LIVE COMMENTARY (Be sure to refresh your browser)
Blues - 30 Hurricanes - 20
FULLTIME - The Blues ultimately ease their way to a comprehensive win to give Beauden Barrett some early bragging rights against his former team. Click here for more.
77 mins - TRY HURRICANES - Jamie Booth nabs a consolation try underneath the crossbar. (Blues 30-20)
75 mins - Canes not rolling over here. Penalty sees them to another 5m lineout.
72 mins - Canes chance their arm, Coles with the grubber kick out wide but it's into touch on the full.
71 mins - Accidental offside kills off that scoring chance for the Canes. Sotutu rumbles for some easy metres, Barrett doesn't find touch.
70 mins - Canes penalty, 5m lineout. They'll need to score quickly here to have any chance.
68 mins - Canes looking for holes, Aumua breaks down the left egde and bumps Black a good two metres. Ball is pilled and thre Blues clear, but the Canes are quickly back to the 22m.
66 mins - Savea throws one forward looking for Laumape on the touchline. Scrum Blues at their own 10m.
65 mins - Great patience from the Blues. Penalty advantage comes, Barrett snaps a drop goal attempt but it's just wide. Black will take another shot, 30m out and right in front...over it sails. Steep road back now for the Canes. (Blues 30-13)
64 mins - Sotutu like a missile at the defensive line, Black finds some room. 7 phases now....
63 mins - Clarke over the ball at the breakdown to win a Blues penalty. Barrett finds touch at the Canes 22m.
61 mins - Canes probing at halfway, but the Blues defence remains miserly.
60 mins - Savea over the top of the ruck and off his feet. Blues bang the penalty back to halfway for a lineout.
59 mins - Penalty Blues, Black calls for the kicking tee again. 40m on a slight angle, and he reamin perfect. (Blues 27-13)
57 mins - Sperb turnover from Sotutu at the breakdown, Ioane looks to take advantage, finds Telea who's taken down by the slightest ankle tap.
56 mins - Canes work their way to halfway. Ardie Savea into the fray now, and not a moment too soon for the visitors.
54 mins - Sotutu rumbles his way through multiple tacklers. Blues win a penalty, the 20th of the game in total. Black will have a shot from here, 24m out on the angle...slides it inside the lefthand upright. (Blues 24-13)
52 mins - Nock clears from the restart, Canes lineout near halfway. Blues steal it and go wide immediately. Canes offside, Barrett with another stunner touchfinder, Blues will throw the lineout at the Canes 22m.
50 mins - TRY BLUES - TJ Faiane spots an opportunity for a grubber and Dalton Papali'i obliges, storming through from the 22m to collect and crash over the line out wide. Black slots the conversion. (Blues 21-13)
49 mins - Blues turn it over, send it wide quickly to Barrett in open spaces but he's well taken by Aso. Penalty Blues, lineout at the Canes 22m.
48 mins - Canes kick to the corner, lineout at the Blues 22m.
47 mins - Advantage Canes as they recycle through the phases. Eight phases now, but they're still at the Blues' 10m. Garden-Bachop snaps a drop goal to cash in that penalty advantage.
46 mins - Canes penalty at the scrum, they own that engagement. Lineout at the Blues 10m.
44 mins - Ball spilled, Laumape bangs it into open spaces. Barrett returns the favour and the Canes clear. Blues lineout about 30m from the line.
43 mins - Black with a beautiful take of a Garden-Bachop crossfield kick. Blues inside the Canes' half now...Ioane breaks free, finds Sotutu in support. penalty Blues and Barrett taps and goes quickly.
42 mins - Blues scrum after the Canes mistake. Nock hoists the box kick, Lam up to the task.
41 mins - The Blues get the second 40 started.
Second half underway...
HALFTIME - A hard-fought affair through the opening stanza, but - as was the case in Dunedin last night - the referee's whistle has prevented the contest finding any real rhythm.
