Rugby: Blues' first 2015 games away from fortress

Blues coach John Kirwan. Photo / Getty Images

John Kirwan’s team will play two ‘home’ games at Albany but their final six matches will be at Eden Park, their spiritual home

The Blues will start next year's campaign with a home match against New Zealand rivals the Chiefs at North Harbour Stadium, a slightly controversial venue for their defeat to the Sharks this year.

John Kirwan's team lost 29-23 to the Sharks in May, a defeat which damaged their play-off chances with four matches to go which until then had still been in the balance despite their inability to win away from home.

It was felt by many supporters that the Blues would have had a better chance of beating one of the top teams in the competition at their Eden Park fortress, rather than on the North Shore where the South Africans have a lot of support.

This year the Blues lost only once at their spiritual home, an 11-8 defeat to the Chiefs in the final game.

After the Chiefs match the Blues travel to South Africa for games against the Stormers and Cheetahs, before returning to North Harbour Stadium for a match against the Lions.

The first of their two byes comes after their fifth match.

Their second comes with two matches to go, probably slightly later than they would have liked.

However, possibly to the Blues' advantage is the fact that five of their final six matches are at Eden Park.

Success in those will help hugely in their push for the play-offs, although the other side of the coin is that a poor start - for the second season running the Blues won only one match away from home this year - will put Kirwan's team under a lot of pressure.

A Crusaders' home match against the Rebels on Friday, February 13, is the first match of a season, which, due to the World Cup, will not have a break in June.

The final will be played on July 4.

Another feature of the draw occurs on the weekend of the Anzac Centenary, with five matches involving Australian and New Zealand teams.

Next year is the final season of the competition in its current format, before it is extended to 18 teams.