Gregor Paul and Wynne Gray look towards the start of the NZ matches in the 2015 Super Rugby season, who will win and who will fail?. Herald Rugby will be with you every week as the season unfolds.

Five seasons and counting. Recollections of the Crusaders' supremacy are fading as they continue to go through their close-but-no-cigar routine, writes Wynne Gray.

As a coach, Todd Blackadder is prone to all manner of sayings, and one of his standard lines is the one about the definition of insanity being the inclination to do the same thing over and over again, all the while expecting a different result.

Joe Moody credits his wrestling background with providing him with the requisite mental strength for top rugby and he will need all of that determination this season as he battles back from ankle surgery.

The Rugby Herald team give their expert opinion & analysis on the upcoming 2014 Super Rugby season. Radio Sports Nigel Yalden joins Gregor Paul from the Herald on Sunday and Patrick McKendry from APNZ newswire to 'crystal ball' the season ahead.

The Crusaders have started its 2014 season on a winning note, despite missing its superstar trio.

The All Blacks' home test schedule for next year has been confirmed, with Napier to host a Rugby Championship fixture against Argentina in September.

Fijian-born wing Nemani Nadolo probably won't be available for the Crusaders until the end of February which means he will miss the start of the season.

New Zealand's Super rugby conference is primed for a high-octane start next year with a clash between the Chiefs and Crusaders.

The Crusaders continue to wait on Julian Savea, with an apparently straightforward process - stay with the Hurricanes or move on - looking increasingly complicated.

The Crusaders have made a big step towards making up for the loss of Dan Carter next season with the expected signing of All Blacks wing Julian Savea from the Hurricanes.

The Crusaders had momentum going into the play-offs, but tripped up again. Not good enough for a team with seven titles, writes Patrick McKendry.

On a night when the future of Super Rugby was cast into doubt, the Chiefs showed they were a team for the present, downing the Crusaders in a semifinal thriller.

Watch a replay of our live blog from tonight's Super Rugby semi final between the Chiefs and the Crusaders from Waikato Stadium.

What is shaping up as an epic semifinal deserves a similarly gigantic subplot.

The swagger has come from the Crusaders, the stagger from the Chiefs.

The Chiefs are aware of the awakening monster that is the Crusaders forward pack but are confident they have the personnel to combat it

They fell at this hurdle last season, but the Crusaders feel they have the momentum and confidence to leap the Chiefs and go all the way this year.

Even All Black rivals are getting sick and tired of Kiwi fans jeering Wallaby playmaker Quade Cooper.

The new Wallaby coach would have dearly wanted his boys to beat the Crusaders in his first match against a NZ team since his Wallaby appointment, writes Richard Loe. Bad luck, Ewen.

He warned that despite their emphatic performance in despatching the Reds, they can't take anything for granted.

The Crusaders produced a scintillating display of footy tonight to thrash the Reds 38-9 at AMI Stadium in Christchurch.

Join us here for our live blog of the Crusaders taking on the Reds in the Super Rugby playoffs in Christchurch.

For the Crusaders, the pressure of the finals series was embraced shortly after the final whistle of the Hurricanes victory in Christchurch a week ago.