2013 Blues season

The 2013 Blues season will be the team's 18th season in the Super Rugby competition. The Blues' pre-season began on February 2, and the regular season began on February 23. The team played 16 regular season matches, with byes in rounds 5 and 10. They did not play in rounds 1 and 17, which was only be contested by Australian teams as a result of the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. The Blues played all teams within the New Zealand conference twice, and all other teams once, with the exception of the Western Force and Southern Kings. The 2013 team was be captained by Ali Williams and coached by Sir John Kirwan.

Pre-season

The first of three pre-season fixtures was on the 2nd of February against the Queensland Reds in Toowoomba. This was followed by a home match against the New South Wales Waratahs at Toll Stadium on February 9 and a final match on February 15 against the Highlanders at Queenstown Events Centre.

Fixtures

	2 Feb. 2013	Queensland Reds	41 - 35	Blues	Clive Berghofer Stadium, Toowoomba
					Attendance: 7,000 ^[1]

	9 Feb. 2013	Blues	40 - 36	New South Wales Waratahs	Toll Stadium, Whangarei
					Attendance: 6,000 ^[2]

	15 Feb. 2013	Highlanders	29 - 31	Blues	Queenstown Events Centre, Queenstown
					Attendance: 4,000 ^[3]

Regular Season

The Blues regular season will begin on February 23 with an away fixture against the Hurricanes, and will finish on July 13, with a home fixture against the Chiefs.

Fixtures

	23 Feb. 2013	Hurricanes	20 - 34	Blues	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
			Report		Attendance: 10,662 Referee: Glen Jackson

	1 March 2013	Blues	34 - 15	Crusaders	Eden Park, Auckland
			Report		Attendance: 31,014 Referee: Chris Pollock

	10 March 2013	Blues	21 - 28	Bulls	Eden Park, Auckland
			Report		Attendance: 25,112 Referee: Garratt Williamson

	24 March 2013	New South Wales Waratahs	30 - 27	Blues	Allianz Stadium, Sydney
			Report		Attendance: 16,429 Referee: Francisco Pastrana

	30 March 2013	Chiefs	23 - 16	Blues	Baypark Stadium, Mount Maunganui
			Report		Attendance: 15,203 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan

	5 April 2013	Blues	29 - 18	Highlanders	Eden Park, Auckland
			Report		Attendance: 16,489 Referee: Steve Walsh

	13 April 2013	Blues	28 - 6	Hurricanes	Eden Park, Auckland
			Report		Attendance: 23,387 Referee: Jaco Peyper

	26 April 2013	Queensland Reds	12 - 11	Blues	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
			Report		Attendance: 31,050 Referee: Craig Joubert

	3 May 2013	Blues	18 - 17	Stormers	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
			Report		Attendance: 16,111 Referee: Glen Jackson

	11 May 2013	Blues	36 - 32	Melbourne Rebels	Eden Park, Auckland
			Report		Attendance: 14,700 Referee: Garratt Williamson

	18 May 2013	Crusaders	23 - 3	Blues	Christchurch Stadium, Christchurch
			Report		Attendance: 17,264 Referee: Glen Jackson

	25 May 2013	Blues	13 - 20	Brumbies	Eden Park, Auckland
			Report		Attendance: 10,811 Referee: Lourens van der Merwe

	1 June 2013	Highlanders	38 – 28	Blues	Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
			Report		Attendance: 12,888

	29 June 2013	Sharks	22 - 20	Blues	Mr Price Kings Park, Durban
			Report		Referee: Jaco Peyper

	6 July 2013	Cheetahs	34 - 13	Blues	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
			Report		Referee: Jaco Peyper

	13 July 2013	Blues	16 - 26	Chiefs	Eden Park, Auckland
			Report		Attendance: 25,118 Referee: Chris Pollock

Tour Matches

On the 4th of April it was announced that the Blues would play a one-off match against France as a midweek fixture during their tour of New Zealand in June.^[4] The match was be held on June 11 at North Harbour Stadium and was the first time a New Zealand-based Super Rugby team has played against an international side.

	11 June 2013	Blues	15 - 38	France	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
			Blues Report NZ Herald Report		Attendance: 10,071 Referee: Jaco Peyper

Player Summary

Player statistics through round five of the 2013 Super Rugby season are shown below:^[5]

