The Super Rugby Pacific trophy Photo: Hannah Peters
Analysis - And, we're back... sort of. Last rugby season officially finished on Saturday night when full time was blown in the Black Ferns' loss to England, but yesterday saw the first act of next season take place with the official announcement of the Super Rugby Pacific squads.
There's a conversation to be had about that fact alone, but since the six New Zealand teams were considerate enough to stagger the namings across the whole day, it is worth talking about who is playing where in 2024. Or, actually, who isn't.
Because that's been the big story out of the Crusaders. Codie Taylor takes a break, not to go make some money overseas but to just mow the lawns and hang out with his family. That's fair enough, Taylor got worked like a mule by the All Blacks, but he's certainly not alone in players that will be watching the action on TV.
Richie Mo'unga and Samuel Whitelock have moved on, Jack Goodhue and Braydon Ennor are injured, but the most intriguing one is Oli Jager smokebombing at the last minute in a rumoured move back to Ireland to play at Munster. It's a shame because Jager was in the picture for the All Blacks and puts a new twist on the Irish taking their pick of Super Rugby fringe players. Oh yeah if you missed it, the Crusaders have a new coach too, so no more breakdancing.
The Chiefs have been cleaned out of their leadership group, with Brad Weber, Sam Cane and Brodie Retallick all offshore. However, Clayton McMillan's side does feel like it can handle the roster shakeup pretty well considering they've been a work in progress that's running at least a year ahead of schedule.
One leaving player that hasn't been talked about as much as that All Black trio is Bryn Gatland, who offered a rare bit of depth in a Super Rugby side at 10. Yes, the Chiefs have Josh Ioane to back up Damian McKenzie but he's not quite the solid game manager that Gatland offered.
While the Hurricanes have said goodbye to Dane Coles and see you later to Ardie Savea, the spotlight isn't going to be on their replacements because we already know about Asafo Aumua and Peter Lakai. Clark Laidlaw comes into the coaching booth in his first ever top level fifteen-a-side gig, taking over from Jason Holland. Then there's how he fits former skipper TJ Perenara and the red hot Cam Roigard into the same team, so the Canes are going to be an interesting situation next season.
Yet another team to get a new coach is the Blues, but Vern Cotter inherits a pretty settled side. Yes, Beauden Barrett has left and that leaves a bit of a hole in experience when it comes to game drivers, but this really now is Stephen Perofeta's ship. Add in a bolstered forward pack with the return of Angus Ta'avao and the Blues are in just as good a position to win the comp as when Leon MacDonald finally got them humming after years of malaise.
You have to feel for the Highlanders, though. As if things weren't tough enough, they've now lost Aaron Smith, Shannon Frizell, Marino Mikaele-Tu'u, Mitch Hunt and Josh Dickson. Clarke Dermody has picked up Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens and Timoci Tavatavanawai, but the issue will very much be how much ball they get. The forward pack is undergunned, Folau Fakatava now has a huge amount of expectation on a game plan that will likely revolve around him, and Billy Harmon will have to play out of his skin like he did last year if they are any shot of causing some upsets.
That's because the only match where the Highlanders aren't going to be underdogs is against Moana Pasifika, who are the hardest team to get a gauge on. And that's because they've overhauled pretty much the entire team, as well as the coaching staff, and are even still looking for a venue to play in. Twenty new players have been signed, Tana Umaga is in at coach and he's brought Tom Coventry and Welshman Stephen Jones along, so it really feels like the entire project has hit the reset button to start over.
So good luck to everyone starting pre-season training in the coming weeks, it feels like it won't be long before we're making some more solid predictions on how the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season will go.