Super Rugby

Coming into Saturday night's match, the Chiefs were unbeaten in the 2020 season, while the Brumbies were coming off a narrow 23-22 loss to the Highlanders at home the week before.

That last minute loss may have spurred the Brumbies on in Hamilton, as it was the visitors who came out firing from the first whistle.

Fullback Tom Banks was the first to score for the Brumbies off a set piece move inside the Chiefs 22.

It's the Blues' second win of the season and lifts them to third in the New Zealand conference, four points behind the Chiefs and five behind the Crusaders.

"It's always hard to come to Africa. Coming to Loftus against a Bulls side against the wall, they pretty much fought to the end. We had to work hard for it and I'm pretty pleased," Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu told local broadcaster Supersport.

It's the Blues' first win in Pretoria in eight years.

The Crusaders - for now - are currently top of the Super Rugby standings, after beating southern rivals the Highlanders 33-13 in Christchurch on Friday night. 

They're 3-1 this season with wins over the Waratahs, Blues and Highlanders, with their lone defeat coming against the unbeaten Chiefs a fortnight ago. 

Last year, the Crusaders had to wait until week 10 of the competition for a bye, but their first comes much earlier this season - and at a good time as well. 

Kuridrani has been named as one of the starting wingers for the Highlanders replacing the suspended Patelesio Tomkinson.

This means the Highlanders will have Fijians playing on the wing as Jona Nareki will start once again.

Kuridrani, who is the brother of former Fiji and Crusaders superstar Nemani Nadolo, previously played Super Rugby for the Reds.

He has represented both Fijian and Australian age-grade sides and spent two seasons in Japan before suiting up for Counties Manukau in the 2019 Mitre 10 Cup.

The two teams have a traditional rivalry like no other and Friday night was another physical battle.

In his first start of the season Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu crossed the try line in the sixth minute to give the home side an early lead.

There was a significant delay following the opening try as Crusaders tighthead prop Oliver Jager suffered a head injury attempting a tackle and was taken from the field.

Twenty minutes later the Crusaders wing George Bridge had given the visitors the lead after some good work off a lineout five metres from the try line.

Barrett was at Blues training Wednesday to meet several of his new teamates after his shift from the Hurricanes.

He made a brief appearance at pre-season training but has been taking and extended break from the game in the wake of the World Cup.

"He's in today to have a look around and see how we are going. We can check on him and see how he's going so it's good to have him back around," said assistant coach Tom Coventry.

The Tahs lost their first two Super Rugby games, by 18 to the Crusaders and 20 to the Blues, each time paying the price for botching potential scoring opportunities with poor ball control.

In the two instances NSW held onto the ball for more than eight phases against the Blues, they scored tries.

"As coaches, the last thing we're going to tell the boys is to stop the offloads," Whitaker said.

"We're not a team that can go out there and just play one pass, tuck it under their wing and carry into contact because we're not big enough to do that.

The South African side scored five tries to the Highlanders two.

The hosts opened the scoring with a penalty in the sixth minute of the match when first five Mitchell Hunt kicked a penalty.

However, it was all one way traffic from there.

Flanker James Venter was the first try scorer in the match (31st minute) before Springboks winger Makazole Mapimpi scored two tries in the space of four minutes before the half was up.

By half-time the Sharks led 27-3.

Lingering knee and groin injuries for Crusaders first five-eighth Richie Mo'unga means coach Scott Robertson has rearranged his backline for the round two match.

Regular Crusaders fullback David Havili will start at first five-eighth for the first time at Super Rugby level to fill the gap left by Mo'unga who left the field during the Crusaders opening round win over the Waratahs.

Will Jordan moves to fullback and Sevu Reece lines up on the right wing.

Despite the loss of 17-game All Black Mo'unga, the Crusaders will not be short on experience.

The All Blacks wing impressed with two tries in the 37-29 loss to the Chiefs on Friday, but is now expected to be out of action for several weeks.

The news will be a bitter pill to swallow for the 22-year-old, who looked to have rediscovered some of the dazzling form that eluded him through a challenging 2019 season.

News of the injury comes just days after reports of raucous parties at Ioane's Auckland home, where he and brother Akira Ioane - also a member of the Blues squad - were allegedly at the centre of noise complaints.