Overall Summary

Cap #	Player	Position(s)	Apps.	Tries	Cons.	Pens.	Pts.	W.C.	Y.C.	R.C.
74	Keven Mealamu	Hooker	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
93	Ali Williams (c)	Lock	5	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
137	Anthony Boric	Lock	2	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
149	Tom McCartney	Hooker	5	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
154	Rene Ranger	Wing, Centre	5	2	0	0	10	-	-	-
159	Peter Saili	Flanker, No. 8	4	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
165	Charlie Faumuina	Prop	4	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
180	Luke Braid	Flanker	5	1	0	0	5	-	-	-
186	Piri Weepu	Half-back, First five-eighth	5	0	3	5	21	-	-	-
188	Angus Ta'avao	Prop	5	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
192	Francis Saili	Wing, Centre	5	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
193	Liaki Moli	Lock	2	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
195	George Moala	Wing	4	2	0	0	10	-	-	-
196	James Parsons	Hooker	5	1	0	0	5	-	-	-
197	Steve Luatua	Lock, Flanker	5	1	0	0	5	-	-	-
199	Charles Piutau	Wing, Fullback	5	3	0	0	15	-	-	-
200	Albert Nikoro	Wing, Fullback	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
201	Frank Halai	Wing	5	4	0	0	20	-	1	-
202	Chris Noakes	First five-eighth	4	1	3	5	26	-	-	-
203	Culum Retallick	Lock	2	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
204	Brendon O'Connor	Flanker	5	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
205	Bryn Hall	Halfback	1	0	1	0	2	-	-	-
206	Quentin MacDonald	Hooker	3	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
207	Baden Kerr	First five-eighth	3	1	1	3	13	-	-	-
208	Jackson Willison	Second five-eighth, Centre	3	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
209	Kane Barrett	Lock, Flanker	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
210	Waisake Naholo	Wing	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
211	Tim Perry	Prop	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
212	Ronald Raaymakers	Lock, Flanker	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
213	Jamison Gibson-Park	Halfback	3	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
214	Marty McKenzie	Utility Back	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
N/A	Malakai Fekitoa	Second five-eighth, Centre	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
N/A	Ofa Tu'ungafasi	Prop	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-

Legend: Apps. = Appearances, Cons. = Conversions, Pens. = Penalties, Drps. = Drop Goals, Pts. = Total points, W.C. = White cards, Y.C. = Yellow cards, R.C. = Red cards

Top Point Scorers

Rank	Player	Points
1	Chris Noakes	26
2	Piri Weepu	21
3	Frank Halai	20
4	Charles Piutau	15
5	Baden Kerr	13

Top Try Scorers

Rank	Player	Tries
1	Frank Halai	4
2	Charles Piutau	3
3=	Rene Ranger	2
3=	George Moala	2
5=	Five players	1

Standings

The standings through the final round of the 2013 season are shown below:

Pos	Team	Rnd	W	D	L	Bye	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
New Zealand Conference
1	Chiefs	18	12	0	4	2	458	364	+94	50	38	8	2	66
2	Crusaders	18	11	0	5	2	446	307	+139	44	31	5	3	60
3	Blues	18	6	0	10	2	347	364	−17	40	36	6	6	44
4	Hurricanes	18	6	0	10	2	386	457	−71	41	49	4	5	41
5	Highlanders	18	3	0	13	2	374	496	−122	40	55	4	5	29

Pos	Team	Rnd	W	D	L	Bye	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Overall Standings
1	Chiefs	18	12	0	4	2	458	364	+94	50	38	8	2	66
2	Bulls	18	12	0	4	2	448	330	+118	41	34	5	2	63
3	Brumbies	18	10	2	4	2	430	295	+135	43	31	5	3	60
4	Crusaders	18	11	0	5	2	446	307	+139	44	31	5	3	60
5	Reds	18	10	2	4	2	321	296	+25	31	23	4	2	58
6	Cheetahs	18	10	0	6	2	382	358	+24	38	32	2	4	54
7	Stormers	18	9	0	7	2	346	292	+54	30	18	1	5	50
8	Sharks	18	8	0	8	2	384	305	+79	40	31	3	5	48
9	Waratahs	18	8	0	8	2	411	371	+40	45	34	1	4	45
10	Blues	18	6	0	10	2	347	364	−17	40	36	6	6	44
11	Hurricanes	18	6	0	10	2	386	457	−71	41	49	4	5	41
12	Rebels	18	5	0	11	2	382	515	−133	44	65	4	5	37
13	Force	18	4	1	11	2	267	366	−99	26	34	0	5	31
14	Highlanders	18	3	0	13	2	374	496	−122	40	55	4	5	29
15	Kings	18	3	1	12	2	298	564	−266	27	69	2	0	24

	Conference leaders, qualify to finals.
	Wildcard teams, qualify to finals.

Source: sanzarrugby.com Legend: Pos = Position, Rnd = Round, W = Win, D = Draw, L = Loss, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, PD = Points Difference, TB = Four-try bonus points, LB = Close loss bonus points, Pts = Competition Points

Round by Round Result Summary

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Ground	-	A	H	H	-	A	A	H	H	-	A	H	H	A	H	A	-	A	A	H
Result	N/A	W	W	L	B	L	L	W	W	B	L	W	W	L	L	L	N/A	L	L	L
Pos (Conf)	N/A	1	2	2	2	3	4	3	2	1	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Pos (Overall)	N/A	2	4	6	4	6	9	7	5	2	5	5	5	6	7	7	8	8	9	10

Legend: H = Home, A = Away, W = Win, D = Draw, L = Loss, B = Bye, Pos = Position, Conf = Conference

External links

References

↑ http://www.thechronicle.com.au/photos/super-rugby-draws-crowd/18294/
↑ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10864422
↑ http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/8312017/Lethargic-Highlanders-struggle-to-get-going
↑ "Blues to play france". New Zealand Herald. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
↑ http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/super-rugby/teams/blues

Blues

Unions	Auckland North Harbour Northland

Stadiums	Primary: Eden Park Secondary: North Harbour Stadium Okara Park

Championships (3)	1996 1997 2003

Seasons (19)	1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Other	Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy

2013 Blues season

Pre-season

Fixtures

Regular Season

Fixtures

Tour Matches

Player Summary

Overall Summary

Top Point Scorers

Top Try Scorers

Standings

Round by Round Result Summary

See also

External links

References