Beauden Barrett's return to the Blues line-up may help solve a key shortcoming that contributed to their late collapse in their Super Rugby Pacific season-opener against the Hurricanes last week.
The star first-five missed last week's 33-32 last-minute defeat, as he continued to battle the after-effects of concussion from the All Blacks' northern tour last year. In his absence, his side squandered an 18-point advantage and conceded three late tries, including the matchwinner to Hurricanes captain Ardie Savea.
Barrett has tentatively been named on the Blues bench for their clash with the Chiefs on Saturday, bracketed with Zarn Sullivan, indicating he still has a couple of boxes to tick before he's ready to take the field.
But assistant coach Dan Halangahu hints his spot on the bench has just as much to do with the lack of leadership during the final 10 minutes of that Hurricanes debacle.
"We were very clear that the last period of the match was not what we wanted, but on reflection, not having some of our senior leaders out there and more experience players was probably something that contributed," says Halangahu.
Besides Barrett, the Blues were missing club captain Dalton Papalii, also under concussion protocols, while coaching staff probably didn't help their cause much, subbing off stand-in skipper Tom Robinson just before the rot set in.
Veteran lock Luke Romano - along with his 136 matches for the Crusaders - and All Blacks halfback Finlay Christie were others handed early departure cards, leaving centre Rieko Ioane, 24, as probably the senior-ranking officer on deck.
The game review would have exposed some key game-management decisions - ill-directed kicks or 50-50 passes that didn't need to be thrown - that undoubtedly put the Blues under pressure down the stretch.
A lack of urgency allowed Auckland product Salesi Rayasi to score what should have been a consolation try. Instead, they continued to take the foot off the pedal with disastrous consequences.
Papalii is one of two changes to the starting XV against the Chiefs, with Taranaki utility Stephen Perofeta replacing Sullivan at fullback.
"Getting Dalton back is huge for us and Beauden has also come through the week really well," says Halangahu. "He's been a while out of rugby as well, so easing him back in is good for us as well.
"We don't take chances with anyone's career, so Beauden's taken his time coming back. What he has done is huge amounts off the field... extremely professional and drives our backline, in particular, but also our whole team to turn up and do well."
The first 70 minutes against the Hurricanes showed how explosive this star-studded Blues outfit could be, with forwards setting a solid platform for a backline featuring strike weapons like Ioane, much-heralded league convert Roger Tuivasa-Sheak, and powerful wings Caleb Clarke and Mark Telea.
"It was probably one of our better starts to a season in recent times, but you just don't win matches in 70 minutes," reflects Ioane. "We have to have that for 80 and that will be the big goal this week."
Join us at 4:30pm Saturday for live updates of the Blues v Chiefs Super Rugby Pacific clash
