KEY POINTS:
It still takes getting used to. This may be the 13th season of tri-nations provincial rugby but there remains something which does not seem quite right about footy in February.
That feeling is reinforced when a scan of the calendar reveals New Zealand and England smacking through the
final stages of their cricket combat as the Super 14 reaches its halfway point late next month. Rugby may be a welcome alternative though if the tourists continue to offer the dross they showed in Hamilton during the week.
Any ideas about delaying the start of the Super 14 were scuppered when the International Rugby Board decided that June and November each year would be safeguarded for tests. The logistics then of squeezing 91 pool matches, semifinals and the final before the end of May meant a competition start this weekend.
It will be a release for the players who have been training through the broiling summer months when referee Mark Lawrence blows the opening blast to tonight's 13th edition of Super rugby with the Crusaders hosting the Brumbies.
Advertising campaigns have been talking of a fresh start and the response from spectators and television subscribers will be an intriguing subplot after last season's shemozzle when New Zealand's impact on the competition was compromised because of the World Cup obsession.
Crowds stayed away during the Air New Zealand Cup and there will be curiosity about whether the subsequent World Cup failure has dulled their appetite for the Super 14.
At least the bulk of those Cotton Wool Club members who have stayed in the country will be in action from the start of the competition. Squads will be spared the problems of integrating those players at a late stage of the series, while judgments about potential All Blacks will start afresh.
Reconditioning this season involves the laws. Sanzar agreed to a request from the International Rugby Board to trial the law variations during the Super 14 as the code's administrators look to make the sport easier to understand and play with a wider appeal for spectators.
It will take time to adjust to the changes but opening the space behind the scrums, creating an offside line after a tackle and widespread use of freekicks rather than penalties should make the game more fluid.
The wisdom about speeding up the game will be debated.
Referees have struggled with the pace of the game under the current laws, and while they will get more help from their touchjudges, who have been renamed assistant referees, their accuracy will be tested.
There have been mixed reports about teams and officials adapting to the rule changes in pre-season trial matches. Some referees have found it hard to break old habits while sides have been unsure whether to take the option of a scrum or tap from free kicks and there remains some confusion about the breakdown.
Favouritism for the title sits with Robbie Deans on his Last Crusade before switching to his Wallaby portfolio. Any side containing the class of Daniel Carter, Richie McCaw and Ali Williams has to be feared while Deans has always brought a compelling mix of strategies and selection to his schedule. Brad Thorn and Greg Somerville will add some starch to the pack with the only reservation being whether the side has enough pace in their back three.
Neighbours the Highlanders have lost the scrummaging clout of Carl Hayman and Anton Oliver and with an inexperienced squad appear to be in for a tough season unless they can continue the snap they showed in belting the Blues in a practice game.
The Hurricanes have a great hub of looseforward power and Piri Weepu to click into gear at halfback when he reaches peak fitness after some minor surgery.
The great uncertainty though is how first five eighths Jimmy Gopperth will handle this series. If he repeats his provincial form, the Canes can do some damage but if he is as erratic as he was in the last Super 14 there will be issues.
So far almost so good for the Chiefs. Only one season-ending injury to Tasesa Lavea while the rest of the squad is reported fresh and feisty. They have stunning pace in the back four, a repaired Richard Kahui, Sione Lauaki, Liam Messam and Co to rattle some bones in the loose and setpiece solidarity.
If bodies stay intact, the test will be whether the Chiefs have the resolve to qualify in the top four.
Frontrow strength and backline brilliance show through in the Blues. The unknown is how the looseforwards and halfback will combine and whether they can deliver enough influence to ensure the Blues are semifinalists again this season.
