"They've put their hands up for selection, people like James Down and Dan Fish really impressed, which was great to see."

"Even though they are tough times without our internationals, they are exciting also to see some of these younger players coming through."

"Obviously the team that fits in these changes the quickest and gets in the style that they want to play will have an advantage."

"There have been some good performances from the youngsters which does put pressure on the more established players and it's up to the older guys to put in some big performances during this period."

"In fairness to Dai Young, he's rotated the squad which is important."

"If you look at the schedule from the beginning of the season to the end of May I don't think there's a weekend off now that the Italian teams have come into the Magners League."

"Coaches have to rotate players and personally I feel a lot more refreshed now - I was involved in the first nine games which can be taxing."

"It's good for the body to recover and to be able to spend a bit of time in the gym. It can be both mental and physical tiredness."

"There are a lot of games, a lot of hard training sessions, so to have a week off is great just to refresh yourself."

Reflecting on the Blues form, Rush added,

"No team wants a kick up the backside but the Scarlets and Ulster performances were the worst ones I've been involved in since joining the Blues. It was disappointing for all of us."

"You have to step back and look at why things didn't happen the way you wanted them to and work that much harder."

"As a squad I think we've done that and there are some aspects of our game that we've tried to work on and change a bit. Hopefully that will benefit us in the forthcoming games."

Looking ahead to the Wales v New Zealand match, Rush added,

"Wales were more than competitive against South Africa and had opportunities to win that game but didn't quite take them."

"Up front they played well and they have some exciting backs. It was good to see James Hook back in the midfield and George North looked like a good up and coming player."

"They will probably have to lift their game a bit more to beat the All Blacks, or at least maintain the standard that they started against South Africa."

"I think it will be a good game of rugby, it will be a good test for the All Blacks, but I can't see there being an upset."