40 mins - Canes will have one final crack here, lineout at the Blues 10m. Huge tackle Tuipulotu to force a fumble, and that hat will do us for the first half.
38 min - Sotutu steals the lineout then puts the foot down and carries defenders a good 10m, setting up Nock for a box kick. Canes penalty, no release from the tackler.
37 mins - Blues work through a handful of phases before the Canes win a defensive penalty. Lineout at the Blues 10m.
36 mins - Blues win a defensive penalty at the scrum. Blues opt for the 5m lineout...
33 mins - Telea makes a rampaging run, sends Chase Tiatia back to Petone with a monster fend. Blues get in each other's way just a metre from the line, obstruction called and the Canes survive.
32 mins - Penalty Blues, superb Barrett kick and the Blues will throw the lineout at the Canes 22m.
31 mins - Blues lineout at their own 22m, after a strong defensive stand by the locals. Nock clears from the maul but only as far as halfway, Goosen heads to the Blues' 10m
29 mins - Yet another Canes penalty, the 7th against the Blues. Touchfinder takes us to a 10m lineout inside the Blues half.
27 mins - TRY HURRICANES - All too easy for the visitors, as they take advantage of another mammoth overlap out wide and this time Ben Lam strolls over unopposed. Conversion is hooked. (Blues 14-13)
26 mins - Great attacking position here for the Canes. Laumape takes the crash ball...
25 mins - Canes go wide where there's a massive overlap. Just have to shift the pass to Lam and he's over, but the pass travels forward. Back we go for the penalty advantage, and the Canes opt for a 5m scrum.
23 mins - Canes look to launch from the Blues 22m but Robinson soears to steal the throw. But the Blues lift a player as they clear out the ruck and we'll head to a 5m lineout for the Canes.
22 mins - Canes penalty at halfway, Blues tackler Robinson not rolling away.
18 mins - TRY BLUES - The tries keep on coming here at Eden Park, this time it's TJ Faiane running an excellent line from close range to cross the chalk. Conversion is over. (Blues 14-8)
15 mins - TRY HURRICANES - Numbers out wide and they find a storming Dane Coles on the righthand touch, who pins his ears back and soars to dot down in the corner, then rises to tell his old Beauden Barrett all about it. Classic. Conversion is wide. (Hurricanes 8-7)
15 mins - Canes look to build from the restart.
12 mins - TRY BLUES - Rieko Ioane makes the initial break at midfield from 35m out, finds Caleb Clarke, who powers through a couple of tacklers to dot down under the crossbar. Conversion good. (Blues 8-3)
11 mins - Highly questionable chip kick by Laumape, and Barrett returns the ball deep into Canes' territory for a lineout.
10 mins - Garden-Bachop sparks a mini break from the restart and the Canes are already at halfway. penalty Canes, Parsons off his feet at the ruck. The Canes will throw another attacking lineout just outside the Blues' 22m.
8 mins - Canes edge inside the Blues' 22m. Penalty advantage blown up and this should be a straightforward three points for Garden-Bachop....and over it goes. (Hurricanes 3-0)
7 mins - Sotutu off the back of the scrum. Nock with the box kick but doesn't earn many metres. Another great attacking chance for the Canes.
5 mins - Garden-Bachop crossfield kick, well taken by Clarke for the Blues. Both sides kicking for position. Barrett into contact but Evans has turned the ball over, they send the ball wide. Grubber behind the line, Goosen unable to reel it in. Blues scrum right on their own line.
4 mins - Barrett hoists a bomb, almost gets there to claim his own kick but the Canes are able to work towards halfway.
3 mins - Another lineout against the feed and the Canes clear. Barrett makes his first touch, sends a ball inside for Black.
2 mins - Lineout stolen and the Blues earn an early penalty. Black sends us to a lineout just inside Canes territory.
1 min - The Hurricanes get us started, Ioane makes his first hitup of the game. Nock clears from the base of the ruck, lineout Canes outside the Blues 22m.
We're underway...
