Blue

Tuipulotu toured the Northern Hemisphere with the national side last November, starting against Ireland in Chicago and then against Italy in Rome but the giant second rower returned home a week early, along with injured flanker Sam Cane and utility back Ben Smith, for what coach Steve Hansen described at the time as "personal reasons".

Since then, all the tourists have been serving a mandatory 12-week stand-down between seasons. They are due back with the Super Rugby franchises next week to begin pre-season training.

Patrick Tuipulotu dived over from close range to push the Blues ahead 31-24 in the 71st minute of the Eden Park season opener, but a possible ruck infringement during the lead-up might mean the visitors were hard done by.