Blues (Super rugby franchise)

Blues

Unions	New Zealand Rugby Union
Founded	1996
Location	Auckland, New Zealand
Region	Auckland North Harbour Northland
Ground(s)	Eden Park (Capacity: 47,500 [1])
Coach(es)	Pat Lam
Captain(s)	Keven Mealamu
League(s)	Super 14
2009	9th
Team kit 2nd kit

Blues, formerly the Auckland Blues, are a professional New Zealand rugby union team based in Auckland, New Zealand which represents the Northland, North Harbour and Auckland unions. They compete in the Super 14 competition, which they have won three times - in 1996, 1997, and 2003. The Blues home ground is Eden Park in Auckland.

Franchise History

When the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) was initially deciding the team compositions for the Super 12 in 1995, it was decided that to have the Blues region encompass the North Harbour, Counties-Manukau, Northland and Auckland provincial rugby unions would be unfair. This was due to the overwhelming number of All Blacks (players representing New Zealand) who came from North Harbour, Counties-Manukau and Auckland at the time. Hence, if the Blues were to consist of these unions, they would be fielding a virtual All Blacks team.

This led to North Harbour and Northland being represented by the nearest other team, the Waikato Chiefs. As a result, the Blues did not represent all of Auckland, as North Harbour represents the northern part of the Auckland region. However, the Blues represented Thames Valley as part of their franchise, a region considerably closer to Hamilton than Auckland.

Borders redrawn

Former Blues logo used from founding until mid 2000s when the Blues changed their logo and removed Auckland from their name.

Since 1999 The Blues franchise now consists of an area covering the northern most part of the North Island.

By the end of the 1990s the number of All Blacks from these unions had decreased. This led the Blues and the Chiefs to arrange a swap, where the Chiefs would represent Thames Valley and Counties Manukau in exchange for the Blues representing Northland and North Harbour. Although in the seasons leading up to the trade North Harbour and Northland had outperformed Counties Manukau and Thames Valley in provincial rugby (see National Provincial Championship), it enabled both franchises to represent unions closer geographically. Despite this, the Blues lost the area colloquially referred to as South Auckland, not including Mangere, Otahuhu, Papatoetoe and East Tamaki. Thus, the Blues traded South Auckland for North Auckland, and still do not represent the entire Auckland region. In 2000 all of New Zealand's Super 12 franchises dropped the regional identifiers from their official names.

After the NPC was discontinued in 2006 and two new domestic competitions - the professional Air New Zealand Cup and nominally amateur Heartland Championship - were launched, the Blues became the only New Zealand Super Rugby side whose constituent unions were all Air New Zealand Cup sides.

Early Playing History (1996 - 2005)

The Blues won the inaugural Super 12 competition in 1996, winning the final at Eden Park 45-21 against Natal. They followed this up by winning the competition again in 1997, this time without losing a game (although they drew one), with the Blues defeating the ACT Brumbies by 23-7. Eden Park hosted its third straight Super 12 final in 1998, this time the Blues played host to the Crusaders. The 1998 final ended in a Crusaders victory 20-13, preventing the Blues gaining a hat-trick of titles The Blues experienced a major decline in from in 1999, finishing 9th in the round robin with only 4 wins during the season. For the next three seasons the team were consistently mediocre performers, failing to make the semi-finals until 2003, where they went on to win the competition, defeating the Crusaders in the final by 21-17. In 2004 and 2005 the Blues failed to back up their triumph in 2003, missing the semi-finals in both seasons.

Recent Playing History (2006 - Present)

Since the expansion of the competition in 2006 with the addition of new teams in Australia and South Africa, the Blues have struggled for consistency, and although the team has consistently fielded All Blacks, it has struggled to perform well, having made the semi-finals only once since 2003, that being in 2007 where they were defeated by the Sharks in Durban.

Despite struggling with inconsistency throughout their history, the Blues are the second most successful team in Super rugby history, having won the competition three times (1996, 1997, 2003), appeared in four finals (1996, 1997, 1998, 2003), and made the semi-finals five times (1996, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2007).

2006 Draft Controversy

The Blues were forced by the NZRFU to include North Harbour captain Rua Tipoki in their squad of 24 players who are 'protected' from the draft. This system has worked in favour of the ARFU in the past e.g. Steve Devine being chosen as an All Black and therefore forced to delete Mark Robinson from the squad due to the fiscal error of pre-signing the journey-man, then junior David Gibson. Tipoki was originally to be excluded from the draft due to personal circumstances in order to stay in Auckland, Andrew Mehrtens has in the past done this with the Crusaders.

The NZRFU however forced coach David Nucifora to pick Tipoki in his 24 man squad and hence drop another player. It is believed the NZRFU was in favour of dropping players such as Isa Nacewa who are ineligible to play for the All Blacks.^[2] Instead, Nucifora excluded All Black Isaia Toeava, who subsequently played for the Hurricanes in 2006.

2010 squad

The squad for the 2010 Super 14 season is as follows:

2010 Wider Training Group

• Michael Reid
• Ash Dixon
• James King
• Onosa'i Auva'a
• Taniela Moa
• Michael Harris
• Jack McPhee

Current Head Coach

• Pat Lam

Past and Present Players and Coaches of Note

Former Head Coaches

• Graham Henry
• Gordon Hunter
• David Nucifora
• Frank Oliver
• Jed Rowlands
• Peter Sloane

Notable players

• Andrew Blowers
• Robin Brooke
• Zinzan Brooke
• Rupeni Caucaunibuca
• Eroni Clarke
• Sean Fitzpatrick
• Troy Flavell
• Doug Howlett
• Michael Jones
• Brian Lima
• Jonah Lomu
• Luke McAlister
• Kees Meeuws
• Dylan Mika
• Caleb Ralph
• Charles Riechelmann
• Mark Robinson
• Joe Rokocoko
• Xavier Rush
• Carlos Spencer
• Lee Stensness
• Rua Tipoki
• Sam Tuitupou
• Joeli Vidiri
• Ali Williams
• Nick Williams
• Royce Willis

Super 12/14 Records and Achievements

Super 12 Placings

Super 14 Placings

Notes and references

External links

• Official site