Slowly but surely Super Rugby is returning ‌to normalcy.

Regional tournaments in New Zealand and Australia—two nations that have dominated the competition since the beginning of the Super 12 era in 1996—have been the norm since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the 2020 Super Rugby season early. And while the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman last year meshed the two countries’ clubs in a competition again, it still hasn’t truly felt the same.

With two brand new teams in the mix along with old and new favorites, the competition—renamed Super Rugby Pacific—looks to be getting back to its prior roots as a multinational competition. Moana Pasifika (a team largely comprised of players from Pacific islands) along with Fijian Drua, the country’s first Super Rugby team in its history, will test their might against some of the best and brightest talent in world rugby. Stalwarts like Blues, Highlanders and Crusaders will be looking to cruise through the rest on their way to hopeful glory.

Round 1 of the Super Rugby Pacific begins on Feb. 18-19 and can be streamed right here on FloRugby. See the schedule here. 

Herein we have a rundown of what to expect for every team in the competition. 

NOTE: Last season’s listed standings are from the 2021 Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.

Blues (New Zealand)

Last season: First place in competition, final champions

A look ahead: Blues walloped the rest of the field en route to their third Super Rugby title and first since 2003, going unbeaten with the competition’s best point differential (+119) and best defense, allowing just 79 points all season. The squad is still loaded and should be one of the frontrunners to repeat, featuring 12 current and former All Blacks including star first-five Beauden Barrett and one of the premier wings in the world in Rieko Ioane. Former lock and captain Patrick Tuipulotu left to play in Japan, leaving the Blues to garner two possible replacements at the position in All Black Luke Romano and compatriot James Tucker, who played for Crusaders and Brumbies, respectively,. last season in Super Rugby

Highlanders (New Zealand)

Last season: Second place in competition, final runner-up

A look ahead: Highlanders were one of three teams to sit equal with Blues at 23 points at the onset of the final. They got their chance to upend the eventual league winners in the final but fell short thanks to a 10-point outburst from Blues in the final 10 minutes—a spree that denied Highlanders their first Super Rugby title since 2015. Luckily the team returns captain and legendary All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith as well as first-five Mitchell Hunt. Hunt finished third in all of Super Rugby last year in total points scored as one of the competition’s most sound kickers (22 conversions, five penalties).

Crusaders (New Zealand)

Last season: Third place in competition

A look ahead: Crusaders narrowly missed out on a slot in the final and a chance at an unprecedented fourth consecutive Super Rugby title. They were tied with Blues and Highlanders at 23 points but didn’t secure a big enough point differential to give themselves a chance at more silverware. With 12 current All Blacks on the roster, you’d be making a grave error if you assumed Crusaders won’t be in the thick of the title fight again. First-five and All Black Richie Mo’unga (68 points) led the competition in points while teammate and compatriot Sevu Reece was tops in tries with six, both of which are back in the fray for 2022. Locks and New Zealand internationals Scott Barrett (who is captain) and Sam Whitelock will lead the Crusaders’ engine room as the team seeks to get back on top of Super Rugby.

Hurricanes (New Zealand)

Last season: Fourth place in competition

A look ahead: Hurricanes’ loss in the fourth matchweek to Aussie side Brumbies sidelined a promising start in which the squad had won its first three games. With the top-three teams’ dominance, it was going to be near-impossible for coach Jason Holland’s team to get back into the hunt for a spot in the final. Hooker Dane Coles has still got it in spurts, as the former World Player of the Year nominee finished with four tries last season despite turning 35 in the offseason. Flanker Ardie Savea is captain, coming off the back of a big year in which he captained the All Blacks for the first time against Australia and South Africa in 2021.

Chiefs (New Zealand)

Last season: Fifth place in competition

A look ahead: New Zealand’s “weakest” team of the competition still was a strong outfit, losing just one game (to Reds in Round 3) and having a high point differential at +59. The Chiefs just got stuck in a Super Rugby season where a few teams buzzsawed the competition, meaning their chase for the team’s first title since going back-to-back in 2012 and 2013 will now have to begin again in 2022. All Blacks captain and loose forward Sam Cane returns from an injury that sidelined him for most of the 2021 Chiefs season, while half-back Brad Weber will co-captain (along with Cane) in his eighth year with the team.

