Blues

They've done so again for Friday night's highly anticipated Battle of the Bombays encounter against the Blues in Hamilton, with Michael Leitch back in the fold.

The back row has re-shuffled from the round one win over the Highlanders, with Leitch starting at No 8 and shifting Liam Messam to blindside flanker in place of Taleni Seu.

Sam Cane's continued absence (ankle) sees Lachlan Boshier take the No 7 jersey from Mitch Karpik, who drops out of the squad with Mitchell Brown, while Tom Sanders is promoted to the bench.

Blues coach Tana Umaga named an unchanged starting XV after their impressive opening round demolition of the Melbourne Rebels last Thursday.

But he's been quick to add some star power to his impact options for the juicy second round clash with the Chiefs.

Umaga has six All Blacks, a Maori All Black and a New Zealand under-20s player on his bench.

This derby is usually a high-octane affair that often goes right down to the wire. Substitutions are sure to be hugely influential.

Keeping a lid on hype might be Tana Umaga's biggest challenge after his Blues team opened the Super Rugby season with a performance befitting the competition's "boom, boom" slogan. The Melbourne Rebels were certainly left stunned by the 56-18 pounding.

The Blues have long struggled away from home but, in Melbourne on Thursday night, they took apart the battling Rebels to record their first victory at AAMI Park. Cracking the half century wasn't a bad way to celebrate.

Every year the focus falls on the Blues No 10 jersey but the bloke inside him could prove more influential this season.

All the hype and expectation surrounding the Blues this year predominately emerged from the recruitment of Sonny Bill Williams. Now we know he won't feature for at least the first five weeks due to his recovery from an Achilles injury, Augustine Pulu could well prove a better piece of business.

The Blues announced yesterday they will host the Reds in Apia in June.

It will be the first Super match played in Samoa and coincides with Samoa's 55th Independence Celebrations.

Fifteen players the Blues squad have Samoan heritage, along with head Coach Tana Umaga.

Jerome Kaino, who was born in American Samoa, said the team was already looking forward to the game.

"We're really proud of that fact that we're pioneers to be able to take that game to Samoa - you know being the first franchise to take it there. And it's only fitting that we get to do that.

RNZI reports the Blues are the only New Zealand side not to have qualified for next week's playoffs but they have finished the season on a high with wins over the top two Australian sides, the Waratahs and the ACT Brumbies.

In a see-sawing battle at Eden Park the Blues outscored the Waratahs five tries to four.

But the statistics suggest they're facing an uphill battle, with the Blues having never won a game in Sydney after trailing the series 2-0.

During their recent period of dominance Queensland have not only won 10 of the past 11 State of Origin series, they have also won every Game Three since 2009. 

Only Michael Jennings remains from the NSW 17 that won Game Three six year ago, with Gallen the only other Blues player to have won the final game of a series (in 2007).

RNZI reports the Highlanders ran in seven tries to two, including a hat-trick to utility back Matt Faddes, to knock the Blues out of finals contention with two rounds remaining.

The Lions lead the standings, after thrashing fellow South Africans the Sharks 37-10 earlier on Sunday morning in Johannesburg.

But just four points separate the Lions, Chiefs, Crusaders, Hurricanes and Highlanders at the top of the table.

On Saturday night the Hurricanes beat the Blues 37-27 in Wellington.

Highlanders wing Patrick Osborne Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Walker was dished out more than his fair share of criticism after being afforded just nine minutes off the bench in Origin I but shook off that experience to put in a solid 80-minute effort in Game Two where despite conceding a handful of early penalties he was able to do an impressive job marking opposite number Greg Inglis.

Williams, who is chasing an Olympics gold medal with the New Zealand sevens team this season, made the announcement at a NZR press conference in Auckland.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said it was great news that Williams had committed to New Zealand through to the next Rugby World Cup.