Rugby: Blackie Blues' key man against Highlanders

Josh Blackie is expected to play in what could be a crucial match. Photo / Getty Images

Standout flanker Josh Blackie should be fit to face the Highlanders on Friday night despite an old knee injury flaring up late on against the Lions.

The sight of Blackie receiving treatment in his comeback match from a five-week layoff with an ankle injury sent a scare through the Blues camp, but it was quickly played down.

Blackie's presence against his resurgent former team will be crucial for the Blues, with coach Pat Lam hailing the openside as the key factor in the Blues' domination of the breakdown against the Lions.

"He showed his experience and his class," Lam said. "We've had Daniel Braid in the past and when we play the style of game we enjoy, it is just right for openside flankers who are quick and skilful.

"He was linking and really grafting on the ground as well."

Friday's bonus-point Blues victory and the Highlanders' win over the Reds sets up a classic New Zealand derby at Eden Park, with the playoff aspirations of both sides on the line.

The sixth-placed Blues are a competition point and a ladder place above the Highlanders, but it is the southerners who bring the better recent form into the match, having won four of their last five matches.

With back-up halfback Chris Smylie out for three to four weeks with a hamstring injury, the Blues will be nervously awaiting the outcome of an NZRU disciplinary hearing into the off-field conduct of Taniela Moa.

No time or date has yet been set for the hearing but the Blues have been told it will take place in the early or middle part of the week.

If Moa is suspended for longer than the one match he has already served over allegations he threw a bottle that hit a woman in the face at a rugby club, the Blues will be down to third-choice Grayson Hart, who played 42 minutes against the Lions after Smylie limped off.

The Blues also have an injury concern over prop John Afoa, with the extent of the damage to his ankle not likely to be known until today or tomorrow.

With Tony Woodcock rated only an outside chance of returning to face the massive Highlanders frontrow, the Blues will certainly be hoping Afoa can be patched up.

The pack should at least be bolstered by the return of All Blacks lock Ali Williams, who is recovering well from an Achilles injury.

Friday's impressive demolition of the Lions was a result of the gloves being taken off at training following morale-sapping defeats by the Chiefs and Waratahs, Lam said.

He described the new approach, with its emphasis on honesty off the field and aggression on it as "no more PC".

"We have been guilty of looking too far ahead, looking at the table and all that sort of stuff. We have just said we will go week-to-week. We are in finals rugby.

"We will front up [today], see who is available and pick the best team. It is important everyone is on edge."

Isaia Toeava's shift into second five-eighths had been a success and would likely be persisted with.

"If you want to play a bit of width you have got to be pretty accurate with the passes and Ice [Toeava] is the best passer in the team by far, probably the best in the country actually," Lam said.

A round of upsets and comebacks has seen the table split into three distinct groups as the battle for the four playoff spots intensifies.

Despite their shock loss to the previously winless Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, the Sharks still top the ladder on 30 points, ahead of the Chiefs, Bulls and Waratahs (all 27 points).

With the Sharks and Waratahs still to sit out round 11 with a bye, both will be nervously eyeing the five-strong chasing pack.

The Waratahs, beaten at home for the first time since 2007, 20-6 by the Bulls, and with a run-in of three-straight matches in South Africa, look particularly precariously placed.

A miracle comeback against the Force, with two tries in the final three minutes sealing a 28-27 victory, sees the Hurricanes (24) head the chasing group. With three consecutive home games now to come they are well-placed to make a strong run at the semifinals.

After a bye week the second-placed Chiefs resume their campaign against the Cheetahs in Kimberley.