The Chiefs and Blues have been the most potent New Zealand sides in the early stages of the Super 15.

The new-look Blues were unsettled by a prolonged heavy-duty Bulls assault that few of them had experienced.

Excitement turned to Super 15 exasperation yesterday for the Blues as they fell under the hypnotic spell of the Bulls.

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.

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

In his summer recess, Steven Luatua punished himself. If he felt he hadn't done enough training, he would head out on a 10km run through the pain barrier.

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.

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.