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.

Patrick McKendry names the top back and standout forward from the weekend's Super 15 action where South Africa got bragging rights over three New Zealand teams.

As he assessed the Blues' untidy loss to the Bulls, coach Sir John Kirwan rated it their season's worst performance.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Tracey Nelson crunches the numbers from the weekend's Super 15 action where the Blues are leading the way at the breakdown.