Full time - Blues 24 15 Force
82mins: This is crazy - both teams throwing the ball around willy-nilly - Great stuff but in the end the ball floats out over the sideline and the game is over. Blues will be gutted they let a bonus point slip late. Highlights will be up in about 5mins. Thanks for your company this afternoon.
80mins: Try Blues - No a forward pass from Guyton - That was excellent from then Blues - they were stung from that 80m effort from the Force - straight back on attack and should have scored but the pass floated forward. Last play here.
78mins: TRY FORCE - Dane Haylett-Petty - Called it. Great breakout from lock forward Matt Philip - superb play from the Force and their best player Haylett-Petty scores under the posts. Lance adds the extras.
77mins: Force chancing theor arm inside theor own half. Blues need to stay on point here and not concede as bomus points could make the difference.
73mins: TRY BLUES - Michael Collins - Dufee prevents a try for the Force with a well-timed intercept and West breaks free down the middle - offloads to Collins and the Blues score another cracker! Wow! Collins had a lot to do there but skinned the defender - Dufee fantastic read on defence - West with the break. Great stuff from the hosts. Bonus point position for the Blues.
70mins: Force back on attack. the Blues have been busted open up the middle more than once today. Akira Ioane is penalised at the ruck and the Force will have a lineout about 7m out.
68mins: A period of Force possesion inside the Blues half - Akira Ioane earns a turnover - He has been the Blues best player today, slightly shading George Moala. Blues have a lineout right on halfway.
64mins: TRY BLUES - Reiko Ioane - Just fantastic from the Blues. Reiko creates and finishes. Makes the break from inside his 22 - unloads to Collins - draw and pass to Melani Nanai who runs 20m to draw and pass on the fullback which allows Iaone to crash over under the posts. They needed that the Blues. West converts. 11 point lead.
62mins: Game is on a knife-edge. Force are defending very well but and the Blues are a mistake away from trailing. Blues have a lineout on theor own 22. Force have tackled theor way back into this half.
60mins: Blues create another chance but again the last pass option is poor - Counter attack Force - Haylett-Petty and Meakes combine - wow they could score here..no the ball has gone into touch. Defensive lineout Blues...Lucky escape for the hosts.
59mins: Moala with another bust upo the middle - he has been great so far but he mistimes his pass and the Force clear - Blues lineout 15m out.
58mins: game in the balance here. Blues are holding field position nicely but need to score some points or the Force will start believing they can win this.
57mins: Blues blow a great chance to extend the lead. West with a cutout pass that sets taramai free but he blows the offload in the tackle that probably would have led to a Malani Nanai five-pointer. Defensive scrum Force.
54mins: Turnover Force - Blues their own worst enemy again - but the Force cough the ball up on counter-attack when they had a break-out chance, Scrum Blues 23m out.
51mins: Bit of messy play creaping back into the game - Force kick the ball into touch on the full whilst on attack. Blues earn a penalty right out in front just inside the Force half. West with the touch finder 18m out from the Force tryline.
49mins: Blues have a defensive scrum - double knock-on resulting from the Moala tackle and Akira Ioane drop.
48mins: Chance Peni intercepts a Piers Francis pass and the Force nearly go in - Moala with a huge tackle shuts down the visitors - Ioane knocks it on with open space ahead. Rieko Ioane is on now and so to is Ihaia West..Faiani and Francis replaced.
46mins: Blues think they have scored here after Faiani produced a brilliant tackle in the midfield..he pounced on the loose ball and ran 25m to score - but the replay shows he knocked it on in the tackle. Bullett dodged by the Force.
44mins: Teams playing a bit of good old force back, resulting in a Blues lineout on halfway which they fluff. The Force get the ball back on halfway.
43mins: Force on attack early here but a mistake from midfield back Billy Meakes releases then pressure valve. The Blues have the chance here to clear their lines with a defensice scrum.
KICKOFF - Just a correction - It was Jimmy Tupou who went off with concussion - not Murphy Taramai. Blues looking to break out from theor own half - lovely run from Akira Ioane. Great clearing kick from Faiane puts the Force back into their own half but the very impressive Marcel Brache makes a lovely break up the middle and then the Blues infringe at the ruck. Smashing start to the half.
Welcome back - Players back on the paddock for the second 40.
HALFTIME : Blues somehow have enginered a 4-point lead at the drinks break. One word to describe their first 34 mins - Awful. But they managed to get some ball and field position and the game turned in the last 5 minutes. The Force played most of the rugby in that 4o minutes and will probably be scratching their heads when the read the scroeboard. Be back shortly.
