Blues - 35 Highlanders - 6
FULLTIME - The Highlanders showed some grit to hang in the contest early but the red card essentially put paid to any hopes of an upset, and the Blues eased to a comfortable win with a dominant second half.
80th min - Sullivan angles a tracer bullet kick for a 50/22. Can the Blues add more points here? Barrett looks for the grubber, into touch it goes and that will just about do us.
Luke Romano does the honours, hoofing it into touch.
77th min - Blues miss touch on a penalty. Landers to the Blues' 22m, but it's turned over. Back from the scrum we go, Blues feed at their own 10m.
72nd min - Landers with an attacking lineout. All consolation here.
69th min - TRY BLUES to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
The Blues shift it wide quickly and RTS bangs off his right foot and finds a clear path under the crossbar for his first Blues try. Well deserved, he's been one of the Blues' best tonight. (Blues 35-6)
68th min - Apisai overthrows, Blues have it. Barrett bombs, great chase lam who reels it in and finds Ioane.
66th min - Blues lineout at their 10m. Monster rolling maul by the Blues pack, 20m gain. Off the feet at the ruck, Landers penalty. Banks takes us to a lineout at the 50m.
64th min - Landers queuing up for the one-outs. Just metres short.
Fakatava chips for his wing, ball tapped back inside for Fetuli Paea and he's over the chalk. Video review reveals a knock-on, no try. Blues scrum 5m out from their line.
Huge shunt from the Blues and they win a pressure-relieving penalty. Lengthy injury delay here, clash of heads has felled Billy Harmon.
62nd min - Landers with some rare attacking ball now. Frizell picks up and powers his way over form close range. Referee wants to check a potential knock-on. Turns out there was arm in touch in the leadup to the try.
Back for a penalty advantage though. They'll set a 5m lineout. Must-score time for the Landers.
58th min - TRY BLUES to AJ Lam
Nothing on for the Blues and barrett decides to just send one into the clouds. Banks has an absolute mare underneath it and the ball falls kindly for the chasing Lam. Perofeta slots the conversion. The fat lady is warming up her vocal chords. (Blues 28-6)
57th min - Hodgman over the ball at the ruck to win the defensive penalty for the Blues. Lineout near the Landers' 22m.
54th min - Another scrum penalty against the Blues. De Groot is on fire in there, and Leon MacDonald has seen enough - Tuungafasi's night is over.
As is Scott Gregory's, the midfielder limping off the paddock. Denny Solomona replaces him.
53rd min - Some damaging runs from Sotutu through that phase of play, but there's a knock on in the tight just 5m from the line. Landers scrum on the shadow of their posts.
50th min - Attacking lineout at the 22m after the penalty for the Blues. Crucial period here for the visitors.
48th min - TRY BLUES to Beauden Barrett
Slick setpiece from the lineout sees RTS breaking clear off a short ball. Links inside with Ioane who finds Barrett to finish off under the crossbar. That's a killer for the Landers. (Blues 21-6)
46th min - Superb setpiece move sets Fakatava clear, inside to Mikaele-Tu'u who grubbers to the in-goal but it's too strong. Blues 22m dropout.
44th min - Landers lose the ball at the ruck and the Blues look to shift it. Making good ground but Romano can't hold on the ball, which may be caked in soap given some of the handling tonight. Scrum Landers on their own 10m.
42nd min - Rieko Ioane carves himself a hole, Lam looming in support but yet again, the slippery ball strikes on the pass. Landers scrum, and penalty. Impressive stuff from the undermanned pack.
41st min - Blues receive the restart. They've brought Luke Romano on at halftime for James Tucker.
Second half underway....
HALFTIME
39 mins - Blues penalty, they'll have one final crack before halftime. Lineout at the Landers' 22m. Coombes-Fabling pounces at the ruck to win a defensive penalty. They'll put that into touch and take us to oranges.
38 mins - Blues look to break again, Ioane clear but he can't find his support inside. Landers fumble, Blues scrum at their own 10m.
