Aussies get ball rolling as Super Rugby hopefuls target Chiefs' crown

Over six gruelling months, hundreds of rugby players will squeeze their hulking frames into aircraft seats and rack up thousands of air miles to take part in 130 matches which will determine the pre-eminent provincial side south of the equator.

Australia alone gets the season under way this weekend but the smart money will again be on the champions emerging from either the New Zealand or South Africa conferences – as they have in all but three of the 17 years of the competition.

The Waikato Chiefs may have lost a little stardust with the return of Sonny Bill Williams to rugby league but their stunning title triumph last year was also built on grunt up front and there will be plenty of that still in 2013.

The bookmakers make seven-times champions Canterbury Crusaders favourites, but the upstart Otago Highlanders will provide another South Island challenge if they can sustain their challenge over a whole season.

Boast

The South Africa conference will boast a new team in the Southern Kings but their title challenge is again likely to come from the Sharks, runners-up for the fourth time last year, as well as the Stormers, while no one will ever write off the Bulls.

The Lions tour looms large over the competition in Australia, where the depth of the five teams will be sorely tested.

Warren Gatland's team arrive in Australia in early June for a five-week tour that includes matches against all five Super Rugby sides and three Tests against the Wallabies.

The timing of the tour has necessitated a re-jigging of the fixtures list with Australian sides beginning this weekend, while teams in New Zealand and South Africa will get under way next week.

Critics of the expansion of the competition from 12 to 14, then 15 teams in 2011, have pointed to the lack of resources in Australia, where the sport competes with three other football codes.

Results on the field supported those arguments last year when just one team, 2011 champions Queensland Reds, made the play-offs.

The Reds finished third courtesy of winning the Australian conference, but their final points tally of 58 was only the fifth-best in the competition. ACT Brumbies enjoyed a renaissance under World Cup-winning coach Jake White but were pipped for the Australian title in the final game of the season.

The Melbourne Rebels finished 13th, while the Western Force were 14th and the Lions tour was something that Australia's players and coaches are aware will be a factor this season.

Tough

"There's a possibility we could lose 10 players for a Super Rugby game, which would be tough," Waratahs skipper Dave Dennis said. "It's just something you've got to deal with ... a Lions tour is only every 12 years."

The newest entrant to the competition, the Southern Kings, will be out to justify their presence but New Zealand's two southernmost franchises have emerged as early favourites to take the title from the Chiefs.

The Highlanders, who have started well before fading in the last two seasons, have added three World Cup-winning All Blacks – Tony Woodcock, Ma'a Nonu and Brad Thorn – to their squad.

The Crusaders find themselves under pressure to claim their first championship since 2008 and coach Todd Blackadder has promised a more attacking focus this year.