KEY POINTS:
Managing player workload and retaining continuity in the second half of the campaign is the key to the Blues' title aspirations.
Coach David Nucifora had toyed with the idea of resting and rotating players during the three-week South African leg but instead opted to make only one change
for this morning's clash against the Cheetahs.
Injuries permitting, the side to play the Sharks in Durban this weekend is likely to feature minimal, if any, changes as the Blues look to build a head of steam.
If, as expected, they cleaned out the Cheetahs this morning and can take even a point away from Durban, they will be in good shape after four rounds, with a run of home games to come.
And it is that run of games against the Western Force, Stormers, Bulls, Waratahs and Brumbies that looms as the key block in the Blues' season.
They take the bye in week 10 and then resume with away clashes against the Crusaders, Reds and Highlanders before finishing at Eden Park against the Hurricanes.
Those final four games will be tough and if the Blues reach that stage of the season in the same shape they did last year, they will again struggle to make an impact when it matters.
The challenge, then, facing Nucifora and assistant Greg Cooper, is to start resting and rotating players in the middle block while continuing to win games and build confidence.
Last year, the Blues started to lose form in the final rounds, with several key players fatigued from being heavily used throughout the campaign.
Ideally, the Blues will want their best players on the paddock in those closing rounds but need to give them a break somewhere along the way. This year, the concerns over fatigue are even greater, given the increased speed of the game under the new rules and the extra running that has come with it.
Speaking from Bloemfontein, Nucifora said: "We're here to win these games in Africa. Our players are very keen to be on the field and play. We monitor them very carefully about how they are with injury and we pay a lot of attention to their recovery. But if that's managed well, there's no reason why they can't keep going.
"We are only two weeks into it and the players should be conditioned to play more than two weeks in a row. We're still learning about the effects of the game on the players and trying to assess the toll of the fast game.
"We did think about changing people [to play the Cheetahs] but we felt continuity was the most important thing and we will worry about fatigue and resting people later in the season."
Nucifora also reported that Daniel Braid is on track to be available to play the Force on March 15, which will not only give the Blues another senior player in their mix, it will also allow them to immediately rest one of the trio who have been heavily used so far. While the aerobic component has risen for all players under the new rules, the running burden for loose forwards has been particularly severe.
