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Blues 21 Chiefs 17
Fulltime
Blues 21 (Duffie, Tuipulotu & Christie tries; Barrett 3 conversions) Chiefs 17 (Boshier & Alaimalo tries; McKenzie 2 conversions & penalty)
80th minute: Siren sounds, but the Blues must still win this lineout. Throw doesn't look that straight, but Tuipulotu secures it and Barrett finds touch to end the game.
The Chiefs are not happy and are telling Pickerill all about it, but they have now lost their sixth Super Rugby Aotearoa contest of the revamped season and seventh in a row, dating back before COVID-19 shutdown.
79th minute: Chiefs tap and drive to the line, Sowakula dives, but loses the ball... Blues can clear! That's massive.
78th minute: Sowakula wins the lineout, Weber lunges at the line, but the Blues drive the Chiefs back. Blues are penalised and Plummer is dispatched to the sin bin, so Blues must play the last two minutes short.
76th minute: Thomson wins the lineout for the Chiefs and when the ball goes right, Wainui is dragged down short.
Chiefs forwards pile on, Cruden kicks left, the bounce eventually finds Thomson, but Plummer strips the ball before he can score.
Pickerill goes back for a Chiefs penalty and Cruden kicks to touch for the lineout drive.
75th minute: Cruden's touchfinder misses its mark, but Plummer's clearance only reaches the 22. Chiefs have a royal chance here.
74th minute: Weber kicks high, Clarke fields and makes ground. Barrett probes to the right and Nock kicks high, Chiefs can't gather, but win a penalty on their side of halfway.
72nd minute: Blues mounting an attack on the 22, but Chiefs are holding. Faiane is crunched in a tackle and is penalised for not releasing.
Cruden clears near halfway.
70th minute: Blues scrum collapses on halfway and Ioane knocks on at the back, but Pickerill penalises the Chiefs fowards.
68th minute: Nankivell loses the ball in midfield and the Blues can't regather cleanly. Blue scrum for the knock-on.
67th minute: Chiefs win the lineout, but are held up in the maul. Blues are penalised for entering from the side, so Cruden clears.
66th minute: Tuipulotu surges towards the try-line and when the ball goes right, Black throws a lob pass to Telea, who is pushed into touch.
65th minute: Otere Black replaces Duffie, which sees Barrett move to fullback.
63rd minute: Blues are trying to make ground, but Nankivell has been hurt making a tackle and Pickerill stops play. Adam Thomson comes on for his 100th Super Rugby game.
Taukieaho replaces Slater at hooker for the Chiefs, Goodhue, Mafileo and Nock are on for the Blues.
62nd minute: From the scrum, Ioane breaks off the back and finds Papalii. A high kick puts the Chiefs under pressure.
60th minute: Chiefs building phases, but they knock on and Gibson snaffles the ball. Blues scrum.
58th minute: From the scrum, Barrett puts Papalii into a gap. When the play breaks down, Chiefs are awarded a penalty to relieve.
By the way, further replays suggest Christie may have lost the ball scoring that previous try - explains why Barrett converted so quickly.
57th minute: Chiefs lose the ball on attack, but Barrett's pass is over his teammate. It's messy and Pickerill brings them back for the Chiefs knock-on.
55th minute: TRY to Christie
Tu'ungafasi rumbles towards the line and is dragged down short. Blues forwards pile on and Christie dives under the posts.
Pickerill is unsighted and needs some confirmation... replays show he forces the ball on the line. Barrett converts quickly.
54th minute: From the scrum, Akira Ioane breaks from the back and kicks through. Chiefs tidy up and Cruden clears.
52nd minute: Blues mount an attack from their own half, Barrett puts Reiko Ioane through a half gap, but his pass is picked off by Tupaea, who knocks on.
51st minute: McKenzie slots his penalty to put the Chiefs in front, 17-14. Rain is now falling.
50th minute: Blues are penalised just inside their own 10m and McKenzie will line up a kick that would put the Chiefs ahead.
