A first sell-out gate for the Highlanders, and the signing of wing Patrick Osborne for another year, are two reasons for the franchise to cele-brate.

Where will Super Rugby expand to next? Chris Rattue explores the atlas.

All Blacks Julian Savea, Cory Jane and Victor Vito are among five players dropped from the Hurricanes side to play the Reds on Saturday for breaching team protocol.

Today's team naming fwill reveal if the players in question have kept their places in the squad after breaking curfew.

The Hurricanes will reveal tomorrow whether five players alleged to have broken curfew in South Africa will keep their places in the squad.

COMMENT: When the rugby unions Nelson Bays and Marlborough merged to form Tasman you could say the new team had a major identity crisis to overcome.

Unsurprisingly the Highlanders dominated Radio Sport Rugby Editor Nigel Yalden's NZ Team of the Week.

COMMENT: It is surely obvious that the lineout drive is increasingly at odds with the kind of contest that the game is intended to promote, writes Bryan Gould.

Aaron Cruden and Lima Sopoaga squared off at Waikato Stadium in a game where the All Blacks selectors had prime seats. Did they like what they saw?

Kris Shannon looks at the best and worst performers from the weekend's Super Rugby action.

COMMENT: Damian McKenzie got it wrong turning down the Blues, writes Chris Rattue. He should seriously consider a u-turn.

The Hurricanes have undone all the good work of their massive victory over the Lions in Johannesburg last weekend.

The Highlanders thought Chiefs midfielder Charlie Ngatai should have been red carded for the lifting tackle on Elliott Dixon.

It wasn't the performance coach Tana Umaga was looking for but the Blues' victory over the Kings has struck an important mental blow.

It has been one month short of two years since their last away victory, but the Blues have finally won another match on the road.

The Hurricanes have come crashing back down to earth.

The numbers are confirming the perception that Super Rugby is not an even playing field.

COMMENT: We're getting close to the point when the All Backs selectors will be confirming their first squad of the year, to play Wales next month.

Just as there are swing states in the United States election, so too are there players whose form will have a significant bearing on the make-up of the All Blacks squad for the Wales tour to be announced at the end of this month.

The Highlanders reminded everyone just why they claimed last year's competition, shining in all facets to shock the Chiefs.

By the end of this campaign, the Blues could be a side with intriguing prospects for 2017.