Luatua is a consistently good performer in the lineout, where his 1.96m and 115kg frame is a real asset, but it's around the field that he needs to improve after his disappointing 2015. He needs to get back to the levels of his debut year of 2012 because a year later he was in the All Blacks, only to be dropped after his 14th test in 2014 because he was unfit, a painfully public process which he is unlikely to forget.
The ball-carrying charges against the Chiefs from Kaino and powerful lock Patrick Tuipulotu, when he entered the fray, were imperative in putting the Blues on the front foot during their win in Pukekohe and, with 67-test veteran Kaino absent on Friday, it's time for understudy Luatua to step up again.
There's no time like the present.
* Speaking of which, the Hurricanes are leaving it extremely late to find a jersey sponsor before the season starts for them on Friday in Canberra against the Brumbies.
Hurricanes Ngani Laumape and Nehe Milner-Skudder attended last week's Super Rugby launch in Auckland in jerseys without a sponsor on the front, and after making inquiries to the franchise's head office a few days later the Herald was told an announcement was imminent.
In this case no news is bad news. It is understood the front-of-jersey sponsorship is worth six figures to the New Zealand franchises. It would be a bad look if the team ran on to Canberra Stadium in sponsor-less jerseys.