Crystal ball gazing: Rugby writers' round one Super Rugby predictions

The Super Rugby season is upon us again. An earlier start to the season is just one of many changes to the 2020 campaign, with the competition moved forward by three weeks to avoid the international break. Each week, NZME's resident rugby writers will provide their tips for the weekend ahead and highlight one game that stands out from the rest for the round. This week, we look at the Blues' match against the Chiefs which kicks the season off tonight.

The Super Rugby draw has blessed us with the Battle of the Bombays as the very first game of the campaign. While this has been a tense, physical clash over the years, this year the match has a number of added curiosities.

In his first game as the Chiefs' coach, Warren Gatland has named a surprising starting XV, with young Bay of Plenty first five-eighth Kaleb Trask getting his chance on debut ahead of the returning wily veteran Aaron Cruden. Fellow young gun Quinn Tupaea also gets to start on debut, forcing All Blacks star midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown to the pine.

The Chiefs will also start with All Blacks Atu Moli, Angus Ta'avao and Brad Weber on the bench, while Damian McKenzie being ruled out late gives Shaun Stevenson a chance at fullback to prove he deserves a spot in the match-day 23.

For the Blues, the major talking point is the omission of attacking threat Akira Ioane, who was left out of the 23. Ioane had played every minute of every Blues match over the past two seasons, but will not feature in their opening game of the 2020 campaign.

The decision was made by Blues coach Leon MacDonald because the form rising star Hoskins Sotutu was in was too good to ignore.

"Akira is unlucky," MacDonald said. "He was one of the tough calls. He's trained well, he was in good condition. He's fit and hungry. But I talked about the competition in the squad and Hoskins has been one of the standouts as well.

"It's a luxury to have two quality players to pick from. We said to the squad that form in pre-season is critical and we're rewarding Hoskins for being outstanding. He's got Aki breathing down his neck, so there is pressure on Hos to stay there and I know he's excited about his opportunity."

The games:

Blues v Chiefs
Brumbies v Reds
Sharks v Bulls
Sunwolves v Rebels
Crusaders v Waratahs
Stormers v Hurricanes
Jaguares v Lions

The picks:

Alex Chapman (Radio Sport journalist): Chiefs, Brumbies, Sharks, Rebels, Crusaders, Stormers, Jaguares

Martin Devlin (Newstalk ZB and Radio Sport host): Blues, Reds, Sharks, Sunwolves, Crusaders, Hurricanes, Jaguares

Reuben Mama (Radio Sport journalist): Chiefs, Reds, Sharks, Rebels, Crusaders, Hurricanes, Jaguares

Patrick McKendry (NZ Herald sports journalist): Chiefs, Brumbies, Bulls, Rebels, Crusaders, Stormers, Jaguares

Liam Napier (NZ Herald sports journalist): Chiefs, Brumbies, Sharks, Rebels, Crusaders, Stormers, Jaguares

Josh Price (Radio Sport journalist): Blues, Brumbies, Bulls, Rebels, Crusaders, Stormers, Jaguares

Christopher Reive (NZ Herald sports journalist): Chiefs, Brumbies, Sharks, Rebels, Crusaders, Stormers, Jaguares

Elliott Smith (Radio Sport journalist): Blues, Reds, Sharks, Rebels, Crusaders, Stormers, Jaguares

Lachlan Waugh (Radio Sport journalist): Chiefs, Reds, Sharks, Rebels, Crusaders, Stormers, Jaguares

Nigel Yalden (Radio Sport rugby editor): Blues, Brumbies, Sharks, Rebels, Crusaders, Stormers, Jaguares