Blues (Super Rugby)

The team's logo from 1997–1999, when the team dropped the Auckland prefix from its official name.

Along with New Zealand's other Super Rugby sides, the Blues were established by the NZRU to take part in the newly formed Super 12 competition which, involved teams from South Africa and Australia in addition to New Zealand. Each of New Zealand's five sides represented a number of provincial unions, with the Blues representing the Auckland, Counties Manukau and Thames Valley unions, while the neighbouring Waikato Chiefs representing the Waikato, Bay of Plenty, King Country, Northland and North Harbour unions. As the amount of international representatives in the Auckland region was thought to be unfair, it was split up between The Blues and The Chiefs. During this era, the Blues played the majority of their home matches at Eden Park, with round robin fixtures occasionally held at Growers Stadium in Pukekohe.

The Blues tasted immediate success, winning the Super 12 back-to-back in 1996 and 1997. In 1996 the side won eight of eleven round robin matches and finished the regular season in second place (behind the Queensland Reds on 41 points. They then went on to defeat Northern Transvaaal, now the Bulls, 48–11 in the semi-final at Eden Park. This result secured a home final, where the Blues comfortably defeated the Sharks 45–21. In 1997, the side improved on their previous season, comfortably topping the table with 50 points after going undefeated in the regular season, the sole blemish on an otherwise perfect season being a draw with Northern Transvaal in a re-match of the previous season's semi-final. The Blues once again easily won their semi-final, defeating the Sharks 55–36 at Eden Park and again securing a home final. The 1997 final was a more hard fought encounter than the previous year's, with the Blues defeating the ACT Brumbies 23–7.

By the end of the 1990s the number of international representatives from the Blues region had decreased. This led the Blues and the Chiefs to arrange a swap, where the Chiefs would represent the Thames Valley and Counties Manukau provincial unions in exchange for the Blues representing the Northland and North Harbour unions in addition to Auckland. Although in the seasons leading up to the trade North Harbour and Northland had outperformed Counties Manukau and Thames Valley in provincial rugby (thus potentially widening the already sizeable gap between the Blues' and Chiefs' on-field performance), it enabled both teams to represent unions in closer geographical proximity. Because of this trade, the Blues lost the area colloquially referred to as South Auckland, (excluding those portions of the South Auckland to the north of Manurewa). Thus, the Blues traded a portion of South Auckland for the Northern portion of the Auckland region and Northland, and still do not represent the entire Auckland region. Generally supporters in the South Auckland region identify as Blues supporters even though they are technically in the Chiefs region. In 2000, the Auckland Blues dropped the Auckland prefix from their name, and became known simply as 'Blues'.

The 1998 season saw the Blues again top the points table with 43 points at the conclusion of the round robin, with nine wins and two losses to their credit. They defeated the Otago Highlanders by 37–31 in the side's third consecutive home semi-final, securing a home final against the Crusaders, a match which promised a great deal due to Auckland's traditional sporting rivalry with Canterbury. The Crusaders ultimately won the match by 20–13, putting an end to the Blues' dominance of the competition.

From 1999 – 2002 the Blues' onfield performance was poor, missing the playoffs every season, finishing at an all-time low of 11th on the ladder in 2001 with just four wins for the season. The club was able to turn its from around in the 2003 season, topping the ladder with 49 points and 10 wins from 11 matches. The team went on to defeat the ACT Brumbies by 42–21 in the semi-final, before beating the Crusaders 21–17 in the final for the team's third Super Rugby title. The Blues were unable to follow their 2003 success up in 2004 and 2005 however, missing the playoffs in both seasons.

Blues playing against the Crusaders in Eden Park in 2008

The expanded 14 team competition could not have started worse for the Blues, who were in 2006 forced by the NZRU to include North Harbour captain Rua Tipoki in their squad of 24 players who are 'protected' from the draft. Tipoki was originally to be excluded from the draft due to personal circumstances to stay in Auckland. Andrew Mehrtens had in the past done this with the Crusaders. The NZRU however forced coach David Nucifora to pick Tipoki in his 24-man squad and hence drop another player. It is believed the NZRU was in favour of dropping players such as Isa Nacewa who are ineligible to play for the All Blacks.[3] Instead, Nucifora excluded All Black Isaia Toeava, who subsequently played for the Hurricanes in 2006. Following the draft fiasco, and the forgettable season which followed, the Blues showed signs of resurgence in 2007, finishing the round robin in fourth place, securing a semi-final against the Sharks in Durban. The travel and form of the opposition were too difficult to overcome, however, with the Blues losing to the eventual runners-up by 34 – 18. The 2008 season, the final under coach David Nucifora, saw the team finish the season with an 8 – 5 record and a sixth-place finish on the ladder. In 2009, Pat Lam was appointed as coach, however the team was not able to make significant improvements under his leadership for the remainder of Super 14, missing the playoffs in both the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

