The Blues are set to welcome back All Blacks Ma’a Nonu and Jerome Kaino to face the Cheetahs, but will be without injured lock Patrick Tuipulotu .
Tuipulotu injured his knee during the 39-36 loss to the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday, sidelining him for at least two weeks. He will undergo scans after the team arrive back in Auckland on Tuesday.
There is also some doubt over wing Tevita Li, who missed the Lions game with a hand injury suffered during the loss to the Bulls in Pretoria a week earlier.
Prop Charlie Faumuina will be assessed after suffering back pain following the Lions game – his team’s third loss from four games.
A Blues statement on Monday said five players are “anticipated to be fit” to face the Cheetahs on Saturday.
That includes 88-Test second five-eighth Nonu, who underwent off-season ankle surgery, and 48-Test loose forward Kaino, the 2011 World Cup standout who has returned from a club stint in Japan.
The others who come back into the frame are halfback Jamison Gibson-Park, first five-eighth Baden Kerr and lock Hayden Triggs.