The Blues and Chiefs might have come away with vital wins, but both will sweat on the fitness of key All Blacks heading into round five of Super Rugby Pacific.
Blues stars Rieko Ioane and Dalton Papali'i both left the field injured at Sydney, while the Chiefs are certain to be without Anton Lienert-Brown for at least next week's clash with the Highlanders after a nasty head knock resulted in a failed head check.
A clean break and a slick offload had the hallmarks of brilliant attacking rugby, but the tackle that followed left Lienert-Brown in a bad way. Requiring immediate attention with clear concern for his neck, he was quickly off the field with the help of St John.
"It was a pretty heavy head knock," confirmed Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan. "He landed heavy on the ground and there was a lot of concern for his neck initially."
Lienert Brown failed his head injury assessment, but was able to return to the Chiefs bench with a smile on his face, back with his teammates.
"We're happy to see he's alright," said captain Luke Jacobson. "It looked pretty bad, but happy to see he's up and alright, and having a laugh."
His teammates were happy to poke fun at him soaking up the support from the Hamilton crowd.
"He's getting a bit of stick now for walking out and saluting the crowd, and walking around like nothing happened in the changing sheds," said McMillan.
Lienert-Brown's departure was the only negative on what turned into a polished 46-29 win over Fijian Drua. He will likely miss next week's fixture against the Highlanders, who also lost All Blacks prop Ethan de Groot to concussion early in a loss to ACT Brumbies.
Across the ditch, the Blues did just enough to hold out the Waratahs, but their win also came at a cost. Ioane hit the ground hard and was off inside three minutes.
He would not return, after failing his head check.
"He said he was fine," said Blues coach Vern Cotter. "They said he just stood up and cleared fairly quickly, so that'll go through due process."
The Blues injury woes continued, as captain Papali'i hobbled off with an ankle injury in the second half, although that appeared precautionary, leaving him primed to welcome the winless Crusaders to Eden Park next Saturday.
Join Newshub for live updates of Super Rugby Pacific
