| Home team | Crusaders |
| Away team | Blues |
| Venue | One NZ Stadium |
| Competition | Super Rugby Pacific |
| Kick off time | 5:35 am (UK) |
| Watch Live in the UK | Sky Sports+ |
Crusaders vs Blues Super Rugby Pacific qualifying round preview as the sides meet at the One NZ Stadium, hoping to make it to the semi-final stage.
The Crusaders ended the season on 41 points, three points ahead of the Blues, despite both teams having the same record of eight wins and six losses. The Blues conceded 412 points in their 14 games compared to the 388 points conceded by the Crusaders. Only the bottom three teams in the league conceded more points than the Blues.
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Crusaders vs Blues confirmed lineups
| Crusaders | Blues | ||||
| Forwards | |||||
| Brewis | 1 | Ofa Tu’ungafasi | |||
| Taylor | 2 | Slater | |||
| Bower | 3 | Renata | |||
| Shalfoon | 4 | Tuipulotu | |||
| Hannah | 5 | Darry | |||
| Blackadder | 6 | Barnes | |||
| Fainga’anuku | 7 | Segner | |||
| Lio-Willie | 8 | Wrampling-Alec | |||
| Backs | |||||
| Hotham | 9 | Nock | |||
| Kemara | 10 | Perofeta | |||
| Reece | 11 | Clarke | |||
| Havili | 12 | Ahki | |||
| McLeod | 13 | Taele | |||
| Fihaki | 14 | Lam | |||
| McNicholl | 15 | Sullivan | |||
| Replacements | |||||
| Letiu | 16 | Oudenryn | |||
| Sexton | 17 | Tupaea | |||
| Brown | 18 | Yates | |||
| Cahill | 19 | Beehre | |||
| Gardiner | 20 | Sotutu | |||
| Preston | 21 | Christie | |||
| Reihana | 22 | Evans | |||
| Ennor | 23 | Spencer | |||
Recent Form:
Crusaders (Home team):
| Result | Date | Competition | Opponent | Score |
| Won | 28th May 2026 | Super Rugby | Hurricanes | 47-14 |
| Won | 22nd May 2026 | Super Rugby | Chiefs | 36-32 |
| Won | 8th May 2026 | Super Rugby | Blues | 36-20 |
| Loss | 1st May 2026 | Super Rugby | Hurricanes | 38-31 |
| Won | 24th April 2026 | Super Rugby | Waratahs | 35-20 |
The Crusaders have won three in a row and four of their last five to make a push to have a home game in the qualifying finals. In the last round, they picked up a convincing win against the Hurricanes, who have finished top of the table and had nothing to play for in this game. They scored a brilliant seven tries in the game and are still unbeaten since the launch of the One NZ Stadium.
Blues (Away team):
| Result | Date | Competition | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 30th May 2026 | Super Rugby | Chiefs | 59-34 |
| Loss | 16th May 2026 | Super Rugby | Hurricanes | 24-47 |
| Loss | 8th May 2026 | Super Rugby | Crusaders | 36-20 |
| Won | 2nd May 2026 | Super Rugby | Moana Pasifika | 19-45 |
| Won | 25th April 2026 | Super Rugby | Reds | 36-33 |
The Blues have lost three in a row to finish the season and therefore lost out on a home match in this game. In the last round they suffered a huge 25 point loss to the Chiefs. The match was close at halftime with an AJ Lam try leaving the match at 19-15. They then conceded six tries in the second half and lost 59-34.
Crusaders vs Blues head-to-head record (last five matches):
| Date | Competition | Winner | Score |
| 8th May 2026 | Super Rugby | Crusaders | 36-20 |
| 7th March 2026 | Super Rugby | Blues | 29-13 |
| 13 June 2025 | Super Rugby Playoffs | Crusaders | 21-14 |
| 18th April 2025 | Super Rugby | Crusaders | 25-22 |
| 22nd March 2025 | Super Rugby | Crusaders | 19-42 |
Crusaders have won four of the last five matches against the Blues, and have won each of the last five matches played in Christchurch against the Blues. The two games this season were won by the home team by 16. The two meetings before that were won by seven or fewer by the Crusaders at home.
