BLUES 54 REBELS 17
FULLTIME
80min - BLUES TRY - PAPALII
Game has fully opened up now, Barrett tries the kick ahead again and Papalii wins the race to dive onto the ball and score yet another Blues try! What a second half.
78min - BLUES TRY - SULLIVAN
Blues shift right from the scrum with a player numerical advantage, Barrett gives it to Sullivan and he rides the tackle to go over for the score. Easy as you like.
76min - Replacement Robinson knocks on Ioane's quick-fire pass, and the Rebels will get the feed into the scrum inside their own 22m.
74min - Tuipulotu is held up over the tryline following an uncontested scrum, and the Rebels will have the goal-line dropout to clear the danger.
72min - Rebels now lose a player to the bin, with Eloff capping off a forgetful game, as he's sent off for disrupting the Blues' maul. He won't be back.
70min - Barrett's kick is charged down but the ball comes back to the Blues. He tries another chip through and players collide heavily, before falling the visitors' way again.
68min - Rebels go short with the lineout and finally find some success, and they're up near the five-metre line. Blues march over the top of them though and win the ball back.
66min - BLUES TRY - TUUNGAFASI
Blues finding inroads with ease, quickly getting into the Rebels half with Segner stretching the legs. They find Tuungafasi and he crashes over for another Blues try.
64min - Plummer's kick from the restart doesn't go very far and the Rebels will have the lineout, but Tuipulotu gets up to steal it and the Blues will look to launch their maul.
62min - BLUES TRY - TELEA
Barrett sees space ahead, puts the chip through for himself, before kicking ahead for Telea to chase and the winger wins the race easily to grab his second.
60min - BLUES TRY - CHRISTIE
Blues put an almighty shove on at the scrum and it's the easiest of put downs for Christie, as he only has to move the ball less than a foot to score his double.
58min - Blues win back-to-back penalties, with the Rebels pinged for being offside. Their scrum is serving them well so they call for another pack down just metres out.
56min - Barrett finds Telea with a clever cross-field chip and he takes it at pace, before putting the kick ahead for Plummer to chase and the Rebels are forced to take it out.
54min - Rebels look to exploit the short side but run out of room and Ekuasi is bundled into touch by the covering defence for a Blues lineout inside their own 22m.
52min - BLUES TRY - TELEA
Christie puts Tuipulotu through a whole, and he offloads to a surging Telea, and he's too silky, too fast and he's in for the try. He's only been back on the field a couple minutes.
50min - Blues set their driving maul from the restart and march it almost 30 metres, before being awarded the penalty. Telea even got involved in the maul.
48min - BLUES TRY - CHRISTIE
Barret finds Ioane with a short pass, the Rebels player just manages to hang onto him, but the centre looks up and finds Christie, and he beats two to go over for the try.
46min - Talakai's throw is short and not straight, so the Blues will have the scrum. Christie holds it up for Barrett, who releases Clarke down the wing.
44min - Blues win the lineout and look to set their maul...they're just a few metres out but Riccitelli loses it and the Rebels can break! Kellaway finds touch with a 50/22.
42min - Blues put the shove on at scrum time and earn the penalty advantage. But we'll come back towards halfway, with Eloff the guilty party again.
HALFTIME
40min - Rebels will have an attacking lineout just five metres out. Canham brings it down, the Rebels look to drive and they're over! It's Wilkin who gets up with it.
38min - After a review, Telea is adjudged to have gone high on Hosea and has been shown a yellow card! Really didn't look that bad so it shouldn't be upgraded.
36min - Barrett forced to clean up after the ball spilled free out the back and does well to bring it in and clear just outside the Blues' 22m.
34min - BLUES TRY - RICCITELLI
Blues look to drive their maul from the lineout win, Riccitelli spots space to the left and breaks away to crash over for the go-ahead score. Made that look easy.
32min - Barrett finds Telea with a cross-field kick, but we'll come back for a scrum penalty with Eloff pinged under the heavy pressure of Laulala.
30min - Telea takes in the kickoff, and Barrett shifts it to Sullivan to clear and he finds Hodge who looks to free up Kellaway on the right wing. Segner wins the breakdown penalty.
