Blair no closer to return

The former All Black has been sidelined since October with a knee injury which is showing no sign of improvement.

"Ben is still no closer," said Young. "He's looking at a second opinion. He is getting just as frustrated as everyone else.

"He's still having a hell of a lot of pain with that knee and it doesn't seem to be getting much better with him at the minute.

"The surgeons have looked at it and they don't feel there's anything surgically they can do. It's just something that has got to recover with rest.

"It's certainly not happening as quick as Ben would like and obviously it's starting to get a bit of a concern because he has been out for a while.

"I know Ben is a bit concerned because he doesn't seem to be getting any better. The medical people have done all the tests and there is a bit of a loose bone in there which is causing irritation.

"But they don't want to go inside and sort that out because they feel it will cause more irritation. They have injected him a couple of times in the hope that would settle it down.

"But we are at the stage now where Ben is getting really frustrated because the pain isn't going away and he's not in a position where he can run and start training on it."

Blair, the Blues leading Magners League points scorer, last appeared in the league against Connacht in September and has only featured in three games in total.