CRUSADERS 15 BLUES 3
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FULLTIME
80min - A great shot by Fainga'anuku forces the knock on and he's pumped up! He nailed Ioane. Neither team can hold onto possession, before Sotutu finally kicks it out and that's fulltime! What a clinic by the champions.
78min - Crusaders are pinged at the scrum, with Sykes-Martin penalised for dropping the knee. Blues find touch just over halfway. Can they score a try? Still a bonus point to play for.
76min - Heem busts through a couple of tackles, but a flat pass spills free and eventually finds the sideline for a Crusaders lineout near the Blues 22m.
74min - Blues playing with real intensity now, and finding space up the middle. Barrett finds Ioane with the cross-field kick, but his pass is dropped by Sullivan.
72min - Barrett almost pulls off a miracle of a try, but for once, doesn't get the bounce he needed after a couple of kicks through and Jordan clears.
70min - Crusaders look to drive their maul once more, before being told to use it. Havili attacks the line, and beats Choat. Christie can't hang onto Mo'unga's pass.
68min - Christie wins another turnover at the ruck, and Jordan kicks ahead! He pressures Lam into a pass to Telea, and he finds touch with a desperate kick.
66min - Suafoa spots half a gap, but the Crusaders do well to quickly close it. Christie kicks but it's a poor one, and Mo'unga handles it nicely and kicks ahead.
64min - Eklund makes an untimely error as his throw is deemed not to be straight. Akira Ioane is brought on for his 100th match for the Blues.
62min - Crusaders make a rare mistake at the lineout, as Suafoa comes up with the ball and the Blues can counter through their replacements out wide.
60min - Lam gets his first touch of the ball and is held up brilliantly in the tackle, and the Crusaders are awarded for their good work with a scrum.
58min - Crusaders look to set their maul, before Drummond fires it to Havili to run onto. Lay gets over Mo'unga at the breakdown and the Blues clears down field, before Jordan fires it back.
56min - Christie gets over the ball and wins a crucial turnover penalty for the Crusaders. Mo'unga finds touch for the lineout, as both teams ring the changes.
54min - Jordan's kick is charged down but it falls right into his hands, before Havili clears. Barrett sets off on a counter, but Clarke's grubber is taken well by Drummond.
52min - Jordan puts McLeod in space down the right wing but he loses his footing into Clarke's tackle. They're just a metre out but an obstruction offers the Blues some relief.
50min - Crusaders steal the Blues lineout, before Tuipulotu is penalised. Mo'unga finds touch near the 22m for an attacking lineout.
48min - Blues win the lineout and then the penalty, with the Crusaders guilty of a late sack. Papali'i's yellow has been upgraded to red! Blues without their skipper for the rest of the match.
46min - Sullivan tries to fire the pass to an unaware Sotutu and he knocks on. Crusaders look to counter, but Ennor's pass is a loose one and goes right to Telea.
44min - CRUSADERS TRY - FAINGA'ANUKU
Havili spots space down the left, throws a terrific dummy before firing the pass one-handed to Fainga'anuku, who dives over in the corner for the try! To make matters worse for the Blues, captain Papali'i has been shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Mo'unga.
42min - Blues go quick from the lineout, but Clarke's kick goes out on the full. Another unforced error proves to be the visitors' undoing.
HALFTIME
40min - Crusaders re-gather the restart and look content to hold onto the ball, before Mo'unga kicks it out to take us to halftime. What a half of rugby. Physical as you can get.
38min - Crusaders do just enough to get the ball out from the scrum. Sullivan makes a hard tackle, but is penalised for not rolling away. Mo'unga adds another three points, hitting the post in the process but over nonetheless.
36min - Jordan and Barrett exchange kicks down field before Sullivan has the last say, with a forceful nudge towards halfway for a Crusaders throw-in.
34min - The Blues are happy to get on the scoreboard and Barrett makes no mistake with the shot at goal to reduce the lead to four points with six minutes to go in the half.
32min - A comedy of errors sees the Blues with possession just five metres out from the tryline! Blues are awarded the penalty after back-to-back infringes by the Crusaders.
30min - CRUSADERS TRY - STRANGE
Barrett collects Taylor's throw just five metres out and the Crusaders look to maul. Taylor breaks away and is tackled short, before Strange picks, goes and crashes over for the try!
28min - Blues look to have won the scrum turnover, but are instead penalised for illegal wheeling, leaving Tuungafasi bemused by the call. Crusaders find touch for the lineout.
26min - Both front rows go down, but the Crusaders are told to use it. Jordan spots space behind the Blues but kicks it out on the full for a Blues lineout on halfway.
24min - Blues look to breakout from their own 22m! It comes to Telea and he's away down the right wing! He tries to grubber through for Ioane but it goes straight into touch.