38mins: TRY BLUES - Matt Dufee - take a bow George Moala - Runs around Alex Newsome in the midfield - runs 30m - draw and pass to Dufee and teh Blues score the best try of the game so far. Lovely. Francis misses to the left of the posts. Force back to 15.
37mins: Messy from the Force inside theor own half but they manage to ckear the ball and the Blues look to ruck it out from just inside theor own half.
35mins: TRY BLUES - Akira Ioane - Wow he has made a huge impact in the 10 minutes he has been on. Great maul by the hosts - must have learnt from the lesson the Crusaders taught them a few weeks back. Frabcis nails the extras from the sideline. Somehow the Blues are within 1 point.
34mins: Blues mauling well -and have earned another penalty. Force trying to hold on here with 14 men for another 3 minutes. Lineout 5m out for the hosts. Force on a warning,
32mins: Devensive free-kick for the Force. Dane Haylett-Petty with a fantastic clearing kick and the Blues have a lineout just inside their own half. They earn a penalty - chance to go back on attack.
30mins: Blues go close a couple of times - to no avail. Cutout pass from Moala and Dufee crashes over...hold-up - forward pass from George - close call but just forward, try bombed though as they had a 5 on 3.
28mins: Blues on attack for the first time in the game really. Through four phases. Ioane takes a penalty quicky and almost gets over. Isi Naisarani kops a yellow card for not retreating. Penalty Blues right in front and they take the scrum option.
26mins: Taramai won't be back - Concussion. Blues have a penalty midway 22 and halfway but Francis kicks for touch. Attacking lineout for the hosts.
25mins: Murphy Taramai looks to have suffered a headknock and Akira Ioane is on in his place. Sloppy lineout from the Blues and the Force have a scrum just outside theor own 22.
24mins: Blues playing like they are 30-points behind - they just need to settle down. Penalty midfield on halfway for the hosts after a ruck infringement from Matt Hodgson. Francis with the touch-finder and the Blues go on attack midway 22 and halfway.
22mins: Scrum for the Blues on halfway - nice run from Tuipulotu gets them on the front foot but Moala makes a mistake just outside the 22. Brache breaks free down the middle but he turns the ball over and we get the reset of play. Phew that was a bit hectic.
19mins: TRY FORCE - Geez that was awful from the Blues. Horrid pass from Francis - intercepted by the Force - hot on attack and Richie Arnold, the big lock forward crashes over. Jono Lance misses the extra two.
17mins: Territory 79% - 21% for the Force. Blues need to wake up - think they have taken their opponents a little lightly. Trying to throw it around from everywhere. Structure first - then attack.
16mins: Force at 17 phases as I write - Blues defending well but Force looking great. Big break up the middle by Brache but he loses the ball in contact 5m out. Blues knock-on while counter-attacking but referee says no advantage - Defensive scrum 5m out for the Blues.
14mins: Force looking great on attack - making metres with absolute ease and great recycling of the ball too. Force on attack here just 10m out from the Blues line.
13mins: Jimmy Tupou gets his timing wrong from the restart - takes out the Force catcher. Referee says not intentional and just a penalty to the visitors.
11mins: PENALTY GOAL FORCE - Jono Lance throws it over from bang in front and the visitors hace a well deserved lead.
10mins: Louwrens off injured - Former Hawkes Bay rep Michael Ruru on in his place - Penalty foer the Force - TJ Faiani offside at the ruck.
9mins: Blues trying to play rugby in their own 22 and almost cough up possesion. Still flinging it around and another loose carry - this time Tuipulotu and the Blues will defend again. Scrum on the Blues 22 for the Force - that was sloppy from the hosts. Force halfback Ryan Louwrens looks hurt - stoppage in play here. Blues need to be more clinical on their exit plays.
7mins: Force on attack - 8 phases but a mistake by Alex Newsome and they have blown a great chance to open the scoring. Great spot tackle in the midfield by Francis. Defensive scrum for the Blues.
5mins: Infringement at scrum time from Faumuina and the Force decline the 3-points - 5m lineout for the visitors.
4mins: Blues with a mistake on attack and the Force break out from theor own 22 - Great run from prop Ben Daley who makes at least 30m - Force on attack but Tuipulotu with the turnover but he has knocked the ball on. Attacking scrum to the Force
2mins: Force with a poor clearing kick - Michael Collins with a nice little run and then from the resulting ruck, Francis with a lovely kick behind the defence and the Force have a defensive lineout 5m out.
KICKOFF: Referee Kubo says let's play and Francis gets the game underway with a kick deep into Force territory. Visitors locking to ruck the ball out of their own 22.