35 mins - TRY BLUES to Beauden Barrett
Huge fend on Ethan de Groot and Barrett speeds clear 30m to score between the posts. (Blues 14-6)
34 mins - Blues surge back past halfway from the restart. Telea breaks! Taken 10m short.
Tucker is over the chalk but the referee says double movement, no try.
31 mins - TRY BLUES to Akira Ioane
Lovely interplay between the Ioane brothers, as Rieko outs Akira into a huge hole and the big flanker storms under the bar from 22m out. That'll be a huge relief for the Blues. (Blues 7-6)
29th min - Another penalty and Banks will double the lead with a gift three points. How about this from the underdog 14-men Highlanders? (Highlanders 6-0).
27th min - Landers player tackled without the ball. Banks finds touch for a lineout near the Blues' 22m.
25th min - Heem can't reel in a grubber, more poor handling by the Blues. Scrum Highlanders at the Blues' 10m.
23rd min - 5m lineout Blues. Highlanders steal it at the maul, somehow. Then they win a penalty to relieve the pressure.
22nd min - Too much tryline pressure from the Blues and Ioane barrels over from a metre out. Video review seems to show the ball clearly grounded but they say it's inconclusive. No try. Wow.
Now they're taking a look at a potential dangerous tackle by Highlanders hooker Andrew Makalio on Tom Robinson. That doesn't look good. He'll have a card of some sort.
It's going to be red! Huge moment in this match. Fair call though, no arms at all, wreckless shoulder to Robinson's head. Highlanders down to 14 men.
21st min - Blues counter from deep, Perofeta to the Landers 22m. Sotutu goes close.
19th min - Perofeta beats two, Blues inside the Landers 22m but the ball is lost yet again. Banks clears deep.
17th min - Christie box kick well take by Garden-Bachop. Very scrappy at ruck time, Landers forced back 15m. Into touch and the Blues will have a lineout near halfway.
14 mins - Blues feed a scrum at their own 10m. Strong run by RTS but the Landers strip the ball free at the next ruck. Kicks traded and we end with a Landers lineout at their own 10m.
12th min - Landers recycling but making minimal gain in the face of this Blues defence. 14 phases deep - Banks snaps a droppy! Wide to the left. Encouraging stuff for the hosts.
10th min - Brilliant ruck turnover by Telea. Barrett looks to counter immediately from deep but A. Ioane loses control of the ball at the ruck. Dewy ball tonight. Attacking scrum Landers.
7th min - Telea crash ball at first receiver on phase one and he fumbles in the tackle. Highlanders scrum. Big shunt from the visitors and they win a penalty. Lineout at the Blues' 22m after a superb touchfinder from Banks.
6 mins - Landers can't reel in the restart. Blues lineout. Harmon almost nabs an intercept, can't hold on. Blues scrum at the Landers' 22m.
3rd min - Blues offside at the ruck, advantage being played. Landers cash that in. Banks will have a shot at the posts, 22m out on a slight angle. No mistake. (Highlanders 3-0)
2nd min - Marty Banks puts his kick on a dime and earns the 50/22. Great start for the southerners.
1st min - Barrett gets us started. Landers regather. Fakatava box kick and the Blues return to halfway.
We're underway....
7:03pm - Beauden Barrett leads the Blues out on a crisp but calm evening in the City of Sails. Let's get into this.
6:50pm - A couple of late injury blows for each of tonight's captains. Highlanders skipper Aaron Smith has been forced out with a groin strain. He'll be ably replaced by Folau Fakatava, with Kayne Hammington coming on to the bench. Flanker Billy Harmon will lead the side.
Meanwhile, the Blues have lost inspirational captain Dalton Papalii. He had surgery to remove his appendix on Saturday and will be out indefinitely.
Adrian Choat moves into the starting lineup, with Josh Goodhue coming on to the bench. Beauden Barrett will take up skipper duties.
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Kia ora and welcome to live updates of the quarter-final clash between the Blues and the Highlanders from Auckland's Eden Park.
The top-qualifying Blues have been on a tear in 2022, going undefeated through 14 straight games, after their opening-round loss to the Hurricanes.
They've won both contests with the Highlanders this season, winning 32-20 at Eden Park in week three, before prevailing again a week later at Dunedin by 32-25.
