Photo courtesy of www.ellisrugby.co.nz Highly respected coach Dave Ellis will return home to take up a fulltime role as skills coach at the Blues. Ellis, from Putaruru, returns on the back of coaching at the Connacht club in Ireland who won the Guinness Pro12 title for the first time last season. He ventured overseas when […]

Experienced prop Pauliasi Manu will move back home to play for the Blues in the Investec Super Rugby Championship next season. The Tongan-born Aucklander was called in to the All Blacks as stand-by cover late in their successful Rugby World Cup campaign last year. Manu, 28, who played 50 games for Auckland between 2008 and […]

Seven Blues players will head to USA and Europe on the northern tour with the All Blacks this week. Rieko Ioane has been selected on the wing as one of the new players in the touring squad, and is joined by loose forward Steven Luatua, who returns to the All Blacks for the first time […]

North Harbour rugby coach Steve Jackson has been appointed as assistant coach for the Blues for next year’s Investec Super Rugby Championship. Jackson will join Alistair Rogers and head coach Tana Umaga at the Blues, taking up the role at the conclusion of the Mitre 10 Cup next month. “Steve will fill the position of […]

Photo: Under-14 champions Auckland West after their 5-0 win over Auckland East. It might have been raining and overcast all day, but that didn’t put a damper on the spirits of 300 Under-14 and Under-16 rugby players competing at the Blues Development Super Weekend on Saturday. The finals day, held at Marist Rugby Club, marked the […]

Photo: Stephen Perofeta, playing for the NZ Under-20 side in 2016. Two young backline prospects from Taranaki and Otago will head to the Blues for next year’s Investec Super Rugby Championship. Teenage first-five Stephen Perofeta, originally from Wanganui but playing for Taranaki, and Otago utility Michael Collins have signed to join the Blues, it was […]

The Blues face a truly international season in the 2017 Investec Super Rugby Championship with the draw released today. The Blues have the honour of launching the Investec Super Rugby Championship on Thursday 23 February with their season-opener against the Rebels in Melbourne. The season includes back-to-back games in Canberra and Sydney plus one-off clashes […]

Six further players from this year’s Blues squad have been rewarded with extended contracts for next season’s Investec Super Rugby Championship. The club’s rookie of the year, Piers Francis has been re-signed for the 2017 season among the six players announced today. The others are props Sione Mafileo (North Harbour) and Sam Prattley (Auckland), locks […]

Maori All Blacks Head Coach Colin Cooper has announced the coaching and management team for the Maori All Blacks’ 2016 northern tour at the end of this year. Tana Umaga has been appointed Assistant Coach and former All Blacks prop and Waikato Forwards Coach Carl Hoeft has been appointed Assistant Forwards Coach.  “I’m delighted to […]

It’s no secret that the Blues region produces some of the most sought-after rugby talent. Take the success of Mount Albert Grammar Schools First XV for example. The team, coached by Geoff Moon and featuring a number of Blues Under 18 Development players, took out this year’s 1A First XV final when they defeated Sacred […]

A version of this profile was first published in the Blues v Brumbies match programme. Rai Valley, population 100, is a small locality, halfway between Nelson and Blenheim at the top end of the South Island. The township boasts a café, pub, rural shop and a trucking company. There once was a cheese factory, but that […]

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 […]