Initially he signed for Edinburgh Rugby, arriving at the end of 2014, and was unwittingly thrust into an eligibility storm when he was immediately named in the Scotland squad for the 2015 Six Nations Championship. He didn't play, but turned out for one game for Scotland in the lead-up to that year's World Cup. He also played six games for Scotland's sevens side.
After recovering from last year's broken leg, he returned to Scotland, towards the end of the Northern Hemisphere season. He was again drafted into the national sevens squad and played in six rounds of the World Series, scoring a try in the win over England in the final of the season-ending London tournament.
"It was an intense programme to go into after a broken leg and five or six months out of rugby," he said.
"It's an awesome lifestyle and every couple of weeks, running out with 50,000 people watching, it gets the hairs on the back of your neck standing up."
He returned to New Zealand for the tail end of Te Puke Sports' Baywide Championship campaign, playing in the narrow semifinal loss to eventual champions Mount Maunganui.
Blake spent his early life in Pongakawa and has strong family connections with the district and the Te Puke Club.
"So last year when I got the opportunity to come back it was a pretty easy decision and Te Puke Sports was the obvious choice."
As much as he enjoys sevens, he sees his future in the 15-a-side game.
"Sevens is good fun ... but in terms of making a career our of it, 15s is more of a option."
He sees this season's Mitre 10 Cup as the chance to impress the Super Rugby franchises, but he is at a disadvantage.
"It's a hard one because I've been capped for Scotland in 15s, so that means I'm an international [player] and that makes playing here quite tough."
Super Rugby franchises are only allowed two international players each.
"But if the opportunity came up I'd definitely take it," he said.
The Steamers opened their 2017 Mitre 10 Cup campaign with a loss to Northland on Sunday, succumbing 28-23 after leading 23-7 at the break.
Blake said it was a tough loss to take.
"We were in control of the game and playing well. But at a couple of key moments, if you don't win at set-piece and give the ball away at silly times, teams at this level can go down the other end and score, and that happened a little bit."
Blake and fellow open side flanker Mitch Karpik played in the 6 and 7 jerseys on Sunday.
"I was openside at the scrum and Mitch at the lineouts.
"We seem to create a good combination that can put some pressure on teams - we've both got strengths and weaknesses and complement each other."
The Steamers play their first home game of the season tonight when Hawke's Bay are the visitors to Rotorua International Stadium.
"Home advantage is a massive advantage," said Blake. "When I used to play for Otago it was always tough to come to Rotorua, so that will play a part."
He said the side needed to "string together a full 80-minute performance and get the momentum on and keep it on, and just stay a little bit more composed and keep building momentum and pressure rather than letting the other team get it".
The intensity also often lifts when the two sides meet.
"Passion probably comes through a little bit more in the Battle of the Bays games and that's shown in the last few years.
"It will be a physical battle but I think if we can nail our game and play a full 80 minutes and we'll be right."
The game kicks off at 5.45pm.
Bay of Plenty Steamers team to play Hawke's Bay
Kickoff 5.45pm
1. Aidan Ross
2. James O'Reilly
3. Siegfried Fisi'ihoi
4. Tom Franklin
5. Keepa Mewett (C)
6. Hugh Blake
7. Mitchell Karpik
8. Tyler Ardron
9. Richard Judd
10. Mike Delany (VC)
11. Joe Webber
12. Terrence Hepetema
13. Lalakai Foketi
14. Monty Ioane
15. Chase Tiatia
Reserves:
16. Sabastian Siataga
17. Solomona Sakalia
18. James Lay*
19. Culum Retallick
20. Jesse Parete
21. Luke Campbell
22. Liam Steel*
23. Elijah Nicholas
* Denotes Bay of Plenty Steamers debut
