A version of this profile was first published in the Blues v Hurricanes match programme. Male Sa’u has played out the typical professional rugby narrative in reverse. He left New Zealand early to pursue rugby in Japan, before returning to his roots with Super Rugby. The Otara-boy developed his craft at Tangaroa College, a school […]

There’s an old saying that sport is 10% physical and 90% mental.  You’ll be forgiven for doubting the accuracy of this quote, especially considering the physical demands on elite level rugby players. The Blues take the saying seriously and in 2015 introduced a new coach to the squad. Her name is Kylie Wilson and she’s […]

A version of this story was first published in the Blues v Waratahs match programme. Pictured is a girls’ team from Southern Cross Campus, supplied by Southern Cross. As women’s rugby gains international prominence with the inclusion of Sevens at the Olympic Games, and our New Zealand womens’ silver medal in Rio, the profile of the […]

A version of this story was first published in the Blues v Waratahs match programme. It was 14 years before Ofa Tu’ungafasi knew who the All Blacks were. 10 years on, he became All Black #1150. Ofa was born in the village of Kanolupolu on the main island of Tonga, where most rugby boys dreamt […]

James Parsons only returned to the All Black environment this week, providing injury cover ahead of game two of the Bledisloe Cup, and already he’s been given a spot on the side to play Australia. The 2016 Blues captain and hooker will be on the bench alongside fellow Blues prop Charlie Faumuina, while flanker Jerome […]

Jerome Kaino is already the most capped blindside flanker in All Black history and on Saturday, when the All Blacks take on the Wallabies in the opening Bledisloe Cup match, he’ll start in his 70th test match. The All Blacks announced the squad early Thursday morning, with the team already based in Sydney ahead of […]

At the beginning of this year, Lui Te’o was following the same trajectory as most of his fellow school-leavers. The 19-year-old had enrolled in a Computer Science course at AUT in Manukau, with the hope of a career in security and programming, and his spare time was spent in the Marist clubrooms, playing lock for […]

A version of this story was first published in the 2016 Blues v Highlanders match programme.  Like many Welshmen relishing the glory days of the 70’s, Alistair Rogers was born into a rugby-mad family. The former flanker was born in Port Talbot, Wales and spent most of his youth in Aberavon playing for the local […]

nib sat down with the Blues strength and conditioning coach Jason Price to talk about how the season went and what the S&C coaching team does to get the players ready for a gruelling 80 minutes of contact on field.  Can you run us through what your role is and what you do with the Blues please? […]

nib has teamed up with the Blues to bring rugby fans the ‘Experience of a Lifetime’. To celebrate the competition, we sat down with the Blues physio Mark Plummer. What is your role and what do you do with the Blues? I have a nine month contract each year with the Blues. I work alongside […]

Five Blues players have been selected for the All Black squad ahead of the 2016 Investec Rugby Championship and another two have been invited to train at the All Blacks camp, as announced by NZ Rugby today.  The All Blacks selectors, Steve Hansen, Ian Foster and Grant Fox, named Charlie Faumuina, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Patrick Tuipulotu, […]

After a week of skills training, rugby education and exposure to professional sport at camp, the Blues Development Under-18 players were ready to step on to the field and test out what they’d learned.  They were given the opportunity on Sunday, with two games against Chiefs Under-18 players at Onewa Domain.   Each team was […]