Both teams head into the encounter unbeaten, however, the Blues have played twice, while the Highlanders had a bye last week.

Highlanders fans are waiting to see the injury-prone winger, Nehe Milner-Skudder, in action for the first time in 18 months, but the coach, Aaron Mauger, says the All Black is not quite ready yet.

"We'd love to see him out on the field, but we're taking a cautious approach.

"He hasn't played in 18 months, and we don't want to set him up to fail. A little bit of that is medical advice and a little bit of that is Nehe as well.

"It's coming. It's not good enough to play and that's what he's not playing at the moment, and we're not putting him in that situation.

"Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, we're really guided by the medical staff there."

This game in Auckland kicks off at 9:05.

Meanwhile, the All Blacks captain, Sam Cane, is finally back to lead the Chiefs in their away against the Crusaders on Sunday. 

Chiefs coach, Warren Gatland, expressed his delight at having Cane as well as Mitchell Brown and Mitchell Karpik back in action.

"It is great to have the likes of Sam Cane, Mitchell Brown and Mitchell Karpik returning from injury. We know their experience and skillset will be invaluable,” said Gatland.

Gatland added that they expect a tough outing against the 10-time Super Rugby champions, but is sure they will improve on their defeat to the Blues a week prior.

"We were disappointed with our performance against the Blues on Saturday and we know we are better than that. We are under no illusion that this weekend will be another challenging game, the Crusaders are a sharp team and can quickly punish teams for their mistakes.

“We need to be alert when we are defending and sharp on the attack to allow us to capitalise on any opportunities presented to us.”

This game as the Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch kicks off at 5:35 on Sunday morning.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport