Chiefs, Blues bosses sprinkle the spice ahead of Super Rugby Pacific opener at Eden Park

Friday, 13 February 2026

Chiefs chief executive Simon Graafhuis has stirred the pot ahead of his side’s season-opener against the Blues.

What: Super Rugby Pacific, Rd 1, Blues v Chiefs; Where: Eden Park, Auckland; When: Saturday, 7.05pm; Live on Sky Sport 1.

Super Rugby Pacific’s opening-round Battle of the Bombays clash might be lacking in firepower, but that hasn’t stopped some shots already being fired between the Chiefs and Blues arch rivals.

While no fewer than nine All Blacks (seven Chiefs, two Blues) will sit out Saturday night’s clash at Eden Park, for a variety of reasons, there has been no such easing into the season for the respective franchises’ chief executives, with some midweek barbs sprinkling the spice for this latest showdown between the local adversaries.

Chiefs boss Simon Graafhuis kicked off the niggle, suggesting his outfit, desperately hunting a championship after three successive runner-up finishes, consider the fixture as much a home game for them as it is the Blues, given the Chiefs catchment extends well into Auckland.

“We really want our Auckland Chiefs fans to embrace this match as a home fixture and to fill Eden Park in a way Blues fans have failed to do for far too long,” he said.

Blues prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi walks out with his children for his 150th game, against the Chiefs last year, at an Eden Park venue considered ‘New Zealand’s national stadium’.

“As well as being a home for our fans, the 09 is home for many of our players, too, so it is important their whānau feel as welcome at Eden Park as they do at FMG Stadium Waikato.”

Graafhuis then added that given Eden Park and the Blues market the venue as the country’s “national stadium”, then all six New Zealand-based teams should stand to benefit from it, and that Blues boss “and long-time, diehard Chiefs supporter” Karl Budge, could review the profit share.

“As a national stadium we should all reap the rewards so once our mighty Chiefs fans help fill the ground on Saturday I’ll look forward to Karl sharing the profits.”

Budge, who has been in his new role just a month, but with a strong background of sports leadership experience, was more than happy to bite back.

“I’m not surprised there’s a lot of Chiefs fans living in Auckland, I’d probably get out of Hamilton as well,” he retorted.

Blues chief executive Karl Budge is a Pukekohe product and has always been a diehard Counties, rather than Chiefs, fan.

“It’s a great place to be, it’s a great place to live, and importantly, it’s a great place to play rugby. That’s why some of his Counties players are playing for us, too. I think we’ve got 200% more Counties players in our squad than the Chiefs do in theirs.”

And, so, just to check, there’s no part of the Pukekohe product that is indeed some sort of Chiefs fan at heart, then?

“I’m a diehard Counties fan,” Budge insisted, “and when there’s only one Counties member in the Chiefs squad, it makes it very easy for me to be a very big Blues fan.”

After a crowd of 25,200 showed up to the corresponding round-one fixture last year, which the Chiefs won 25-14, Budge, hopeful the weather can play ball, is expectant of a healthy turnout, for a game which, in a nod to the competition’s 30th birthday celebration, will feature the selling of 96-cent hot dogs.

But, as for a tasty gate-profit split?

“I’m probably more interested in sharing the development costs of our players that the Chiefs like to steal,” he said. “If he wants to get cute on numbers we can have a chat.”

Consider the fuse lit.