49th minute: Alaimalo is escorted off, replaced by Tupaea. Karl Tu'inukuafe replaces Alex Hodgman in the Blues front row.
46th minute: TRY to Alaimalo
From a scrum deep in the Chiefs half, Weber breaks and feeds Cruden, who finds Lienert-Brown. The centre draws the defence, before feeding Alaimalo, who scores in the tackle of Barrett.
Alaimalo appears injured, McKenzie draws the wide-out conversion between the posts and scores are tied, 14-14.
44th minute: Blues making round upfield. Tu'ungafasi rumbles towards the 22, but Eklund loses the ball in a tackle.
43rd minute: Cane is playing on. Cowley-Tuioti steals lineout ball against the throw for the Blues.
42nd minute: From a scrum on halfway, Clarke makes good ground, but Cane is holding his wrist - the All Blacks captain is in pain. Looks like a stinger in his shoulder.
First minute: Chiefs have made a big change at halftime, bringing Aaron Cruden on for Caleb Trask at first-five. They sniff a chance here.
Halftime
Blues 14 (Duffie & Tuipulotu tries; Barrett 2 conversions) Chiefs 7 (Boshier try; McKenzie conversion)
40th minute: From the lineout, the Blues go left, but Papalii is caught in midfield. The Blues kick ahead and force a Chiefs lineout, but Boshier kicks to touch to end the half.
39th minute: Chiefs are stringing together phases, but Boshier is penalised for entering the breakdown from the side. Blues clear to the Chiefs half.
36th minute: From the scrum, Christie finds touch midway 22 and the 10m mark.
35th minute: Blues are penalised again, right in front of their posts. Pickerill warns that someone will go next time and Trask finds the sideline.
From the lineout, Nankivell lose the ball in a tackle and Blues have a chance to clear.
34th minute: From the lineout, the ball goes left. Trask makes ground towards the line, but the move stutters in the face of Blues defence.
33rd minute: Chiefs pack pushes Blues off the scrum and draw a penalty for collapsing the front tow. Trask finds touch on the 22.
30th minute: Weber breaks from a scrum inside his own half, but the Blues defence is equal to the task. Faiane pounces on a losse ball, but Barrett's pass travels forward.
27th minute: Barrett kicks down the middle of the ground and McKenzie scythes through the defence. His pass to Weber is clearly forward, but the officials are scrambling to keep up.
Eventually, Akira Ioane smothers Weber and earns a relieving penalty for the Blues.
24th minute: Chiefs cross halfway and earn another penalty. Telea leaps high to keep Trask's kick from finding touch, but Alaimalo gathers the loose ball and is tackled just short of the line by Eklund.
The ball goes loose, Clark knocks on, but Pickerill has spotted a forward pass from the Chiefs.
23rd minute: Chiefs trying to mount an attack from their half, but Wainui is crowded over the sideline on his own side of halfway. Eklund's throw isn't straight.
21st minute: Barrett passes behind Reiko Ioane and he spills the ball forward trying to gather it.
19th minute: TRY to Boshier
From the lineout, the ball is released quickly to the Chiefs backline and the Blues are offside again. Weber drives towards the line and Boshier is driven over from close range.
McKenzie converts to close the deficit, Blues 14-7.
18th minute: Chiefs on attack and Blues offside, penalty in midfield. Trask kicks to the corner.
16th minute: Lienert-Brown makes ground down the left side, but when the movement breaks down, Pickerill brings them back for a Chiefs penalty inside their own half. Trask kicks to just outside the Blues 22.
14th minute: TRY to Tuipulotu
Reiko Ioane and Clarke both lunge at the try-lone, but when the forwards take over, the skipper is driven over by two teammates. Barrett converts from similar position to his first kick, Blues 14-0.
13th minute: Blues on attack again, Reiko Ioane slips a tackle, then jinks through the midfield. Barrett glides through a gap and finds Telea.
11th minute: Chiefs mounting an attack, but O'Neill is driven back by the Blues front row and concedes a relieving penalty.
10th minute: Weber tries to pass from an attacking ruck, but the ball is deflected by a Blues player. Just a knock-on, so attacking scrum in midfield on the 22.
