Auckland Blues

The elder brother has long been regarded as one of the most talented loose forwards in NZ rugby, but has so far fallen short of his potential, playing just once for the national side, despite ample opportunities to impress.

Akira Ioane, 24, has already logged a half ton for the Blues - including every game for the past two seasons - but coach Leon MacDonald insists he's one of several unlucky players to miss the cut for the opening game of the new Super Rugby season, making way for Hoskins Sotutu's first start at No.8.

Coach Leon MacDonald told reporters in Auckland on Friday that Barrett had attended some training sessions with his new team mates but was not expected "on the grass" until mid-April.

Barrett signed a four-year contract with the Blues in July, ending an eight-year association with the Hurricanes. The contract allowed him the extended break ahead of the 2020 season and also the option to pursue a short-term deal in Japan.

He could make his debut for the Blues in Week 11 of the competition, when they face the Hurricanes on April 11.

Barrett – a two-time World Rugby Player of the Year – has penned a four-year contract to keep him in New Zealand through to the end of the 2023 World Cup.

But the 28-year-old and 73-cap New Zealand international will represent the Blues at club level from 2020, leaving Super Rugby rivals the Hurricanes, where he broke through in 2011.

The complex new contract will see first five-eighth Barrett join the Blues midway through the 2020 season, however, as he takes an extended break from rugby at the end of this year.

 Amid conjecture that the Blues boss was in line to be the next to go as the shakeup at the under-performing franchise continues, Redman announced his resignation from the top job in a media release on Tuesday.

A search for a successor capable of leading the franchise out of its seemingly permanent place in the basement of New Zealand rugby will begin immediately.

Redman joined the Blues in October 2013 and during that time presided over a succession of lowly finishes in Super Rugby. They have not placed better than 9th overall (in 2017) during his time in the role.

Barrett, the 73-test All Black first five-eighths, is ending an eight-year association with the Hurricanes to join the Blues as part of a new four-year deal with New Zealand Rugby that will take him through till the 2023 World Cup.

Blues chief executive Michael Redman said the signing coup had been "years in the making" and was the most important player change the competition had ever seen.

For Williams, though, the stakes are a little bit higher as the 33-year-old, who has missed almost the entire back half of the season after requiring surgery to his knee, seeks to prove his fitness ahead of the international campaign, and a tilt at a third straight World Cup with the All Blacks.

The fitting farewell for loose forward Scott Higginbotham and captain Samu Kerevi looked unlikely with the Reds trailing 21-5 after 23 minutes following a sluggish start.

But the hosts clawed back the deficit and secured just their sixth win of the season.

Higginbotham's first-half try, following good work by Kerevi and winger Jock Campbell, made him the first forward to notch 40 Super Rugby tries.

His effort came either side of tries to Blues' pair Tanielu Tele'a and Augustine Pulu after captain Blake Gibson opened the scoring after just three minutes.

The former Blues winger was one of the stars of the 2003 Rugby World Cup and signed mega deals to play in France which should have set him up for life.

However, Caucaunibua has said in a short documentary called Oceans Apart for the Pacific Rugby Players' Welfare organisation that the money's all gone, spent on alcohol and handouts.

After firstly playing provincial rugby for Northland, Caucaunibuca went on to score some of the greatest tries ever seen in Super Rugby for the Blues.

The Muslim All Blacks midfielder's trip south means he will miss the Auckland-based franchise's Super Rugby match against the Highlanders at Eden Park on Friday night.

Assistant coach Tom Coventry said the coaches thought it would be a good idea, even before Williams made the request.

"We were going to ask Sonny if he'd like to make the decision to go.

"We were all in agreeance, it was a pretty short conversation.

"We all knew how hard he took it, so it was a simple decision to make."

Not even the return of an inspired Israel Folau could save the Waratahs from suffering a 38th straight defeat for Australian teams against New Zealand opposition in Super Rugby.

Topping the Australian conference and up against the cellar dwellers from the New Zealand conference, the Waratahs had been well fancied to snap the near-two- year run of losses in trans-Tasman encounters.

The Blues had won just two of their nine matches in 2018 to be all but out of finals contention.