Tana Umaga's men meet their first South African opponents of the Super Rugby season in Albany on Saturday night when they host the Bulls.
At 1-3, with just six competition points in the red-hot New Zealand conference, it's a matchup the under-achieving Auckland outfits are desperate to win.
After starting with a big victory in Melbourne, the Blues have now dropped three straight, to the Chiefs (41-26), Highlanders (16-12) and Crusaders (33-24) to ease back near the foot of the Kiwi group.