Brumbies (Australia)

Last season: Sixth place in competition

A look ahead: The Achilles’ heel for Brumbies in 2021 was the lack of a killer instinct in the attack, finishing tied for the worst offensive record in the league (82 points) in a tally that featured just 12 tries. It comes as no surprise, then, that the squad opted to transfer in attacking prowess for the upcoming year, such as longtime Reds wing and Wallabies international Chris Feauai-Sautia and Samoa international Rodney Iona, a center who previously played for the club from 2014-16. Captain and Australia international Allan Alaalatoa returns at prop, hoping to give coach Dan McKellar a proper goodbye as he’ll leave to take an assistant coaching role with the Australian national team after the season.

Queensland Reds (Australia)

Last season: Seventh place in competition

A look ahead: Reds steamrolled through and won the Super Rugby AU season that preceded the Trans-Tasman, but didn’t repeat the feat in the latter competition despite snatching a win against the Chiefs. However, when processing its history in Super Rugby, the Reds’ seventh-place finish was their best since finishing fifth in 2013, after a near-decade of mostly trodding down the pecking order in competitions. Utility back James O’Conner has been the team’s leading point scorer for its past three competitions and will undoubtedly be a major force again as one of the undisputed leaders of the team.

Western Force (Australia)

Last season: Eighth place in league standings

A look ahead: Though it was a momentous occasion to see the team back in Super Rugby last year after previously being axed from the competition in 2017, Force went winless and was tied for the lowest scoring output (with Brumbies) of all 10 teams. Coach Tim Sampson and his team decided to poach a player from one of the league’s most successful teams last season—Fijian wing Manasa Mataele, who scored 80 points in 23 appearances for Crusaders since 2017—in an attempt to help solve those scoring woes. Scrum-half and captain Ian Prior is still around as a critical veteran piece to the side who reached the 100 Super Rugby match mark against Crusaders last season.

Melbourne Rebels (Australia)

Last season: Ninth place in competition

A look ahead: The Rebels got routed 50-3 by Blues in the competition’s opening matchweek and things didn’t get much better from there. To make matters more problematic, COVID-19 restrictions impacted the Rebels the most of any team in the competition, as three matches last year either had dates changed, venues changed or both. Melbourne is hoping for more stability for the 2022 season, and that starts with center/first-five Reece Hodge getting back to his past form for the club. He suffered a knee injury in April of last year that sidelined him for the remainder of the Super Rugby season, and if he suffers no setbacks in 2022, could be set for production akin to his 345 total points scored for the Rebels from 2016-19.

New South Wales Waratahs (Australia)

Last season: 10th place in competition

A look ahead: The last Australian team to win the Super Rugby final (in 2014), the Waratahs had a miserable 2021 season that saw them anchored to the bottom of the standings despite being the highest-scoring Aussie team with 127 points. It was an atrocious defense that did New South Wales in, with the team’s 265 points allowed by far the worst record in the division. In response, the team went for a total overhaul for 2022, with 17 players from last season’s squad having left and a new coach brought in, Aussie Darren Coleman, who led the LA Giltinis to a Major League Rugby title in the U.S. last season.

Moana Pasifika (New Zealand)

Last season: New team

A look ahead: Initially created for a solo match against the Maori All Blacks in 2020, this squad, organized by New Zealand Rugby and made up mostly of players from various island nations (including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands), was granted a license to play Super Rugby last year. The team will be based in Auckland and play at Mount Smart Stadium, with former Highlanders boss Aaron Mauger as the squad’s inaugural head coach. Outside New Zealand, Samoan and Tongan players have the most representation on the roster, with Samoa fullback/fly-half D’Angelo Leuila one of the more notable names after being a part of the Waikato squad that won this season’s Bunnings NPC.

Fijian Drua (Fiji)

Last season: New team

A look ahead: The second of two new teams in Super Rugby this season was founded in 2017 and previously competed in Australia’s National Rugby Championship until the competition folded in 2019. All but one player on the roster calls Fiji home, though the team will play most of its home matches in 2022 in Australia with hopes to play multiple games in stadiums on the islands. Drua has familiarity with some of the Aussie teams in the competition (such as Western Force) from its time in the NRC, where they won the championship in 2018. Can that success translate to Super Rugby?