A few things about the new Super Rugby season starting tonight.

Full crowds at games will feel completely normal. Because for us here in NZ it is.

The Chiefs will win a game this time. And if they don't they should be relegated to the Ozzie comp and the winner of that take their place for next year.

There are only 5 teams in the comp but there WILL be colour clashes.

At least one weekend during the season two teams will wear the same colour strip. Why? Who knows. It's just one of those weird rugby mysteries we'll never know the answer to.

Like who's fault it is when the scrum collapses. Or seeing that there is no rucking in the game anymore, what exactly is a ruck?

The Crusaders stadium will still look like a garden shed plonked in a paddock beside a carpark. And no-one will remember what it's called this week. 

Meanwhile several prominent local politicians and councillors will publicly say how committed they are to building a new one.

Next year will be the 12th straight year they'll be saying that and they year after that will be the 13th.

These new rules will be noticed but won't make that much of a difference.

Which is much better than not being noticed and making one huge big difference.

If the Blues do happen to win it all Leon McDonald will not breakdance as the final whistle blows. Neither will Clayton McMillan or Jason Holland. Jury still out on Tony Brown!

Some scribe from the Northern Hemisphere will write a scathing article about how it's just another "touch rugby tournament" and isn't a patch on their mud-soaked 9-6 stalemate scorelines.

The Highlanders might just win tonight but they won't win the comp. The Crusaders could well lose tonight but they probably will.