22min - Crusaders try to bash their way over, and are just a couple of metres out. But the ball spills free and Riccitelli dives on it! Blues clear through Sullivan.
22min - Renata tries to bring Taylor down but collects him high and is penalised. Mo'unga finds touch about eight metres out from the tryline.
20min - Taylor does really well to get over the ball-carrier and win the penalty for the Crusaders just outside his own 22m. A rare Blues attack comes to an abrupt end.
18min - Riccitelli overthrows his jumper and picks out a Crusader instead. Mo'unga clears down field but Sullivan makes a great return, beating one in the process.
16min - Grace knocks on from the scrum, giving the Blues the put-in, before the pack pile the pressure on. Crusaders win the ball back but Christie gets over it and gets the penalty.
14min - Crusaders dominating all the early possession, as Grace makes another strong run. Darry is down and the referee calls a stop to play. It's been relentless from the Crusaders.
12min - Crusaders win the lineout and look to set their maul, before Williams is tackled just short of the tryline! Blues defence really fronting up and force the knock on! Incredible.
12min - Grace pops a good offload to Taylor and the Crusaders are just five metres out, before the Blues are penalised for being offside. Crusaders opt for another lineout.
10min - Papali'i makes a great tackle on Jordan and the Blues try to run over the ball but are penalised instead, and the Crusaders will have another attacking lineout.
8min - Choat almost makes the steal for the Blues, but Darry is penalised for not rolling away. Mo'unga finds touch inside the Blues 22m for another attacking lineout.
6min - Telea and Barrett make two crunching tackles to dislodge the ball and win possession back, before the Blues clear down field for Havili to return.
6min - McLeod just manages to get the grubber kick away, and Clarke is forced to take the ball back into his own in-goal area for a Crusaders five-metre scrum.
4min - Fainga'anuku crashes into Telea from the lineout win. Crusaders just five metres out, but the ball is lost and Riccitelli of all people puts boot to ball and clears!
2min - Grace makes a strong run down the left wing after the Crusaders turn the ball over. Fainga'anuku grubbers and forces a rushed clearance from Barrett.
7pm - Thank you for joining us for what should be game of the round! The Crusaders pipped the Blues earlier in the season...can the visitors avenge that defeat? We'll find out shortly.
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Kia ora, good evening, and welcome to Newshub's live updates of the Super Rugby Pacific clash between the Crusaders and Blues at Orangetheory Stadium.
Just one point separates the two sides on the table, with the third-placed Blues holding the advantage.
But the Crusaders have already beaten the Blues this season, with a 34-28 victory at Eden Park in round four.
In what could be the last time future All Blacks Scott Robertson and Leon MacDonald go head-to-head, there are certainly bragging rights on the line.
The Blues have welcomed back Beauden Barrett and several other All Blacks for the fixture, with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck left out of the match-day squad.
Loose forward Akira Ioane will bring up his 100th match for the Blues, should he be brought off the bench.
Meanwhile, the Crusaders are without veteran lock Sam Whitelock, who hasn't recovered from an Achilles injury.
But Jack Goodhue does make his return, after being named on the bench, with Dallas McLeod given the No.14 jersey
Join us at 7:05pm for kickoff.
Crusaders: 1-Joey Moody, 2-Codie Taylor, 3-Tamaiti Williams, 4-Scott Barrett, 5-Quinten Strange, 6-Christian Lio-Willie, 7-Tom Christie, 8-Cullen Grace, 9-Mitchell Drummond, 10-Richie Mo'unga, 11-Leicester Fainga'anuku, 12-David Havili, 13-Braydon Ennor, 14-Dallas McLeod, 15-Will Jordan.
Reserves: 16-Brodie McAlister, 17-Kershawl Sykes-Martin, 18-Oliver Jager, 19-Zach Gallagher, 20-Sione Havili Talitui, 21-Noah Hotham, 22-Fergus Burke, 23-Jack Goodhue.
Blues: 1-Ofa Tuungafasi, 2-Ricky Riccitelli, 3-Marcel Renata, 4-Patrick Tuipulotu, 5-Sam Darry, 6-Adrian Choat, 7-Dalton Papali'i, 8-Hoskins Sotutu, 9-Finlay Christie, 10-Beauden Barrett, 11-Caleb Clark, 12-Harry Plummer, 13-Rieko Ioane, 14-Mark Telea, 15-Zarn Sullivan.
Reserves: 16-Kurt Eklund, 17-Jordan Lay, 18-James Lay, 19-Cam Suafoa, 20-Akira Ioane, 21-Sam Nock, 22-Bryce Heem, 23-AJ Lam.
TAB odds: Crusaders $1.47, Blues $2.70, draw $18
