Quite a few players leaving the Blues looking for game time, a bit surprised nobody made a play to get either Plummer or Perofeta as they’d be keen on playing more, but then why would you want to leave the champs?

AJ Lam is listed as an outside back here, but I would expect he’ll be playing in the midfield with Ioane which would be quite a formidable pair. The big loss for the Blues is obviously Akira Ioane as its hard to see any of the remaining loosies having the sort of impact he did this year, but Vern was able to get the best out of him & Sotutu so maybe he’ll get some of these other lads to step up too.

A back 3 of Clarke, Sullivan and Tele’a is very, very good and they’ve got a good balance of young and experienced. Like the Chiefs on the basis of the squads alone, the Blues look the goods.