2013 Blues season

The 2013 Blues season was the team's 18th season in the Super Rugby competition. The Blues' pre-season began on 2 February, and the regular season began on 23 February. The team played 16 regular season matches, with byes in rounds 5 and 10. They did not play in rounds 1 and 17, which was only contested by Australian teams as a result of the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia. The Blues played all teams within the New Zealand conference twice, and all other teams once, with the exception of the Western Force and Southern Kings. The 2013 team was captained by Ali Williams and coached by Sir John Kirwan.

Pre-season
The first of three pre-season fixtures was on 2 February against the Queensland Reds in Toowoomba. This was followed by a home match against the New South Wales Waratahs at Toll Stadium on 9 February and a final match on 15 February against the Highlanders at Queenstown Events Centre.

Regular season
The Blues regular season will begin on 23 February with an away fixture against the Hurricanes, and will finish on 13 July, with a home fixture against the Chiefs.

Tour Matches
On 4 April it was announced that the Blues would play a one-off match against France as a midweek fixture during their tour of New Zealand in June. The match was held on 11 June at North Harbour Stadium and was the first time a New Zealand-based Super Rugby team has played against an international side.

Player Summary
Player statistics through round five of the 2013 Super Rugby season are shown below:

Overall Summary
Legend: Apps. = Appearances, Cons. = Conversions, Pens. = Penalties, Drps. = Drop Goals, Pts. = Total points, W.C. = White cards, Y.C. = Yellow cards, R.C. = Red cards

Standings
The standings through the final round of the 2013 season are shown below:

Source: sanzarrugby.com Legend: Pos = Position, Rnd = Round, W = Win, D = Draw, L = Loss, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, PD = Points Difference, TB = Four-try bonus points, LB = Close loss bonus points, Pts = Competition Points

Round by Round Result Summary
Legend: H = Home, A = Away, W = Win, D = Draw, L = Loss, B = Bye, Pos = Position, Conf = Conference