In 2011 the Super Rugby competition was expanded to 15 teams and adopted a conference format. The Blues had a successful start to the season, defeating the Crusaders by 24–22 at Eden Park. This was followed by a win and a loss on their South African tour, followed by a 22-all draw against the Western Force in Perth. This was followed by a seven match winning streak between rounds five and twelve. However, the mid-season winning streak came to an abrupt end with a 37 – 31 loss to the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, which initiated a four match losing-streak. In the final round-robin match of the season, the Blues defeated the Highlanders by 33–16 at Eden Park, securing the side's first playoff appearance since 2007 and first home playoff match since 2003. The team subsequently defeated the New South Wales Waratahs 26 – 13 to secure a semi-final against the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, which they lost 30–13.

The 2011 season also marked the departure of Kurtis Haiu, who was diagnosed with a bone tumour in April.[4] Following his diagnosis, he took an indefinite break from rugby to focus on his health.[5]

2012, the team's fourth season under coach Pat Lam, saw the arrival of former Hurricanes icons, and 2011 Rugby World Cup winners, Ma'a Nonu and Piri Weepu. The regular season began on 24 February against the Crusaders at Eden Park. Following two successive losses to start the season, the side's first victory came away to the Bulls, with starting debutant Gareth Anscombe scoring all of the Blues points in the 29–23 win. In doing so, Anscombe set a team record for most points in a match.[6] In the same match, Rene Ranger became the first Blues player to receive a White Card, which resulted in a two-week suspension. Seven consecutive losses followed, beginning with the Stormers in round four, and finishing with the Hurricanes in round eleven. Growing frustration amongst fans was evident during this period, with racist remarks directed at coach Pat Lam via social media, talkback radio and the Blues own website.[7][8] Lam, who is of Samoan descent, received support from a number of former Blues players during this period, including Michael Jones and Eroni Clarke.[8] After beating the Lions in round twelve, the Blues suffered the biggest defeat in club history with a 59 – 12 loss away to the Crusaders, which was followed by losses at home to the Highlanders and table-topping Chiefs. The Blues finished the season on a high note, with wins against the Western Force and Brumbies.

On 17 July, Pat Lam was released. On the same day, Sir John Kirwan was appointed as head coach for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.[9] In August, the Blues' full coaching staff for the 2013 season was announced, with Sir Graham Henry taking on a role as technical advisor and defensive coach, Mick Byrne appointed forwards and kicking coach, and Grant Doorey appointed skills and backline coach.[10]

The 2013 season saw an all new Blues team with many players leaving, including Ma'a Nonu to the Highlanders[11] and Gareth Anscombe to the Chiefs.[12] On the morning of 31 October 2012 new coach Sir John Kirwan announced the 2013 Blues squad which included 14 Super Rugby debutants, and Ali Williams taking over as captain.[13] Handed a bye on the first round the Blues started the regular season on 23 February 2013 with a 34–20 away win against the Hurricanes, followed by a 34–15 home win against the Crusaders the next week. 3 consecutive losses followed, including the Bulls first victory at Eden Park.[14] The Blues regained some form again, winning 4 of the next 5 games. Beating the Highlanders at home and completing the double over the Hurricanes with a 28–6 win at Eden Park before losing a close game against the Reds. The Blues then defeated both the Stormers and the Rebels before losing 3 games in a row to the Crusaders, Brumbies, and Highlanders respectively. The Blues then travelled to South Africa with two must win games against the Sharks and the Cheetahs, unfortunately losing both and ending the Blues chances of making the play-offs. Ali Williams played his 100th game for the Blues against the Sharks.[15] The Blues returned to New Zealand with a last home game against the already play-off qualified Chiefs. Despite a red card to Kane Barrett for stomping in the 23rd minute, the Blues played a remarkably strong game, taking the lead just after half-time but a yellow card to first-five Baden Kerr struck another blow for the Blues. The mounting Chiefs pressure paid off resulting in a Ben Tameifuna try with 17 minutes to go, winning the game for the Chiefs. The Blues walked off the field to a standing ovation from their fans, the first time an Eden Park crowd had been upstanding for a defeat.[16]

The Blues finished the season in 10th place, with 6 players earning All Black call ups and Frank Halai as the team's top try scorer scoring 10 tries in his debut season. They signed international super star Benji Marshall for the 2014 season (only to return to league with the Dragons halfway through it) and Ma'a Nonu for two seasons starting in 2014.

