Star Blues recruit Piri Weepu might feel some residual disappointment over his departure from the Hurricanes, but says he’s moved on.

Weepu and fellow All Black Ma’a Nonu will face their former Super Rugby team on Friday night for the first time since they were among a clutch of senior players who left at the end of last season after falling out with new coach Mark Hammett.

“I guess that’s still in the background, but I’m not so much worrying about that anymore,” he said.

Weepu, who played 84 times for the Hurricanes over eight seasons, added: “I’ve built a bridge and gotten over it.

“I’m up here now and he’s down there taking control of his team.”

The Hurricanes sit mid-table after two wins from four matches, while the Blues’ solitary victory has them languishing second bottom.

“It’s been a pretty poor start for us as a team,” Weepu said.

“I guess we need to try to turn this around and get back on track.”

Against the Hurricanes in Auckland, Weepu will go from halfback to be the third starting five-eighth the Blues have used this season after Michael Hobbs and Gareth Anscombe.

Hobbs is on bereavement leave while Anscombe, who suffered a nose fracture in the loss to the Stormers last weekend, is on the bench.

Centre Nonu said he, too, had moved on and the match would be “just another footy game”.

His shift north after nine seasons and 110 matches for the Hurricanes was part of the job he was in, and he cited the cases of Super Bowl-winning former Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning and ex-England soccer captain David Beckham.

“It’s professional sport, really,” he said.

“Manning’s been traded to the Broncos and David Beckham left Man U, went to Real Madrid. I’m not like those guys, but things happen.”