Watch the Auckland backline score a sublime try against the Highlanders

WATCH: Blues backline scores most Sonny Bill try ever

Super Rugby in the New Zealand conference is under way and the first match was an absolute belter.

It might be a bit early to say the try of the tournament has been scored, but this effort by Matt Duffie could be just that.

The Auckland Blues backline trio of Sonny Bill Williams, Rieko Ioane, and Duffie went full Sonny Bill-mode, with epic offloads that left the Highlanders in the dust.

Related: Rieko Ioane Interview 

George Moala started the move off, passing to Sonny Bill who linked with up Duffie.

Duffie then passed it inside to a streaking Ioane who then offloaded back to Duffie after it took two men to bring him down.

It was a brilliant try and put the Blues up 14-10 after 24 minutes, but the Auckland side could not sustain their brilliance narrowly losing the tie 41-34.

Related: Top 100 Players in the World

Not Enough: Despite some exciting rugby, the blues came up short in Dunedin (Getty Images)

The nine try thriller was ultimately decided in the 54th minute when Blues back-rower Antonio Kiri Kiri was sin-binned.

The Highlanders took full advantage scoring two tries in four minutes, and from then on, the Blues were chasing the game.

The Blues can take solace from the fact they secured a losing bonus point so there efforts in Dunedin were not all for nothing.

Related: Super Rugby Explained

The conference continues tomorrow with the 2018 champions, the Crusaders, facing off against the two-time champions, the Chiefs, in a box office match-up which is sure to be tries galore in Christchurch. A lot of pre-match attention focuses on Damian McKenzie and how he will fare playing at fly-half instead of full-back.

He has played there before but he will be facing a quality Crusader’s side. Kick off is at 6.35 tomorrow morning.

Don’t forget to follow Rugby World on Facebook and Twitter.