The Blues 2014 season started with coach Sir John Kirwan announcing 6 new players to the squad including three All Blacks with the return of Ma'a Nonu and Tony Woodcock after they both played with the Highlanders for a season, and Jerome Kaino. This also included former NRL player Benji Marshall who had previously played with the Wests Tigers for 10 years.[17]

The Blues season started with an away loss to the Highlanders, going down 29–21. The next week they played their first home game of the season at Eden Park, defeating the Crusaders 35–24. They travelled to South Africa for two games against the Sharks and the Lions, losing both games but coming away with a losing bonus point against the Lions. They returned to New Zealand for two home games against the Cheetahs and the Highlanders, both of which they won bringing the up to 6th place on the ladder. The team travelled to Canberra to face the Brumbies and were defeated 26–9, and were defeated again by the Hurricanes in Wellington after a bye week. This was followed by two home games against the Waratahs and the Reds, winning both and coming away with a bonus point win against the Reds. They then lost their next two games going down to the Chiefs and the Sharks, picking up a losing bonus point against the Sharks. They returned to Eden park to defeat the Hurricanes, followed by a bonus point win in Perth against the Western Force. This put them into 8th place on the ladder with two games to play in the regular season before finals, needing to place in the top 6 for a spot in the play-offs. They lost to the Crusaders in Christchurch, therefore to make the finals they needed to win their final game against the Chiefs who were in the same situation. They lost their final game against the Chiefs going down 11–8, putting them out of the finals and ending a six-game winning streak at Eden Park for the season. The Blues finished 10th overall and 5th place in the New Zealand conference.[18]

Ihaia West, Patrick Tuipulotu, Benji Marshall, and Tom Donnelly all made their Blues super rugby debut in the 2014 season.

The 2015 season started with coach Sir John Kirwan announcing the Blues squad, with the inclusion of 11 new players after losing 12 players including Ma'a Nonu and Piri Weepu, who both played over 100 super rugby games.[19]

The Blues season started with a loss to the Chiefs, going down 23–18, picking up a losing bonus point. This was followed by an unsuccessful tour of South Africa, going down to the Stormers and Cheetahs, coming away with a single bonus point from a 25–24 loss to the Cheetahs. This was followed by four consecutive losses against the Lions, Hurricanes, Waratahs and Chiefs, 3 of which they picked up a losing bonus point. Their first win of the season came against the Brumbies at Eden Park with a 16–14 victory, ending the Blues 9 game losing streak. This was followed by consecutive losses against the Highlanders and Crusaders, picking up a bonus point against the Highlanders. This was followed by a strong 41–24 win against the Force. Their next game against the Rebels was their final away game of the season, they lost 42–22, ending the season with no away wins, having only won two away games in the last three years. Their final four games were all at home with high hopes of finishing the season on a high. They won the first game 23–18 against the South African conference leaders the Bulls, however this was their last win of the season going down in their final three games against the Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders. This ended the franchises worst super rugby season,[20] ending in 14th place ahead of the Force, with just 3 from 16 wins for the season.

The end of the season was marked by the resignation of coach Sir John Kirwan, who had been with the team for the last three years winning just 17 out of 58 games. The Blues signed former All Black captain Tana Umaga to replace Sir John Kirwan as head coach of the Blues.[21]

The Blues endured yet another disappointing year in 2016, although there were some improvements. A close first round win over the Highlanders by 33-31 was followed by successive losses to the Crusaders (28-13) and Hurricanes (19-23). A 25-25 draw with the Reds in Round 4 was followed by a 24-16 win over the Jaguares in Round 6 (Round 5 being a bye). A week later the Blues lost to the Chiefs by 23-29, but bounced back with wins over the Sharks (23-18), Rebels (36-30) and Kings (34-18). A humbling 5-43 loss to eventual finalists the Lions was followed by a tight 17-13 win over the Force. Another tight game resulted in a 21-26 loss to the Crusaders, while a yet another loss followed against the Hurricanes 27-37. Dominant wins against the Brumbies (40-15) and Waratahs (34-28) showed that the Blues could still be highly competitive, however their last-place conference finish left them outside the qualification pool for the season´s semi-finals, with rival New Zealand franchise the Hurricanes emerging the eventual champions.

