refresh your browser) and all the action.
Commentary will start from around 7pm. In the meantime check out the video above for a preview of tonight's game.
Betting odds:
Blues - $1.22 Highlanders - $3.95
Line-ups:
Blues: 1-Alex Hodgman, 2-James Parsons, 3-Ofa Tuungafasi , 4-Patrick Tuipulotu (c), 5-Josh Goodhue, 6-Akira Ioane, 7-Dalton Papalii, 8-Hoskins Sotutu, 9-Sam Nock, 10-Otere Black, 11-Caleb Clarke, 12-TJ Faiane, 13-Rieko Ioane, 14-Mark Telea, 15-Beauden Barrett
Reserves: 16-Kurt Eklund, 17-Marcel Renata, 18-Sione Mafileo, 19-Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 20-Tony Lamborn 21-Finlay Christie, 22-Harry Plummer, 23-Joe Marchant
Highlanders: 1-Ayden Johnstone, 2-Ash Dixon (c), 3-Siate Tokolahi, 4-Pari Pari Parkinson, 5-Josh Dickson, 6-Shannon Frizell, 7-Dillon Hunt, 8-Marino Mikaele Tu'u, 9-Aaron Smith, 10-Mitch Hunt, 11-Jona Nareki, 12-Patelesio Tomkinson, 13-Rob Thompson, 14-Sam Gilbert, 15-Scott Gregory
Reserves: 16-Liam Coltman, 17-Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18-Jeff Thwaites, 19-Manaaki Selby-Rickit, 20-Teariki Ben-Nicholas, 21-Kayne Hammington, 22-Bryn Gatland, 23-Ngane Punivai
Pre-match banter
Blues phenom Hoskins Sotutu eyes All Blacks berth
By Ollie Ritchie
Hoskins Sotutu has been one of the shining lights in Super Rugby this year, with his compelling form pre and now post the lockdown becoming a big part of the Blues' revival.
And it's those dominant performances that have propelled him into the conversation for a black No.8 jersey.
The 21-year-old admits he still has plenty to learn and having had a taste of Super Rugby last year, the bruising back-rower is now relishing his regular starting role.
Since then, Sotutu has only gone from strength to strength.
At the start of the year, coach Leon MacDonald took a punt, when he replaced the inconsistent Akira Ioane in favour of Sotutu.
"He's a gifted player," says MacDonald. "He steals ball on the ground, he rips it out of people's hands. He can offload, great in the lineout."
With a vacancy in the All Blacks loose forwards, Sotutu senses an opportunity to fill the void left by Kieran Read.
His rapid rise has been hard to miss and talk of a potential All Blacks call up has been unavoidable.
"It's in the back of my mind," Sotutu admits.
"I guess it's a bit tough at the moment, especially with my family. They're quite proud of me and they're always sending me articles back from Fiji."
This year has also seen a return to form for Rieko Ioane, who's thriving in the Blues midfield.
After losing his All Blacks starting spot last year, Ioane feels he's turned a corner.
"I came into this year with a fresh new mindset," says Ioane. "I wanted to be better than I was last year.
"It's been a huge learning for me at centre and I'm enjoying my time there."
