Blues utility Beauden Barrett says he would relish the opportunity to return to his preferred position at first-five following an injury to playmaker Otere Black.
Black left the field with a neck injury during the Blues' 29-27 loss to the Hurricanes on Saturday night. Coach Leon MacDonald described the injury as "pretty bad".
Since returning from a sabbatical after the Rugby World Cup, Barrett has been playing fullback for the Blues, with MacDonald putting his faith in Black, who led the Auckland franchise to five wins before the Super Rugby season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
If Black is set for a stint on the sidelines, Barrett is more than happy to fill the void at first-five, a position where he hasn't started in since last year's Rugby Championship.
"I enjoyed that role and it's obviously my preferred position," he says. "I've been training there for the second half of trainings in case Otere got injured.
"I'm just happy to be playing where I can get ball in hand, that's where I feel that I have more influence."
MacDonald said Black had to go to hospital to get scans on his neck after coming off the field in the second half.
"He wanted to play on," says MacDonald. "He thinks he's 110kg and bulletproof. It's a pretty sore neck. The sensible thing was we subbed him and obviously we've got a decent first-five who came on and did a job for us."
The injury to Black also opens the door for Dan Carter to feature at some point, but he must overcome his calf injury to feature in any of the Blues' three remaining games in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Carter was initially named on the bench for the Hurricanes clash, but felt a tightening of the calf during training on Thursday and was later ruled out, with MacDonald saying they didn't want to risk further injury.
Whether Carter will feature in the Blues' next match against the Chiefs remains unclear, but MacDonald expects No. 8 Hoskins Sotutu and wing Caleb Clarke to return for the clash.
Sotutu missed the match against the Hurricanes with a knee injury, while Clarke attended his grandfather's funeral.
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