The Auckland-based Blues held on with their backs to their goal line after the fulltime siren to beat the Wellington-based Hurricanes 31-27 Saturday in the match of the season in Super Rugby Pacific.

In a match between the long-time New Zealand rivals, the Hurricanes had the last attacking opportunity and battered the Blues’ goal line in the final moments of a match between the first- and second-place teams after 12 of 15 regular-season rounds.

The second-place Blues finally won a defensive turnover and kicked the ball out of play to end the match almost four minutes after the fulltime siren. They now move past the Hurricanes into first place and likely will hold that place which gives them home advantage throughout the playoffs.

“We often put a premium on defense and in tough times like that, that’s when it counts,” Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu said. “We want to back our defense and trust it and fortunately it paid off in the end.”