Northland Taniwha's clash with reigning Premiership champions, the Tasman Mako, in Blenheim tonight will be the ideal springboard to test the true state of their readiness to go deep in this year's Mitre 10 Cup competition.
Northland will be bolstered by All Blacks midfielder Jack Goodhue in their Sunday afternoon encounter with Manawatu and the Crusader's combination with former All Black Rene Ranger will certainly keep the Turbos busy on defence.
The Sunwolves may have played their last-ever match of Super Rugby, so we look back at the best players to have represented the competition's first Japanese team.
The ugly step-child of Super Rugby, the Sunwolves, have started off their 2020 campaign with a 53-point win in their first and only pre-season match - but it hardly bodes well for the season ahead.
OPINION: The Sunwolves have knocked over two former champions in 2019, already showing more promise than in their prior three seasons - but there's still one big problem with the Japanese based team's performances to date.
TEAM NAMING: The Sunwolves have sprung a surprise in naming loose-forward Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco in the midfield for their match with the Hurricanes.
The same backline that tore apart the Waratah’s ‘blue wall’ last weekend has been given the go-ahead to wreak havoc once again this week when the Sunwolves travel to Melbourne for their match up with the Rebels.
The Reds came storming back in the second half of Saturday's Super Rugby clash to beat the Sunwolves, scoring four tries after the interval.
Every golden era must come to an end, and one of the challenges facing second-year coach Mauger is that the Highlanders look to be nearing that point heading into 2019.
The short of it is that the Sunwolves are an endangered species and unless they manage to turn things around this year, extinction could come sooner rather than later.