Ninth minute: Chiefs attacking inside the Blues half and earn a penalty at the breakdown. Trask is more conservative with his touchfinder this time.
Sixth minute: TRY to Duffie
From the scrum, Faiane appears to time his run too early, but the ball goes left along the Blues backline, with Ioane putting Duffie into a gap for a straight 30m sprint to the line.
Barrett converts, Blues 7-0.
Fifth minute: Christie kicks high, and Alaimalo and McKenzie both go for the catch - neither succeed and Blues win a scrum for the knock-on.
Fourth minute: Blues tidy up a high kick on their own side of halfway and mounta an attack.
Third minute: Chiefs swarm over halfway and have a penalty just on their side of the line. Trask misses touch, Barrett boots it back into Chiefs half - net gain to the Blues.
First minute: Beauden Barrett kicks off and the chasing Blues knock on. First scrum will come just 28 seconds into the game.
*****
Clouding over in Auckland, as kick-off approaches. Don't discount some rain during the game.
One key change to our team graphic - Blake Gibson will wear the Blues No.7 jersey in his 50th game, with Dalton Papalii switching to the blindside flank.
Otere Black has passed his head examinations and will come off the bench, as selected.
NZ Air Force perform a three-plane flyover. Brendon Pickerill will referee.
*****
Kia ora, good afternoon and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the Super Rugby Aotearoa clash between the Blues and Chiefs from Auckland's Eden Park.
Both teams head into the clash on losing streaks, with the Blues dropping their last two, while the Chiefs are winless in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Victory for the Blues would see them move back to second place in the standings, after the Hurricanes' win over the Crsuaders on Saturday night propelled them up the ladder.
The Crusaders are atop the Super Rugby Aotearoa standings on 19 points, with a game in hand over the Hurricanes, who are three points behind, while the Blues are a further three points back.
The match marks Beauden Barrett's return to first-five, after playing fullback for the entire campaign so far.
Kickoff is at 3:35pm.
Beauden Barrett named at first-five for Blues' clash against Chiefs
Beauden Barrett will return to his preferred position at first-five for the Blues' Super Rugby Aotearoa clash against the Chiefs at Eden Park on Sunday.
Barrett has been named in the No.10 jersey, after Otere Black injured his neck during the 29-27 loss to the Hurricanes last Saturday.
The 29-year-old hasn't started a match at first-five since September 7 last year, when the All Blacks beat Tonga in a Rugby World Cup warm-up match.
"It's his favorite position and he's played his best rugby there," says Blues assistant Dan Halangahu. "But he will always do what's best for the team.
"He just wants the best team out on the park and play his role. He's the best running 10 in the world, he loves to attack the line, but he's bringing a whole rounded game."
Since returning from a sabbatical after the Rugby World Cup, Barrett has played fullback for the Blues, with coach Leon MacDonald putting his faith in Black, who led the Auckland franchise to five wins before the Super Rugby season was halted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Barett switched to first-five for the second half of the 'Canes clash and expressed his desire to don the No.10 jersey after Black's injury.
Black has been named on the bench, but will be replaced by Emoni Harawa, if he's unable to play.
With Barrett moving to first-five, Matt Duffie starts at fullback. Other changes in the backline see Caleb Clarke return to the wing, after missing last weekend's clash to attend his grandfather's funeral, while TJ Faiane comes in for Harry Plummer at second-five.
In the forwards, Blake Gibson returns from injury for Aaron Carroll at blindside flanker, while Akira Ioane remains at No.8, with Hoskins Sotutu still sidelined by a knee injury.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs have made one change to their starting line-up, as they seek their first win of the Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign, with Reuben O'Neill replacing Aidan Ross in the front row.
In the reserves, young prop Ollie Norris joins the 23, alongside Taranaki halfback Lisati Milo-Harris.
Loose forward Adam Thomson will don jersey 19 for his 100th Super Rugby appearance.
Earlier this season, the Blues claimed a 24-12 win over the Chiefs in Hamilton.