In stark contrast, the Highlanders have scrapped through to the playoffs by the slimmest of margins. With just four wins to their name, their qualification has been the subject of much conjecture throughout the week, with the playoffs format coming under fire from all corners.
Has that lit a flame under the southerners that may help propel them to a monumental upset win over the highly favoured Blues?
Join us at 7pm to find out.
TAB odds: Blues $1.10, Highlanders $5.25
Blues: 1-Alex Hodgman, 2-Kurt Eklund 3-Ofa Tuungafasi, 4-James Tucker, 5-Tom Robinson, 6-Akira Ioane, 7-Adrian Choat, 8-Hoskins Sotutu, 9-Finlay Christie, 10-Beauden Barrett (capt.), 11-Mark Telea, 12-Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 13-Rieko Ioane, 14-Bryce Heem, 15-Stephen Perofeta
Reserves: 16-Soane Vikena, 17-Karl Tu'inukuafe, 18-Nepo Laulala, 19-Luke Romano, 20-Josh Goodhue, 21-Sam Nock, 22-AJ Lam, 23-Zarn Sullivan
Highlanders: 1-Ethan de Groot, 2-Andrew Makalio, 3-Jermaine Ainsley, 4-Bryn Evans, 5-Josh Dickson, 6-Hugh Renton, 7-Billy Harmon (capt.), 8-Marino Makaele-Tu'u, 9-Folau Fakatava, 10-Marty Banks, 11-Mosese Dawai, 12-Scott Gregory, 13-Thomas Umaga-Jensen, 14-Fetuli Paea, 15-Connor Garden-Bachop
Reserves: 16-Leni Apisai, 17-Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18-Saula Mau, 19-Max Hicks, 20-Shannon Frizell, 21-Kayne Hammington, 22-Liam Coombes-Fabling, 23-Denny Solomona
Number of playoff qualifying teams should be reduced, says Hurricanes star Dane Coles
Hurricanes star Dane Coles has weighed in on the widely maligned Super Rugby Pacific playoff structure, calling for a reduction in the number of teams advancing to the knockout stages.
The tournament format allows a whopping eight of the 12 teams to qualify for the quarter-finals, a majority that has copped plenty of criticism.
The Highlanders have become the prime example for its detractors, with the southerners clinching a postseason berth on the back of just four wins from their 14 games.
Speaking from Canberra, where his team is preparing for their quarter-final showdown with the Brumbies, Coles says the competition would be better suited to a six-team playoff, where the top two sides are granted a bye.
"Yeah, it would be nice to have top six," he said. "None of us can control how they do the top eight or the top six… but maybe, looking forward, you want to look at it a bit differently.
"I know the 'Landers boys are pretty keen to get stuck into the Blues, so fair credit to them - they'll turn up and play - but that's out of my pay packet, to restructure the comp."
Of more immediate concern for Coles and his teammates is their own playoff fate in Saturday's match against the Brumbies.
With the squad ravaged by the flu over the past fortnight, the Hurricanes will finally be back to full strength, with the contingent who missed last week's trip to Perth to play the Force - namely Jordie Barrett, Isaia Walker-Leawere, Tyrel Lomax, Ruben Love and Julian Savea - all rejoining the team in the Australian capital and available for selection.
They'll take on a wounded Brumbies outfit, who will enter the match off three straight losses. Two of those have come on home soil, albeit against competition frontrunners Blues and Crusaders, while the Hurricanes themselves will be fresh off a loss to the Force.
Hurricanes assistant coach Chris Gibbes expects a stern backlash in front of a loud GIO Stadium on Saturday night, as both teams put their seasons on the line.
"They're a quality outfit," said Gibbes. "They're stacked full of Wallabies and they've got a game that works for them that they've stuck with for the last wee while, and it's got good results for them.
"They'll be learning from those losses and, like us, focusing on these next 80 minutes. It's a pretty parochial crowd and the weather's going to play its part as well, so there's a few factors in there.
"We can't control any of that. What we can control is how we prepare, and the mindset and attitude we bring to this game, and then us executing under pressure."
