Blues v Sharks - Live

full-time Blues 23 Sharks 29

80 The Blues are pinned when they infringe at a ruck close to the halfway mark. From the resulting penalty Lambie puts the ball into touch and the referee brings proceedings to a close. The Sharks deserve credit for the way they fought back after the Blues took the lead early in the second half. It was an entertaining match and the Sharks certainly are worthy winners.

78 Daniel breaks from a scrum and is stopped in his tracks by Ranger. The Blues soon win a penalty when Daniel is penalised for holing onto the ball on the ground.

77 The Blues win a turnover inside their 22 and try to counter-attack as they have a huge over-lap. However, Peter Saili throws the ball into the face of Charlie Faumuina and move comes to nothing.

75 Lambie puts in another fantastic clearance kick. The ball rolls into touch inside the Blues' 22 from on the edge of his own 22 metre line.

74 The Blues go on the attack inside the Sharks' 22 but soon commit a handling error. Mvovo kicks the ball ahead but it goes into touch and the move comes to nothing.

70 The Sharks take the ball through 11 phases inside the Blues' 22. However, they lose possession when Willem Alberts is penalised for holding onto the ball on the ground.

67 PENALTY, BLUES, ANSCOMBE! 23-29. Anscombe narrows the gap to six points with a well taken spot kick!

65 The Blues are on the attack inside the Sharks' half. Nonu puts Ranger into space and it takes a fine tackle from Pietersen to bring him to ground inside the Sharks' 22. The visitors infringe at the resulting ruck and the referee awards a penalty to the Blues.

63 The Sharks are on attack inside the Blues' 22 but Wulf does well to win a turnover. The ball is recycled and Anscombe puts in a clearance kick which rolls into touch just inside the Sharks' 22.

60 The Sharks get a chance to extend their lead when the Blues infringe at a ruck. Lambie fails to land the penalty attempt, however and the Blues get out of jail.

56 Ranger goes on a mazy run close to the halfway mark. He is eventually stopped and then Anscombe kicks ahead but the ball does not go out. The Sharks run the ball from inside their 22 and set up a few phases before the ball comes to Lambie who puts in a beautifully weighted kick which rolls into touch inside the Sharks 22.

52 The Blues bring on Piri Weepu and Ali Williams and the duo are immediately in the thick of the action! Weepu breaks from a ruck on the edge of the Blues' 22 and offloads to Williams. The big lock knocks on, however and the Sharks gain a reprieve!

49 CONVERSION, SHARKS, LAMBIE! 20-29. Lambie adds another two points to the Sharks' lead.

48 TRY, SHARKS, WHITEHEAD! 20-27. Tim Whitehead gets in for another try for the visitor after Lambie breaks through the Sharks defence in the build-up. The pivot offloads to Daniel who then passes to Whitehead who scores!

46 CONVERSION, SHARKS, LAMBIE! 20-22. Lambie slots the easy conversion to regain the lead for his side!

45 TRY, SHARKS, DANIEL! 20-20. Keegan Daniel runs onto a pass from Craig Burden inside the Blues' 22 and breaks through two Blues tackles before scoring next to the upright!

44 CONVERSION, BLUES, ANSCOMBE! 20-15. Anscombe adds the extras to give his side a five point lead!

43 TRY, BLUES, STANLEY! 18-15. Benson Stanley capitalises on a wild pass from the base of the scrum by Keegan Daniel! The ball is thrown over the head of JP Pietersen and Stanley scoops it up before scoring under the posts!

42 Rudi Wulf sets off on a run and hands off Keegan Daniel inside the Sharks' 22! He is confronted by Riaan Viljoen and throws a pss inside to Alby Mathewson who knocks on close to the try-line!

40 Anscombe gets the second half underway! Lwazi Mvovo does well to gather under great pressure from the Blues defenders.

Half-time Blues 13 Sharks 15

40 Dale Chadwick is penalised after dropping his bind at a scrum just inside the Blues' half. Anscombe puts the penalty into touch and referee Steve Walsh blows his whistle to signal half-time. The Blues have fough back well during the latter stages of the half and are right back in this match. The Sharks will be happy with their start but will have to up the ante if they want to win this one. With the match so evenly poised w're in for an interesting second half!

