Captain Augustine Pulu and deputy James Parsons will both return to the Blues line-up for their penultimate Super Rugby outing this season, a road game against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday.
Pulu, who has struggled with a foot injury recently, replaces Sam Nock at halfback in the only change to the starting line-up that accounted for the Reds at Eden Park last week.
Parsons has spent several weeks on the sidelines with concussion symptoms, after taking a head-high tackle from Crusaders prop Owen Franks in May.
From the line-up named by coach Tana Umaga, number eight Akira Ioane will become the only player to take the field for all Blues fixtures this season, while departing loose forward Jerome Kaino passes Tony Woodcock to become the second-most capped player in franchise history.
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Kaino will make his 138th appearance - only Keven Mealamu (175) has more.
The former All Blacks flanker will head to France at the end of the season and has become a source of late-season inspiration for the struggling Blues.
"Jerome means a lot to this team and achieving the milestone is great for him," says Umaga. "The team wants to send him on his way in the best way we can and that is with performance.
"If we get a good performance, the results will come."
The Auckland-based side strike the Hurricanes at the right time, with the 2016 champions riding a three-game losing slump, including last week's defeat by the Brumbies.
"I am sure the Hurricanes will be looking at ways to rectify their situation, but we have nothing to lose," says Umaga, who played 122 games for that franchise over 11 years.
"We will go down there and throw everything at them, get some pride and respect back, and also make sure we send our 'High Chief' away on a good note."
Blues: 1-Alex Hodgman, 2-Matt Moulds, 3-Ofa Tuungafasi, 4-Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 5-Mathiaha Martin, 6-Jerome Kaino, 7-Blake Gibson, 8-Akira Ioane, 9-Augustine Pulu, 10-Stephen Perofeta, 11-Caleb Clarke, 12-Reiko Ioane, 13-Michael Collins, 14-Melani Nanai, 15-Matt Duffie
Reserves: 16-James Parsons, 17-Pauliasi Manu, 18-Sione Mafileo, 19-Ben Nee-Nee, 20-Murphy Taramai, 21-Sam Nock, 22-Bryn Gatland, 23-TJ Faiane
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Join us at 7:30pm Saturday for the Blues vs Hurricanes Super Rugby clash.
