The Blues held on for a thrilling 39-34 Super 14 win over the Brumbies in their Round Six encounter at Eden Park, Auckland, on Friday - a result that puts the Blues' campaign back on track and put a dent in the Brumbies' play-off hopes.

The five-tries-to-three victory - sealed by a Stephen Brett drop-goal minutes from the end - also helped captain Kevin Mealamu celebrate his 100th game for the Blues win a fine win.

Mealamu described the win as "very special" and spoke of the determination to keep the ball in hand after being down by six points at the break.

The first half produced patches of excellent rugby from both teams but defences were tight and points relatively hard to come by.

The second half provided great rugby too, but in contrast to the first 40 minutes, points flowed fast for the first 20 minutes as attack overcame defence and each team in turn attacked with skill and conviction.

It was tense at the end when the Brumbies pulled back to a deficit of only two points, but the Blues deserved their win - despite conceding far too many penalties on defence - because they kept the ball in hand superbly when it counted and their support and continuity on attack was so effective.

They scored some wonderful tries and their surge after the halftime break was impressive indeed.

Possession and territory had been as close to 50 per cent each as the statistics can be, but the Brumbies had missed 22 tackles to the seven missed by the Blues and in the end this was pivotal in the Canberra team losing the match.

The Brumbies enjoyed an advantage in territory and possession in the opening minutes but were stymied initially by handling errors and by tight Blues defence.

But they did manage to score the first points in the match when after two consecutive penalties on the five metre line, tighthead Salesi Maafu forced his way over for a try. Giteau converted and the visitors led 7-0 after 10 minutes.

The Blues hit back from the kick-off and in the 14th minute, from their second attacking penalty, flyhalf Brett goaled from in front of the posts inside the 22 to reduce the lead to 7-3.

The Brumbies took their lead to 10-3 three minutes later when Giteau slotted a penalty from 39 metres out and 20 metres in from touch, but from the kick-off the Blues were awarded three attacking penalties in a row and from the third of those, Rene Ranger powered past Christian Lealiifano and fed Joe Rokocoko who scored under the posts.

Brett converted and the scores were level (10-10) after 22 minutes.

Three minutes later the Brumbies regained the lead when Giteau goaled a penalty with another fine kick (13-10).

The Blues then produced the best passage of attacking play in the game up to then as they moved the ball from the left touchline to the right touchline and then back left. The continuity was excellent, with Rokocoko breaking a Rocky Elsom tackle and Ranger powering up the middle and excellent building of phases - but the Brumbies defence held.

The Blues attacked impressively again as loose forwards Viliami Ma'afu, Serge Lilo and Jerome Kaino combined in a ball-carrying surge, but they conceded a penalty inside the 22 for not releasing on the ground and the Brumbies had survived another strong attack.

A long grubber by Giteau put the Brumbies into a good attacking position and with less than a minute to go in the half, he goaled a penalty from in front of the posts to put the visitors 16-10 up at the break.

The half had been even with a try each but with the home team conceding six penalties in their own half, the boot of Giteau had made the difference.

The Blues were awarded a penalty from the kick-off but lost a line-out on their own throw-in for the third time.

They regained possession though and moved the ball wide left. A switch between Rudi Wulf and Ranger wrong-footed the defence, and Ranger broke the tackles of Giteau, Christian Lealiifano and then Tyrone Smith to score in the corner.

Brett's conversion attempt flew wide but the lead had been reduced to 16-15 a minute into the second half.

From the kick-off the Blues attacked from deep, Ranger again carried strongly, Brett kicked a neat attacking chip and Benson Stanley rounded off a superb movement for a try in the corner. Brett converted with his best kick of the match and the home team led 22-16 six minutes into the half.

The Blues then conceded another penalty inside their 22 and Giteau reduced the deficit to 22-19. A total of 15 points had been scored in the first seven minutes of the half.

The Blues ran again. Alby Mathewson broke, Lilo took some stopping, and from a brilliantly executed diagonal kick by Brett, Rokocoko collected on the run and scored far out. Brett converted and the Blues were in a 29-19 lead with just under half an hour to play.

But a minute later the Blues infringed yet again on defence, Giteau goaled the penalty and the lead was down to seven points (29-22).

The Blues were not done yet and an inside pass from Brett to fullback Isaia Toeava caught the defence unaware as Toeava raced through for a try under the posts. Brett converted and the Blues were up 36-22 with 15 minutes to play.

The Blues conceded their 11th and then their 12th penalty, almost all on defence. Brumbies replacement hooker Huia Edmonds scored a try from close range for the visitors but Giteau could not convert (36-27 after 60 minutes).

The game settled somewhat after a frenetic 37 points scored in the first 20 minutes of the half, but it was not over yet as replacement scrumhalf Patrick Phibbs took advantage of a Rocky Elsom break down midfield and scored under the posts for the Brumbies. Giteau goaled the conversion and the score was 36-34 with just over four minutes to go.

The Blues bashed repeatedly at the Brumbies tryline but when they were kept out by desperate defence, Brett seized the opportunity to consolidate the lead and kicked a close-range drop-goal to put the home team 39-34 ahead with just over a minute left on the clock.

The hooter sounded and the Blues could celebrate a narrow but deserved home victory - an appropriate way to commemorate skipper Keven Mealamu's century of games for the Blues.

Man of the Match: For the Brumbies, Salesi Maafu and Stephen Moore were potent on the drive, Ben Hand's workrate was high, and Rocky Elsom and Matt Giteau, both despite a missed one-on-one tackle, showed their usual class. For the Blues, Alby Mathewson was sharp at scrumhalf, Joe Rokocoko scored two good tries, and loose forwards Viliami Ma'afu, Serge Lilo and Jerome Kaino were all effective at breakdown, as ball-carriers and in the tackles they made. But our Man of the Match is outside centre Rene Ranger, who made amends for an early handling error time and again as he wreaked havoc with the Brumbies defence - through power as well as skill. The 23-year-old has become a major attacking pressure point for the Blues and makes big tackles - he looks set for a huge year.

For the Blues:
Tries: Rokocoko 2, Ranger, Stanley, Toeava
Cons: Brett 4
Pen: Brett
DG: Brett

For the Brumbies:
Tries: Ma'afu, Edmonds, Phibbs
Cons: Giteau 2
Pens: Giteau 5

Blues: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Rene Ranger, 12 Benson Stanley, 11 Rudi Wulf, 10 Stephen Brett, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Viliami Ma'afu, 7 Serge Lilo, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Anthony Boric, 4 Kurtis Haiu, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keven Mealamu (captain), 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Charlie Faumuina, 18 Filo Paulo, 19 Peter Saili, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Dan Kirkpatrick, 22 Paul Williams.

Brumbies: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Pat McCabe, 13 Tyrone Smith, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Francis Fainifo, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Josh Valentine, 8 Stephen Hoiles (captain), 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Ben Hand, 3 Salesi Maafu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Justin Harrison, 19 Mitchell Chapman, 20 Patrick Phibbs, 21 Matt Toomua, 22 Andrew Smith.

Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Garratt Williamson (New Zealand), Matthew Stanish (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)