3:36pm - A Hercules make a flyover to add to the scene, as the crowd and players take a moment to offer a round of applause for the essential workers who have helped NZ conquer COVID-19.
3:34pm - Both team take the paddock in unison, the Blues led by captain Patrick Tuipulotu who's sporting a new pink lid. Interesting.
3:24pm - Late blow for the Hurricanes, with news that Vaea Fifita has been ruled out with injury.
3:20pm - Newshub's Ollie Ritchie in the thick of the action at The Garden. The sun is well and truly out now, setting the ideal scene for the return of afternoon rugby.
3:01pm - The crowds are streaming into Eden Park as we build towards kick off. There's a real finals type vibe to this one, let's hope the contest itself delivers on the occasion.
Kia ora and welcome to play-by-play coverage of the return of live sport to Eden Park, as Beauden Barrett makes his Blues debut against his former Hurricanes teammates in the opening round of Super Rugby Aotearoa.
We bring you live streaming written commentary, video highlights (be sure to refresh your browser) and all the action.
Commentary will start from around 3:30pm. In the meantime check out the video above for a preview of tonight's game.
Betting odds:
Blues - $1.47 Hurricanes- $2.55
Pre-match banter:
Barrett named at fullback for Blues debut
By Ben Francis
All Blacks star Beauden Barrett will make his Blues debut from fullback in their Super Rugby Aotearoa opener against the Hurricanes at Eden Park on Sunday afternoon.
With Barrett slotting in at fullback, coach Leon MacDonald has opted to stick with Otere Black at first-five - he led the Blues to five wins before the coronavirus-induced shutdown in March.
The match will be Barrett's first outing since the All Blacks' World Cup bronze-medal playoff against Wales in November.
"Beauden has fitted into our team seamlessly, and has come in great shape and with real enthusiasm," says MacDonald.
"This week, we felt he can best help us at 15, being his first game for the Blues, with a mindset of graduating into the 10 role.
"Otere Black was one of our best players earlier in the season and guided us well around the field."
Also in the backline, Mark Telea and Caleb Clarke will play on the wings, with TJ Faiane and Rieko Ioane manning the midfield. Sam Nock will start at halfback, with former Hurricanes Finlay Christie in line for his debut off the bench.
MacDonald describes this as one of the hardest team selections he's had to make since taking over the role last year.
He highlighted the loose forwards as particularly challenging, naming Tom Robinson, Blake Gibson and Hoskins Sotutu to start, with All Black Dalton Papalii coming off the bench and Akira Ioane missing out.
Upfront, prop Alex Hodgman and Northland lock Josh Goodhue are both fully fit, and return to the starting pack that includes All Blacks Ofa Tuungafasi and captain Patrick Tuipulotu, with James Parsons at hooker.
"It has been the hardest team to select in my time here," MacDonald adds. "There are some disappointed players not in the 23 this week, but they will get their chance when we need them.
"The team is naturally excited. This is a special occasion for us all - and something none of us expected, to be playing so soon and in front of our fans.
"Our good form from earlier this year is a bit irrelevant now. That said, the team know if they put in the quality hard work during the week, then they can take some confidence into gameday."
Meanwhile, Ardie Savea will make his return to Super Rugby off a Hurricanes bench that features a 6-2 split on the bench between forwards and backs.
Like Barrett, Savea hasn't played since the World Cup, after undergoing knee surgery at the end of 2019.
"Ardie has progressed well and it's awesome to see him excited about getting back out there," says Hurricanes coach Jason Holland.
As expected, Jordie Barrett won't face his brother, after suffering a shoulder injury, and versatile Chase Tiatia replaces him at fullback.
Jackson Garden-Bachop will take over playmaking duties from Fletcher Smith, who misses out on the matchday squad altogether, with TJ Perenara and Dane Coles named as co-captains.
Last time the two teams met, the Blues claimed a 24-15 win in Wellington in March.
More than 35,000 tickets have been sold for the match.
