Altered their style after the brief coaching reign of Jake White and found some panache to tack on to their structured forward platform under the leadership of former Wallaby five eighths Stephen Larkham. Have lost skipper Ben Mowen, Pat McCabe and Clyde Rathbone from the roster but there are some notable players back on the field.
Stephen Moore and David Pocock are off the long-term casualty list and will bring the experienced solidity all teams need to go deep in the tournament. The Brumbies have renewed their "us against them" emphasis and if they repeat that approach they will be an awkward side to beat. They use their fortress mentality in Canberra well and will be near the front of the Australian challenge.
Force: Eighth
Nine wins last year was a major advance for a gritty side led through the forwards by Matt Hodgson and Ben McCalman. The issues came when they looked to spread the ball and use some set-piece moves from their backline. Injury will keep captain Hodgson out for a number of weeks and with an away start against the Waratahs and Reds and Brumbies in their initial four matches, the Force will very quickly have a gauge on their task this year. Coach Michael Foley has snapped up some New Zealand backline talent with Albert Nikoro and Tino Nemani hoping to wring more value from Kyle Godwin and Nick Cummins. However, the Force will need to surprise with a lot more if they are to shake up their conference.
Rebels: 15th
A promising start turned into a slide down the ladder for a disjointed group. They have signed Mike Harris, Cam Crawford and Dom Shipperley but they have also lost Hugh Pyle, Josh Holmes, Lachie Mitchell and Jason Woodward and may be no better off. They will not lack any passion with Scott Higginbotham in the boot of the scrum as he brings his Wallaby credentials to work alongside the promising Sean McMahon. They will also be pinning their faith on young Jake Debreczeni to direct the backline while there will be a strong Kiwi input from Tamati Ellison, Scott Fuglistaller, Harris and Toby Smith. They face a rugged opening programme this month against the Crusaders, Waratahs and Brumbies and suggest they may be sporadic once more.
Reds: 13th
They finished ahead of only the Rebels in their conference in what was a very lacklustre campaign under new coach Richard Graham. The pack struggled for large chunks of the tournament and that put too much pressure on Will Genia, Quade Cooper and co to make some inroads. In his pomp, Genia is world-class but Cooper has busted his collarbone and there has been some optimistic chat new recruit Karmichael Hunt will slot into the role and bring some magic. James O'Connor is back and is a classy footballer while former All Black loosie Adam Thomson should offer a quality dimension. Questions will be about the tight five and their endurance and the squad's psyche away from Suncorp.
Waratahs: Defending champions
Not many changes to the Tahs this year. They ramped up their fitness and their hard edge under Michael Cheika and captain Dave Dennis and brought an attacking style to create victories and an expanding audience of supporters as they rode to their first title. Flanker Jacques Potgeiter added some sting to back up the batteries of Michael Hooper, there was clumping power from Sekope Kepu, Wycliff Palu and Will Skelton and a nifty backline topped by the multi-gifts of Israel Folau. Consistent lock Kane Douglas and nifty wing Alofa Alofa have left but big things are expected of former Warrior Sam Lousi and young back Andrew Kellaway. Coach Cheika insists the Tahs will need some fortune but will bring an even harder edge to push for the title again.
