The Blues have received a timely boost of front row firepower ahead of their match against the burly Bulls on Sunday morning, with veterans Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock set to make their first starts for the team this season.

At 65, Des Easden is recently retired and spends most of his time with hammer in hand, doing DIY fix-it jobs at the Mt Albert home he shares with his wife. But retirement didn’t stop Des from donning the Blues’ jersey at Eden Park over the weekend!

42 young rugby players had their first taste of professional rugby last weekend when they took part in the 2014 Blues 17 Development Day.

The Blues have named a 27-man squad for their two week tour of South Africa. Sir John Kirwan’s men play the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday Sunday 4.05am NZT) before taking on the Lions at Ellis Park a week later.

So from 2014 we are asking all our fans to ëJoin the game’. We’re going to be giving fans lots of ways to get involved with us, whether it’s appearing in our ads or adding their own personal image to the team poster ñ and much more besides.

On the eve of promising first five-eighths Simon Hickey’s first game for the Blues, we caught up with him to find out how he’s feeling

While he may not be a household name yet, Patrick Tuipulotu is without doubt a name worth remembering.

The Blues and New Zealand Rugby have re-signed Blues Head Coach Sir John Kirwan and Assistant Coach Grant Doorey for the 2015 Investec Super Rugby season.

The Blues have named their 30-man training squad for the 2014 development programme.

Promising young first five-eighths Simon Hickey will make his Super Rugby debut when he starts at 10 for the Blues against the Crusaders at Eden Park on Friday night (kick-off 7.35pm).

High-profile recruit Benji Marshall will make his Super Rugby debut off the bench when the Blues face the Highlanders in their season opener in Dunedin on Saturday.

It’s the first week of competition for the Blues which can mean only one thing -#truebluechat is back by popular demand tonight at 7pm!