Two-minutes away from kick-off - no late changes to report. The Force are one of the three Australian franchises in threat of losing their Super status - but have an uphill battle to get a win here today. Haven't beat the Blues in the last nine, have never won at Eden Park and haven't won in NZ for three years.
Blues have slipped to the bottom of the New Zealand conference after the Highlander trouncing of the Rebels last night.
Thanks for joining me everyone - an absolute beautiful afternoon in Auckland today - Should be great conditions for running rugby. lets hope the players have that attitude and we get a great game.
Hello and welcome to live updates of the Blues hosting the Western Force at Eden Park in Auckland.
We bring you live streaming written commentary, video highlights (be sure to refresh your browser) and all the action. VIDEO will be available as soon as the final whistle goes.
Commentary will start from around 5:10pm (NZT). In the meantime check out the video above as Newshub's Ross Karl takes a closer look at the mess that has become scrums.
LINEUPS
Blues
1. Pauliasi Manu, 2. James Parsons (C), 3. Charlie Faumuina, 4. Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 5. Patrick Tuipulotu, 6. immy Tupou, 7. Murphy Taramai, 8. Jerome Kaino, 9. Augustine Pulu, 10. Piers Francis, 11. Melani Nanai, 12. TJ Faiane, 13. George Moala, 14. Matt Duffie, 15. Michael Collins
Reserves - 16. Matt Moulds, 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi or Sam Prattley, 18. Sione Mafileo, 19. Scott Scrafton, 20. Akira Ioane, 21. Billy Guyton, 22. Ihaia West, 23. Rieko Ioane
Force
1. Ben Daley, 2. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 3. Tetera Faulkner, 4. Matt Philip, 5. Richie Arnold, 6. Ross Haylett-Petty, 7. Matt Hodgson, 8. Isi Naisarani, 9. Ryan Louwrens, 10. Jono Lance, 11. Alex Newsome, 12. Billy Meakes, 13. Marcel Brache, 14. Chance Peni, 15. Dane Haylett-Petty
Reserves - 16. Anaru Rangi, 17. Pek Cowan, 18. Shambeckler Vui, 19. Richard Hardwick, 20. Kane Koteka, 21. Michael Ruru, 22. Ian Prior, 23. Robbie Coleman
Match facts and stats
Referee: Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
Assistants: Ben O’Keeffe (NZL) and James Doleman (NZL
TMO: Glenn Newman (NZL)
The Blues are undefeated in their last seven games against the Force (W6, D1); their only loss to the Western Australian side in Super Rugby came in Round 5, 2008.
The Blues have won each of their last three home games against the Force, scoring a total of 111 points across that period.
The Blues have won each of their last seven games at home against Australian opposition, surpassing 40 points scored on three occasions in that span.
The Western Australian side have conceded just 5.5 clean breaks per game this campaign, fewer than any other team in the competition.
Past meetings
Head to head: Played 10, Blues 8, Force 1, draws 1
In Auckland: Played 5, Blues 4, Highlanders 1, draws 0
Last time played: Blues 17 def Force 13, May 21, 2016
Last time in Auckland: Blues 41 def Force 24, May 2, 2015
Head-to-head: Blues- $1.07 Force - $7.50
Pre-match banter -
Blues give Super Rugby starting debut to TJ Faiane, Rieko Ioane dropped to bench for Force
After going off the boil in recent weeks, Rieko Ioane has been asked to cool his heels on the Blues bench for their Super Rugby match against the Force.
The demotion of highly-promising centre Ioane is one of two changes to the team for Saturday's match at Eden Park.
It is also the first real career setback for the 20-year-old sevens star, who played two Tests on last year's All Blacks tour to Europe and opened the Super Rugby season with a blistering hat-trick against the Rebels in Melbourne.
He has been less effective since, prompting Blues coach Tana Umaga to promote TJ Faiane to inside centre and shift the in-form George Moala to centre.
It will be a Super Rugby starting debut for Faiane, 21, the former schoolboy star whose early seasons of professional rugby have been crippled by injury.
He has made brief bench appearances in the last two games, including last week's 38-14 thumping of the Bulls.
Umaga's other change is at openside flanker, where Blake Gibson makes way after starting all five games this year.
In his place is the versatile Murphy Taramai, whose four appearances this year have featured one start, at No.8 against the Highlanders.
The Blues have suffered losses to three Kiwi opponents this season but will be encouraged that their two hefty wins have come against overseas opposition.
The Force, who are coming off a heavy loss to the Crusaders, have won just once in 10 clashes with the Blues.