There's something to be said for having a gun goal-kicker and Beauden Barrett showed exactly why that's the case at Westpac Stadium last night.

You can see it all over the city. More and more people are wearing Blues jerseys, caps and other assorted paraphernalia.

New faces litter the Super 15 this season. Stacks of new players have been promoted across every franchise and John Kirwan, Michael Cheika and Matt Sexton are making their way as first-time head coaches.

Even after 13 seasons, Keven Mealamu struggles to watch Super 15 games live.

Piri Weepu sat in the bowels of Eden Park wearing a cap and red framed clear glasses as accessories to the team suit guidelines.

When you look at the most popular list of players picked in NZ Herald Fantasy Super Rugby it's as you'd expect.

Q&A with Victor Vito of the Hurricanes.

Amidst talk of how far the Blues can go this season and the poor starts of the Crusaders and Hurricanes , the Chiefs are once again flying under the radar.

As Owen Franks prepares to go head to head in a match against his brother, Ben, for the first time, he has revealed he would have left the Crusaders in search of more game time if his elder sibling hadn't.

As public approval levels mount for the Blues, the staff have been collating video nasties for their troops.

Ranger is finally delivering on his exceptional promise and could be an All Black legend, writes Chris Rattue. The Blues have already won one battle, but they desperately need to win another.

The Blues have surprised many people this season and the Crusaders admitted they were caught out by their cohesion.

Patrick McKendry names the top back and standout forward from the weekend's Super 15 action while the Blues lead the list of in-form sides.

You'd hope two things come out of this woebegone match - that referee Steve Walsh is censured for manhandling Hurricanes skipper Conrad Smith and that the Canes do not head any further down a path which could see them hailed as 'the new Blues'.

The Blues region is the country's most populous but has a poor recent record of producing test players.

It really is all change at the Blues as they wait nervously to see if No 8 Peter Saili can come good to play the Bulls a week today.