Northland's Lachie Munro may be called in to cover first five-eighths in the Blues' highly anticipated Super 15 opener against the Crusaders, after Luke McAlister was knocked unconscious in the side's final pre-season match on Friday night.
Blues' assistant coach Bryce Woodward said it was highly unlikely that McAlister would be
risked for the opening match, leaving Stephen Brett to start against his old team in Saturday night's match.
"The initial reaction from the doctor was that it could be two or three weeks before he [McAlister] plays again so we're not going to push it for this week and we'll have to wait and see after that," he said.
Woodward said that had at least made the decision about who would start the season, as the first choice first five-eighth, an easy one to make.
"Stephen Brett had started the first two matches but Luke had played very well in Kerikeri and Friday's game was an opportunity for Luke to press his claim," he said.
He said the loss of McAlister had cost the team depth at first five and Munro was now one of the options to cover the position from the bench.
"Lachie fulfilled that role on Friday for us after Stephen Brett got a kick to the calf, so he's the obvious choice but Isaia Toeava can also play there, especially if we wanted to go into a more attacking mode," he said.
Woodward was disappointed with the way the team played on Friday during the 12-all draw with the Chiefs. He said the "rock stars", his name for the side's All Black-dominated first half selection, played poorly and it wasn't until 10 minutes from the end that No8 Peter Saili crashed over to tie up the scores after the Chiefs had taken the lead with tries to Stephen Donald and Scott Waldrom.
The draw meant the Blues finished the pre-season unbeaten but a step-up will be needed when the Crusaders visit Eden Park on Saturday.