2017 again saw the Blues finish bottom of the New Zealand conference, with an even 7 wins and 7 losses to their credit. The up and down nature of their season was reflected in the margins of both their biggest win - 56-18 in Round 1 over the Rebels - and their heaviest defeat - 48-21 to the Sunwolves in the final round in Tokyo. During the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour, the Blues pulled off a shock win over the British and Irish Lions 22–26 at Eden Park. Rookie Blues winger Reiko Ioane distinguished himself during the match, scoring a try and notably outpacing Lions and England winger Elliot Daly. Blues half-back Ihaia West and All Black centre Sonny Bill Williams also impressed during the match, both scoring tries and West adding a penalty and conversion to a remarkable result against the tourists.

2018 would see the Blues again finish last in their conference, with a poor record of only four wins vs 12 losses in a miserable season. Crushing losses to the Hurricanes (42-24) and Crusaders (54-17) in the last two rounds illustrated how far the team´s performances had collapsed from coach Tana Umaga´s first, relatively respectable season in charge, and emphasized the need for structural reform at the club. A reshuffle resulted in Umaga being demoted to an assistant coaching role, and the appointment of former All Black, Crusaders assistant and Tasman Mako head coach Leon MacDonald as new Blues coach the following season.

MacDonald´s first year in charge saw little in the way of definite improvements to the Blues win–loss record, with only 5 wins from 17 games giving them their sixth consecutive last-place finish in the New Zealand conference. All Black prop Karl Tu’inukuafe and former All Black Maá Nonu were recruited from the Chiefs and Toulon, respectively. While their overall standards had improved, their margins of both victory and defeat remaining consistently low, the Blues were unable to mount much of a challenge that season.

2022 Season

The Blues participated in the first Super Rugby Pacific season in 2022, and finished first in the 12 team round robin. In round 9 they scored their first win in Christchurch over the Crusaders since 2004, winning 27-24 in a thriller at Orangetheory Stadium. In round 15 they beat the Warratahs 20-17, by a Zarn Sullivan drop goal after the 80 minute mark. This marked the franchise's 13th straight win, the longest in franchise history. In the Quarter-Finals they played the Highlanders, who they beat 35-6, to reach their first Semi-Final in 11 years. In the Semi-Final they beat the Brumbies 20-19 in a thrilling encounter. Brumbies first-five Noah Lolesio had a match winning drop goal attempt, but this was charged down by Blues prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi, in turn sending the Blues to their first final since 2003, where they were defeated by the Crusaders 21-7 in front of a packed out Eden Park.

• Champions (3)

1996, 1997, 2003

• Runners-up (2)

1998, 2022

• Super Rugby Trans-Tasman Champions (1)

2021

• Playoff Appearances (8)

1996, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2021, 2022, 2023

• Champions (1)

2014

• Champions (1)

2018

A season-by-season summary of Blues regular season results is shown below:

Super 12

Super 14

Super Rugby

Super Rugby Aotearoa

Super Rugby Trans Tasman

Super Rugby Pacific

Season	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	BP	Pts	Notes
1996	1st	11	8	0	3	408	354	+54	9	41	Defeated Sharks in final
1997	1st	11	10	1	0	435	283	+152	8	50	Defeated Brumbies in final
1998	2nd	11	9	0	2	388	298	+90	7	43	Lost to Crusaders in final
1999	9th	11	4	1	6	202	201	+1	5	23
2000	6th	11	6	0	5	300	262	+38	6	30
2001	11th	11	4	0	7	243	298	−55	4	20
2002	6th	11	6	0	5	318	249	+69	5	29
2003	1st	11	10	0	1	393	185	+208	9	49	Defeated Crusaders in final
2004	5th	11	6	1	4	337	309	+28	6	32
2005	7th	11	6	0	5	243	216	+27	3	27
2006	8th	13	6	0	7	290	348	–58	5	29
2007	4th	13	9	0	4	355	235	+120	6	42	Lost to Sharks in semi-final
2008	6th	13	8	0	5	354	267	+87	8	40
2009	9th	13	5	0	8	339	369	-30	12	32
2010	7th	13	7	0	6	376	333	+43	9	37
2011	4th	16	10	1	5	405	335	+70	10	60*	Lost to Reds in semi-final1
2012	12th	16	4	0	12	359	430	-71	8	32*	1
2013	10th	16	6	0	10	347	364	-17	12	44*	1
2014	10th	16	7	0	9	419	395	+24	9	37
2015	14th	16	3	0	13	282	428	–146	8	20
2016	11th	15	8	1	6	374	380	–6	5	39
2017	9th	15	7	1	7	425	391	+34	7	37
2018	14th	16	4	0	12	378	509	–131	6	22
2019	13th	16	5	1	10	347	369	−22	8	30
2020	4th	7	5	0	2	192	134	+58	2	22	Season cancelled due to Covid-192
2020	2nd	8	5	1*	2	176	149	+27	2	24	No playoffs, round robin only3
2021	3rd	8	4	0	4	210	191	+19	4	20	4
2021	1st	5	5	0	0	198	79	+119	3	23	Defeated Highlanders in final5
2022	2nd	14	13	0	1	472	284	+188	6	58	Lost to Crusaders in final
2023	5th	8	5	0	3	285	173	+112	6	26	Season ongoing

