Steven Luatua might have the most to prove as Blues face Lions

Blues No8 Steven Luatua might be playing his last game at Eden Park tonight. Photo / Peter Meecham.

Blues loose forward Steven Luatua will run on to the Eden Park pitch tonight for perhaps the last time in his rugby career and the significance will not be lost on him.

He has played superbly well for Tana Umaga's men this season, leaving some to question why he is leaving for Bristol following the team's final round-robin match against the Sunwolves in Tokyo next month.

He probably deserves to be in the All Blacks mix when the squad is announced tomorrow, but will be wary about getting his hopes up, knowing his imminent departure to link again with former Blues coach Pat Lam in England could prove to be a stumbling block to his chances of selection.

So if anyone has a point to prove ahead of the match against the British and Irish Lions, a fixture which has a real 50-50 feel to it, it is Luatua, a 26-year-old who has played 15 tests who will dearly hope to play one, two or perhaps three more before he leaves.

In Luatua's favour are the injuries to fellow loose forwards Jerome Kaino, Kieran Read and Liam Squire. The first two are expected to be fit for the first test on June 24, but the timing could be tight and All Blacks coach Steve Hansen may feel the need to include Luatua, who can play blindside flanker or No8 and who is an excellent lineout option.

Tighthead prop Charlie Faumuina is the other Blues All Black leaving after the Sunwolves game, although he is almost a certainty for selection given his consistency and impact value off the reserves bench.

For Luatua too, like the rest of his teammates in the match-day 23, there is a responsibility to repay the faith shown by Umaga, who named effectively a second-string side to play the Reds in Apia, a close victory, in order to keep his heavy-hitters fresh for the Lions.

"Oh, one hundred per cent," Luatua said. "They got left behind so they're more fresh and mobile so hopefully ... they can add that much more value to the team."

The Blues, with one eye on this match, were disappointing in Apia against a Reds team which has struggled for consistency.

But all of that, and even perhaps the fact that they won't make the playoffs for another year, will be swept away if they could get a famous victory over the tourists, a real possibility given their coach Warren Gatland is saving many of his best players for the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday.

"It's a massive game for this club and us going forward. If we can get a result then we can hang our hats on that this year."

Many Blues supporters might have found amusing the fact that the Lions have begun preparing for "rugby chaos" on this tour; if any team fits that category it's a Blues team still battling for consistency but with attacking firepower all over the park and with very little to lose.

If they can match the Lions up front, then it's difficult to see the tourists getting the better of Augustine Pulu, Sonny Bill Williams, George Moala, Rieko Ioane and company.

"That's the crux of it - that's the formula we've been looking for all year," Luatua said. "If we do the hard yards up front we know we have the backs to finish off anyone."