Luke McAlister's much-awaited return to the Blues has literally suffered a knock-back after he broke his nose at training on Monday.
McAlister took part in a club game at the weekend and was looking a definite chance to take his place in the side against the Brumbies on Friday. Coach Pat Lam hasn't ruled out McAlister still playing but it depended on the severity of the break.
Lam was looking forward to being able to consider injured players: centre Isaia Toeava, wing George Pisi, wing Anthony Tuitavake and loose forward Chris Lowrey.
"We're in better shape than we were before the Crusaders game," he said.
While the players had been making good use of the break to rejuvenate themselves, the coaching staff had been heads down looking at the way the side was playing and working on the remainder of the programme, especially with a string of home games at Eden Park.
Lam had been impressed with the way the South African sides, especially the Stormers and the Bulls were playing, and while his immediate attention was on the Brumbies on Friday, he was looking forward to the clash with the Bulls a fortnight later.
The South Africans were using the maul effectively but Lam said it was just one aspect of the game that teams had to cope with and how sides defended against the rolling maul was important.
"We're really pleased with a lot of the stuff that we have done but there's areas that we can really tinker with," he said.
Lam said the breakdown was still an area of focus.
"As coaches we've had a real good look at it and we will make a couple of changes here and there," he said.
There was a need to use the ball better than the Blues had been doing at the breakdown.
"It's just about having confidence that if you look after the ball well it can certainly have a big impact on your game," he said.
Lam wasn't looking too hard at the competition ladder because it was all about getting a good win against the Brumbies at the weekend.
The match would be significant for stalwart Blues hooker Keven Mealamu who will make his 100th appearance for the side. He had already notched 100 Super 14 games, but it is for the franchise this weekend.
"He's a professional. Shucks he does the work on and off the field, he does recovery, he's meticulous on his preparation," he said.
Lam said Mealamu was supposed to be out of action for six months after his most recent injury but was back in action in four and a half months and that was typical of him because he did the work.