Super 15 Rugby
New Zealand
The Super 15 is the largest rugby union football club championship in the southern hemisphere, consisting of provincial teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Lions vs Blues
Match scheduled:
Date: 04-03-2011
Time: 17:10 until 19:10(GMT)
Super 15 Rugby
The Blues kicked off their 2011 Super Rugby campaign by beating the tournament favourite Crusaders 24-22 in Auckland.
A try by Keven Mealamu nine minutes from full time sealed the victory for the Blues who have not beaten the Crusaders for four years.
In a match brimming with 24 All Blacks, 12 on each side, the Crusaders led 19-6 at halftime before the Blues cut their error count and surged back in the second half with Mealamu's winning try coming with 10 minutes on the clock.
The Blues dominated possession and cashed in on an advantage around the fringes of broken play where Mealamu was a constant thorn in the Crusaders side.
But initially the Blues lacked the smarts of the seven-times champions Crusaders who shut them down with a rock-solid defence and with two openside flankers, Matt Todd and George Whitelock, were quick to snare turnover ball.