Blues – 39 Reds – 16 (Be sure to refresh your browser regularly)
FULLTIME - Check out the full game wrap here.
80 mins - TRY BLUES - Caleb Clarke puts a bow on it. The corwd goes up as Jerome kaino steps up to take the conversion, and it's a shocker. Obviously nobody cares, and his teammates swarm him. The first Blues home win of the year is in the bag, and it only took them until the final game.
75 mins - Penalty Blues and they're keen to slow this one up. Perofeta edges them further ahead. (Blues 34-16)
71 mins - TRY REDS - Multiple pick and go's for the Reds as they edge towards the line after a line-out drive. Alex Mafi ducks his head and drives over from the base of the ruck. (Blues 31-16)
68 mins - Reds camped on the Blues line...but they've knocked on. Blues scrum at their own 5m.
61 mins - TRY REDS - They're over the line! Duncan Paia'aua goes over in the corner for the Queenslanders' first try. (Blues 31-11)
54 mins - TRY BLUES - Simple stuff as Perofeta hits a ball off the ruck and falls over in the tackle. Converts his own try. (Blues 31-6)
53 mins - Collins pulled down just short of the line.
51 mins - The Blues have turned down the gift three points to pack down a scrum.
50 mins - Akira Ioane winds up and splits the defence, finds Collins, 10m out now....penalty advantage blown up the Blues' way. Right under the black dot here.
48 mins - Brilliant attacking movement from the Blues from within their half but it breaks down on the Reds' 22m.
46 mins - Penalty Blues and they turn to the posts. Perofeta bangs it over and the Blues' lead swells. (Blues 24-6)
43 mins - Line-out at the Blues 22m...and they've thrown it too deep. Ioane cleans up and the Blues clear.
41 mins - Great start for the Reds, gaining some dominance at the scrum and earning a penalty. Tongan Thor with a large part to play in that one.
HALFTIME
40 mins - Akira puts a big shot on his opposite to force a fumble and put an end to the half.
39 mins - Scrappy play both ways and we end up with a penalty. Reds turn down a handy shot for a shot at the line. 5m rolling maul now as the hooter sounds....
37 mins - Reds penalty, Lance relieves some pressure. They've been making a ton of tackles.
33 mins - Petaia back from the naughty chair, so the Reds have 14-men now. The Blues definitely made some hay there.
30 mins - TRY BLUES - Akira Ioane goes straight through the middle from the restart, links up with Collins. Back-up hooker Matt Moulds takes the pass form the ruck and fights through a tackle to slide over the line. (Blues 21-6)
28 mins - TRY BLUES - Big overlap wide which Rieko Ioane exploits, going 35m and putting through defenders through the ringer on his way to the line.
26 mins - The Blues must make some hay here because, with a two-player advantage, the sun is well and truly shining.
25 mins - TMO taking a look at another no-arms tackle by Taniela Tupou, the Tongan Thor. This could be another yellow for the Reds, and it is indeed. Queensland will be down to 13 players for the next eight minutes. Blues cash in with the three. (11-6)
23 mins - Yellow card for Queensland's Jordan Petaia for his dangerous tackle on Michael Collins. Blues will throw the line-out 22m out.
19 mins - TRY BLUES - The Blues' pressure finally tells as Melani Nanai is isolated out wide and steps inside two defenders to score. Perofeta sprays the conversion. (Blues 8-6)
17 mins - Blues working through the phases on attack now, recycling swiftly. 10 phases deep as an awful floater finds Rieko, no room to move. Turnover at the ensuing ruck and the ball's cleared.
13 mins - Penalty against the Blues. Jono Lance lines up another, and slots it. (Reds 6-3)
9 mins - Blues counter now. Ioane bumps off one (Akira) and the ball is turned. Penalty against the Reds however and the home side will have a chance to equalise....and Perofeta makes no mistake. (3-3)
7 mins - Reds on the attack, rolling the maul 35m out...but the play breaks down.
5 mins - Blues penalty after some tidy phase play from the restart. Perofeta fails to finds touch. By a long way. Classic.
2 mins - Penalty Reds at the scrum. Should be an easy three points here...and over it goes. (Reds 3-0)
1 min - Man of the moment Jerome Kaino knocks on off the kick-off. Ya wouldn't read about it.
7:30pm - The teams are ready to run out on a chilly Auckland night for the home side's final outing at The Garden.
Kia ora and welcome to live updates of the Blues' clash with the Reds from Eden Park.
Commentary will start from around 7:15pm. In the meantime check out the video above for a preview of tonight's showdown.
Head to head:
Blues - $1.23 Reds - $4.05
Line-ups:
Blues: 15-Matt Duffie, 14-Melani Nanai, 13-Michael Collins, 12-Rieko Ioane, 11-Caleb Clarke, 10-Stephen Perofeta, 9-Augustine Pulu © or Sam Nock, 8-Akira Ioane, 7-Blake Gibson, 6-Jerome Kaino, 5-Matiaha Martin, 4-Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 3-Ofa Tuungafasi, 2-James Parsons, 1-Alex Hodgman
Reserves: 16-Matt Moulds/Leni Apisai, 17-Pauliasi Manu, 18-Sione Mafileo, 19-Jacob Pierce, 20-Murphy Taramai, 21-Jonathan Ruru, 22-Bryn Gatland, 23-TJ Faiane/Tumua Manu
REDS: Jono Lance, Jordan Petaia, Samu Kerevi, Duncan Paia'aua, Eto Nabuli, Hamish Stewart, Moses Sorovi, Scott Higginbotham (c), George Smith, Lukhan Tui, Kane Douglas, Harry Hockings, Taniela Tupou, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, JP Smith.
Reserves: Alex Mafi, Harry Hoopert, Ruan Smith, Caleb Timu, Angus Scott-Young, Tate McDermott, Aidan Toua, Filipo Daugunu.
Pre-match banter
Blues bolstered by All Blacks
The beleaguered Blues welcome back All Blacks reinforcements for their clash against the Reds in Auckland on Friday night.
Fresh off playing key roles in a series sweep over France, Rieko Ioane and Ofa Tuungafasi will start against Queensland, for Jerome Kaino's last Super Rugby match at Eden Park.
Kaino, who made his Super debut against the Reds in 2004, will chalk up his 137th appearance for the franchise, joining Tony Woodcock as the joint second-most capped Blues player, behind Keven Mealamu.
Tuungafasi returns to bolster the Blues scrum, alongside Alex Hodgman and James Parsons, with Kaino forming a powerful back three with Akira Ioane and Blake Gibson, who makes his first appearance after off-season shoulder surgery.
Sonny Bill Williams' shoulder injury against France means Ioane moves back to the Blues midfield alongside Michael Collins, who has filled this role in the past, before finding a home at fullback when he came to the Blues.
It leaves an exciting back three, with New Zealand Under-20s winger Caleb Clark, Melani Nanai and Matt Duffie.
Captain Augustine Pulu will need to come through a fitness test to take his place at halfback and is bracketed with Sam Nock, inside Stephen Perofeta.
"This is an important occasion for our club and for this team," said coach Tana Umaga.
"Jerome has been a magnificent contributor to the Blues and the All Blacks, both on and off the field, and much of that success has been on Eden Park,"
"There is no better way for our team to honour Jerome than to produce a performance of real quality, consistency and direction.
"Our season to date has been disappointing, but we see these final three games as important for us to transfer that hard work that we see on the training field into performance on it."
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