The dust has only just settled on the Blues' opening night triumph over the Highlanders but coach Tana Umaga is in tinkering mode already, swapping out halfback Bryn Hall and first-five Ihaia West, two men who played with great skill and commitment against the defending champions, for a new combination to play the Crusaders.
The Blues haven't won in Christchurch since 2004 - at the old Lancaster Park and thanks mostly to Carlos Spencer - and they will travel this time with the inexperienced Billy Guyton and Matt McGahan named in the crucial inside half positions, Umaga deciding that giving his whole squad a run is more important than keeping a winning team together.
A couple of weeks ago Umaga, in his first year in the job after replacing John Kirwan, said Hall and West were the incumbents, but now they find themselves on the reserves bench. Guyton, a former Crusaders wider training group player, was good when he replaced the excellent Hall for the final 20 minutes at Eden Park last week, with McGahan - yet to start a game at this level - playing only the final two minutes.
Long-suffering Blues supporters might feel the changes are a return to the bad old days under Kirwan and before him Pat Lam, two men who didn't seem to know their best XV, or for that matter their best match-day squad of 23 from week to week. Continual tinkering ensued, the selection changes playing havoc with combinations.
Assistant coach Alistair Rogers today said the replacing of Hall and West was all part of a plan decided upon before the season began.
