Heading down Auckland's southern motorway to take on a Chiefs team that had a proud home record against the Blues would be the latest test of an improving northern combination on Saturday.
Putting together a string of deadlock-breaking performances has been a hint of an overdue Blues revival and removing the Hamilton Stadium hurdle that has blocked their way over the last few years would be another sign of recovery.
Assistant coach Dan Halangahu said the Blues were attempting to revive their status in the eyes of home fans.
They wanted to be a team that played hungry, played hard and which turned up every week to play consistently.
Akira Ioane gets a starting chance but on the side of the scrum. Halangahu said he had enjoyed his relationship with Hoskins Sotutu, who has made all the running in Ioane's preferred No.8 position this year, and they were looking forward to playing together.
The option of playing Ioane on the side was a reflection of the competition among the Blues' loosies.
The way the side adapted to the refereeing interpretations introduced last week would be crucial.
"We've seen those new interpretations and how influential they've been so that's been key for us just to review how we went with that. We conceded more penalties than we'd like last week and the Chiefs are probably in the same basket," he said.
They knew the Chiefs would pose a threat, they were proud and would come hard at the Blues and a lot of preparation had gone into the anticipated threat they would bring.
Otere Black was given the starting first five-eighths role again and was deserving of that. He had been playing well before the pandemic shutdown and had continued to shine. He was also feeding off the experience of Beauden Barrett and Dan Carter, as were the other five-eighths in the squad.
He would be up against another experienced performer in Aaron Cruden this week but Black was showing his recovery from a knee injury was complete with the level of play he had achieved.
The side would be looking for a better performance because they knew what they did last weekend would not be good enough this time around, Halangahu said.
The teams are:
Chiefs: 1.Aidan Ross, 2.Samisoni Taukei'aho, 3.Nepo Laulala, 4.Tupou Vaa'l, 5.Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 6.Luke Jacobson, 7.Lachlan Boshier, 8.Pita Gus Sowakula, 9.Brad Weber (captain), 10.Aaron Cruden, 11.Sean Wainui, 12.Anton Lienert-Brown, 13.Quinn Tupaea, 14.Shaun Stevenson, 15.Damian McKenzie.
Substitutes: 16.Bradley Slater, 17.Reuben O'Neill, 18.Ross Geldenhuys, 19.Adam Thomson, 20.Dylan Nel, 21.Lisati Milo-Harris, 22.Kaleb Trask, 23.Solomon Alaimalo.
Blues: 1.Alex Hodgman, 2.James Parsons, 3.Ofa Tuungafasi, 4.Patrick Tuipulotu (captain), 5.Josh Goodhue, 6.Akira Ioane, 7.Dalton Papalii, 8.Hoskins Sotutu, 9.Sam Nock, 10.Otere Black, 11.Caleb Clarke, 12.TJ Faiane, 13.Rieko Ioane, 14.Mark Telea, 15.Beauden Barrett.
Substitutes: 16.Kurt Eklund, 17.Marcel Renata, 18.Sione Mafileo, 19.Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 20.Tony Lamborn, 21.Finlay Christie, 22.Harry Plummer, 23.Matt Duffie.