This weekend's ninth week of Super Rugby Pacific marks an important point in the overall season — the last of the border-enforced local derbies on both sides of the Tasman before the competition moves into the "crossover" phase over the remaining six rounds.
When the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season was first announced last year, the draw had Australian teams facing New Zealand teams at the outset, with the expectation being that the paused trans-Tasman travel bubble would resume by the time the competition started in February.
But the explosion of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in the second half of 2021 and the arrival and rapid transmission of the Omicron variant put those plans on hold, forcing Rugby Australia and New Zealand Rugby into a major revision of the draw.
That revision would see all 12 teams playing eight games within their own borders to start the season.
The Fijian Drua based themselves in Australia from late October and were factored into the Australian derby games, just as the south Auckland-based Moana Pasifika were drawn as a sixth New Zealand team.
As it happened, games were postponed in New Zealand over the first five rounds as COVID19 impacted most, if not all, squads in some shape or form.
No games have been postponed in the past three weeks, however, and remarkably, when the Crusaders and Blues play their rescheduled round 5 game this Friday night in Christchurch, all the postponed games will have been made up.
Only a month ago, there were plenty of players, coaches, and commentators alike wondering how and when these games could possibly be squeezed in.
After this weekend's round 9, the competition becomes an open slather, with Australian teams facing opposition from the other side of the ditch and vice versa.
That first coming together of trans-Tasman rivals will happen in Melbourne next weekend, with the inaugural Super Round seeing all 12 teams in action across the weekend at AAMI Park, with the Super W grand final wedged in there as well.
A glance at the competition table heading into round 9 gives the appearance that Australian teams aren't travelling too badly at all, with the Brumbies four points clear on top, the Queensland Reds and New South Wales Waratahs fourth and fifth, respectively, and the Western Force sitting in the eighth and final quarterfinal position.
All four teams are holding positive for-and-against records, too — albeit just, with the Force's differential positive by a solitary point.
The Brumbies have scored the most tries in the competition, but have a bye this weekend and could conceivably fall as many as two or three places by Sunday night.
The Reds have conceded the fewest tries and have the best defensive record in the competition by some margin, and the Waratahs have won as many games in the first eight rounds as they did over two seasons in the domestic Super Rugby AU competition.
But both are surrounded by Kiwi sides ominously advancing up the ladder with every additional game they play, and seemingly ready to dent Australian hopes over the remaining six-week run into the quarterfinals.
The Blues and Crusaders both sit behind the Brumbies on six wins and a loss.
The Chiefs are only behind the Waratahs' four wins because of bonus points. And even though the Hurricanes "only" have three wins, three of their four losses were by a converted try or less.
So Queensland, NSW, and the Western Force — and the Melbourne Rebels now, suddenly looking for a third straight win — have this weekend left to make one last statement performance for the Kiwis to take notice of.
But there's one problem in that theory: The Rebels play the Reds, and the Force host the Waratahs.
They can't all win.
So it's going to need to come in other areas.
The Reds' set piece has long been a strength and will trouble even the best NZ teams, while the Waratahs' breakdown work is vastly improved this year, and they have ball-carrying ability across the field.
The Force and Rebels have both played smart game plans this year, which keep the scoreboard ticking. All teams will need to be at their best from here on.
There are plenty of fans and pundits on both sides of the Tasman ready and already willing to write the Australian teams off as uncompetitive easybeats, but most of that type of thinking is based on stereotypes and past results, rather than actual performance.
Which makes this week especially important for the four teams in action.
The Brumbies will be working on their game in Canberra during their week off, but the other four teams have only this weekend to show they're up for the Kiwi challenge rapidly arriving on the horizon.
And the challenge is definitely coming. Ready or not.
Super Rugby Pacific round 9 (all times AEST)
FRIDAY
Crusaders vs Blues, Christchurch 5:05pm (rescheduled from round 5)
Melbourne Rebels vs Queensland Reds, Melbourne 7:45pm
SATURDAY
Chiefs vs Moana Pasifika, Hamilton 2:35pm
Highlanders vs Hurricanes, Dunedin 5:05pm
Western Force vs NSW Waratahs, Perth 7:45pm