^1 Teams were awarded four points for a bye during the Super Rugby seasons from 2011 to 2013. Each team took two bye rounds each season. These additional 8 points are included in their season points tally.
^2 All matches after Round 7 were cancelled. the season remained incomplete and no champion was awarded.[27]
^3 Super Rugby Aotearoa was announced as a stand-in replacement competition for Super Rugby, between New Zealand Super Rugby sides. It was played as a round robin competition, with no finals. All teams played the other four teams twice, with the title awarded to the highest ranked team at the conclusion of the round robin fixtures. The final round match between the Crusaders and Blues was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions, with each team receiving 2 competition points.[28][29][30]
^4 Super Rugby Aotearoa adopted the same format in 2021 as the inaugural tournament in 2020, with the addition of a final between the top two ranked teams at the conclusion of the round robin stage.[31]
^5 Super Rugby Trans Tasman was a crossover competition between the teams involved in Super Rugby Aotearoa and Super Rugby AU. Each team from Super Rugby AU played each team from Super Rugby Aotearoa once, and vice versa. A final was played between the top two seeded teams at the conclusion of the round robin matches.[32][33]

Blues Super Rugby results vs different opponents

Super Rugby
Opposition	Span	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win%
Chiefs	1996–2023	40	16	1	23	40.0%
Crusaders	1996–2023	41	12	0	29	29.3%
Highlanders	1996–2023	42	25	0	17	55.6%
Hurricanes	1996–2023	39	19	1	19	48.7%
Brumbies	1996–2023	28	17	0	11	60.7%
Force	2006–2023	14	12	1	1	85.7%
Rebels	2011–2023	10	7	0	3	70.0%
Reds	1996–2022	26	13	2	11	50.0%
Waratahs	1996–2022	28	20	0	8	71.4%
Bulls	1996–2020	23	14	2	7	60.9%
Cheetahs	1997–2017	11	8	0	3	72.7%
Lions	1996–2020	22	15	0	7	68.2%
Sharks	1996–2019	25	9	0	16	36.0%
Southern Kings	2016	1	1	0	0	100.0%
Stormers	1996–2020	22	12	0	10	54.5%
Jaguares	2016–2019	3	1	0	2	33.3%
Sunwolves	2017–2019	3	2	0	1	66.7%
Fijian Drua	2022	1	1	0	0	100.0%
Moana Pasifika	2022	2	2	0	0	100.0%
Overall	1996–2023	381	206	7	168	54.1%
Updated to: 24 April 2023

• Highest Regular Season Placing: 1st (1996, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2022)
• Most Wins in a Season: 15 (2022)
• Most Points in a Season: 435 (1997)
• Most Tries in a Season: 56 (1996, 1997, 2021)
• Fewest Wins in a Season: 3 (2015)
• Fewest Points in a Season: 202 (1999)
• Fewest Tries in a Season: 15 (1999)
• Biggest Win: 60 – 7 (53 point win in 2002 vs. Hurricanes – Wellington)
• Biggest Loss: 12 – 59 (47 point loss in 2012 vs. Crusaders - Christchurch)
• Most points ever scored in a game: 74 (74 - 28 win in 1998 vs. Stormers - Auckland)
• Fewest points ever scored in a game: 3 (3 - 20 loss in 2004 vs. Reds - Brisbane), (3 - 23 loss in 2013 vs. Crusaders - Christchurch)

[6]

• Games played: 290
• Games won: 154
• Games lost: 131
• Games drawn: 5
• Winning percentage: 53.10%
• Points for: 7750
• Points against: 6983
• Tries for: 922
• Tries conceded: 767

Record updated as of Round 9 v Brumbies, 2017

87 officially recognized Blues players have gone on to represent the All Blacks as of the 2017 season. There have been a total of 268 players to have played for the Blues which means that 30% of all Blues over two decades have either represented the All Blacks or have gone on to represent them.