39 DROP GOAL, BLUES, ANSCOMBE! 13-15. Ascombe drops into the pocket close to the Sharks' 22 and cooly slots the ball over the cross-bar!

37 Ranger and Nonu combine well down the touchline close to the Sharks' try-line until Nonu is pushed into touch by two Sharks defenders!

35 CONVERSION, BLUES, ANSCOMBE! 10-15. Another two points is added by the young pivot and the Blues have narrowed the gap to five points! They suffer a setback though as captain Keven Mealamu leaves the field injured. He is replaced by Tom McCartney.

34 TRY, BLUES, WOODCOCK! 8-15. Tony Woodcock barges his way over the try-line and scores under a mass of bodies!

31 Ranger breaks through two tackle before being stopped just short of the try-line. From the resulting ruck Liaki Moli picks up and drives but loses the ball just before going over the try-line!

28 The Blues go on the attack again but the move comes to nothing when Nonu is bundled into touch inside the Sharks half.

25 The Blues waste another try-scoring opportunity close to the Sharks' try-line when Nonu is penalised for holding onto the ball on the ground.

23 Sykes can't control a ball at a line-out just inside the Blues' half. He knocks on and the blues are awarded the put-in at the scrum.

21 PENALTY, BLUES, ANSCOMBE! 3-15. Gareth Anscombe scores the Blues' first points after Keegan Daniel is pinned for not rolling away at a ruck after making a tackle.

18 CONVERSION, SHARKS, LAMBIE! 0-15. Pat Lambie adds to his team's lead with a well-taken place kick!

17 TRY, SHARKS, BURDEN! 0-13. Craig Burden intercepts a pass from Chris Lowery close to the halfway mark and shows a great turn of speed before dotting down!

15 PENALTY, SHARKS, LAMBIE! 8-0. Pat Lambie adds the extras after Rene Range is penalised for an indiscretion at a ruck.

13 The Sharks are trying to run the ball out from inside their 22 but they are not doing a good job of protecting the ball. They are lucky not to concede a turnover until Lambie clears with a huge up-and-under.

10 A clearance kick from Pat Lambie inside his 22 is charged down and Nonu tries to regather. He can't hang on, however, and knocks on.

9 The Blues go close to scoring again but this time it's JP Pietersen who saves the day for the Sharks with a solid tackle on Ma'a Nonu just short of the try-line!

7 The Blues are on the attack after winning a turnover close to the Sharks' try-line! Anscombe throws out a long pass to Rene Ranger who is stopped close to the line by a brilliant tackle from Louis Ludik.

3 TRY, SHARKS, SYKES! 0-5. Steven Sykes barges over from a ruck in the right-hand corner after Keegan Daniel did brilliantly in the build-up! The Sharks captain intercepts a Benson Stanley pass inside his half and runs down the length of the field before he is stopped just short of the try-line by Gareth Anscombe.

2 JP Pietersen spills a pass close to the halfway mark. Benson Stanley tries to gather but also knocks on. Scrum to the Blues.

Kick-off Riaan Viljoen gets us started! The Blues fail to regather and the Sharks are immediately on the attack. However, they soon concede a turnover and the Blues clear their line with a clearance kick.

Team News The big news for the visitors is that first-choice fly-half Patrick Lambie has has been passed fit for this match. He replaces Frederic Michalak who is on the bench. Up front, Jean Deysel comes in for Willem Alberts on the flank while Kyle Cooper comes onto the bench as cover for hooker after Bismarck du Plessis has returned home after he sustained an adductor strain in training earlier in the week.

Team News Blues coach Pat Lam has made several changes to his side after their loss to the Rebels in Melbourne last week. All Blacks lock Ali Williams drops down to the bench in one of four changes to the starting XV. His place is taken by Liaki Moli while brothers Daniel and Luke Braid return as the two flankers in the run-on side. There's also a positional switch with Chris Lowrey moving to number eight to replace the injured Brad Mika. Amongst the backs, Hadleigh Parkes wins the right wing spot from Lachie Munro.

Welcome Hello and welcome to Eden Park in Auckland for this Super Rugby clash between the Blues and the Sharks. It's a must-win match for the Blues who are languishing in 14th position on the table while the Sharks will also be keen to bounce back after they suffered a big loss to the Hurricanes last week.

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