28min - Rebels' throw into the lineout is a poor one and the Blues get up to steal it, before being awarded the penalty right underneath the sticks. Barrett knocks over the easy three-pointer.
26min - REBELS TRY - KELLAWAY
Rebels break out from their own five metre line and they're suddenly on the Blues' tryline! It falls to Kellaway, who throws the dummy and dives low to score!
22min - After a couple of scrum resets, it finally comes for Plummer to charge. Laulala has a look up before bringing the ball in and knocks on.
20min - Barrett tries a grubber kick for Telea to chase and it's a poor one, but it flicks the boot of a Rebels player on its way for a Blues five-metre scrum. Lucky.
18min - Barrett opts for the quick-throw and it's a poor one, but Sullivan cleans up before taking it into contact and the Blues win the penalty and will have a five-metre lineout.
16min - Hodge makes a strong carry, before Gordon clears near halfway into touch. Blues try a nice-looking set-piece move before they run out of room and Sullivan is tackled into touch.
14min - Telea breaks about five tackles, before releasing Christie! His halfback gives the return pass and Hodge makes a great tackle to bring him down. Barrett's cross-field kick is knocked on with several Blues players in waiting.
12min - BLUES TRY - DARRY
Kellway's kick is charged and falls to a rampaging Clarke who beats a couple of Rebels players. Blues just a couple metres out, and Darry crashes over for the try!
10min - Riccitelli makes the tackle but is penalised for not rolling away. Hodge will line up the shot bang in front just outside the 22m - and he makes no mistake.
8min - Barrett gets up to have another go but is penalised for not releasing. Telea has been involved in everything so far, including a big bump off.
6min - Barrett is back in the pocket and puts the high kick up for Telea to chase and he meets the Rebels players head on, before the hosts clear through Louwrens.
4min - Telea rushes up in defence and puts a good shot on but knocks on in the tackle, and the Rebels will have a scrum just inside their own half.
2min - Blues with all the early possession, and Sullivan spots space behind and puts the low kick through along the turf for a Rebels lineout on their own 22m.
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Ki ora, good evening, and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the Super Rugby Pacific clash between the Blues and Melbourne Rebels at AAMI Park.
The Kiwi side have struggled with consistency this season, and have yet to win back-to-back games, following last week's defeat to table-toppers Chiefs.
But tonight's trip to Melbourne should give them an ideal opportunity to get back on track, with the ninth-placed Rebels having just two wins so far.
The Blues will be without All Blacks Stephen Perofeta and Hoskins Sotutu, but have welcomed the return of winger Mark Telea.
Veteran lock Patrick Tuipulotu has also been promoted from the bench to start in the second row to partner Sam Darry.
Join us at 9:35pm for kickoff.
Blues: 1-Jordan Lay, 2-Ricky Riccitelli, 3-Nepo Laulala, 4-Patrick Tuipulotu, 5-Sam Darry, 6-Adrian Choat, 7-Dalton Papalii ©, 8-Anton Segner, 9-Finlay Christie, 10-Beauden Barrett, 11-Caleb Clarke, 12-Harry Plummer, 13-Rieko Ioane, 14-Mark Telea, 15-Zarn Sullivan
Reserves: 16-Soane Vikena, 17-Ofa Tuungafasi, 18-James Lay, 19-Cameron Suafoa, 20-Tom Robinson, 21-Sam Nock, 22-Corey Evans, 23-Caleb Tangitau
Rebels: 1-Cabous Eloff, 2-Alex Mafi, 3-Pone Fa'amausili, 4-Josh Canham, 5-Trevor Hosea, 6-Josh Kemeny, 7-Brad Wilkin, 8-Vaiolini Ekuasi, 9-Ryan Louwerens, 10-Carter Gordon, 11-Monty Ioane, 12-Reece Hodge, 13-Andrew Kellaway, 14-Lachlan Anderson, 15-Joe Pincus
Reserves: 16-Jordan Uelese, 17-Matt Gibbon, 18-Sam Talakai, 19-Angelo Smith, 20-Tuaiana Tuii Tualima, 21-James Tuttle, 22-Nick Jooste, 23-Lukas Ripley
TAB odds: Blues $1.16, Rebels $5, draw $26
