Breaking New Ground

The Blues didn’t start the inaugural Super Rugby competition in 1996 as favourites but a er they sneaked an unexpected victory against Natal in their last game, they jumped to second and had a home semifinal against Northern Transvaal. They won that which earned them a home final as the Sharks had beaten the Queensland Reds in Brisbane. An a ernoon kick o at a full Eden Park saw the Blues, inspired by Carlos Spencer, run riot with the giant Jonah Lomu scoring the last try of the game to complete the 45-21 victory.