Blues loose forward Luke Braid has been handed the captain’s armband for Sunday’s North v South match at Forsyth Barr Stadium.

Three Blues players have been named in the All Blacks team to face Ireland at Eden Park on Saturday.

Ticket sales to the first All Black test against the Irish in the Steinlager Series at Eden Park have just hit the 40,000 mark.

Blues loose forward Steven Luatua has been suspended for three weeks following a dangerous tackle in Saturday’s 34-41 loss to the Chiefs, but he will not miss any Super Rugby.

Seven Blues players have been named in the North team for the June 10 encounter with the South team.

The Blues came agonisingly close to turning the tables on their local rivals the Chiefs tonight before falling short 34-41 at North Harbour Stadium.

He’s been stranded on 49 caps for the last five weeks but Rudi Wulf will finally run out in front of the North Harbour faithful to play his 50th game for the Blues tomorrow night.

Rudi Wulf and Rene Ranger will make a timely return from injury to face the table-topping Chiefs at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday night (kick-off 7.35pm).

Check out the Blues training and meet your favourite players this Thursday at North Harbour Stadium, Albany.

There are only 10,000 tickets remaining for the All Blacks v Ireland Steinlager Series Test match at Eden Park on Saturday 9 June.