The recruitment of a 34-year-old prop from Ireland might have raised a few eyebrows in New Zealand this weekend.
Tasman may have been robbed of four All Blacks, but that hasn't stopped them from naming an experienced side laden with Super Rugby talent for their top-of-the-table Mitre 10 Cup clash with Waikato on Saturday.
Without All Blacks playing in the Mitre 10 Cup, the competition will lose plenty of its stardust over the coming weeks, and the impact of their departures will differ for each province.
Tasman co-coaches Andrew Goodman and Clarke Dermody have wasted no time injecting their off-season recruits straight into the action for the opening round of the Mitre 10 Cup, with Sevu Reece and Mark Telea set to start on the wings on Saturday.
Tasman have named an impressive squad that features four All Blacks, 21 Super Rugby stars and a German teenager to defend their Mitre 10 Cup crown.
It's been a difficult few years for Blues supporters, but can the addition of a new head coach, who has the capacity to instil a strong set of values in his squad, be enough to get them back in the play-offs?
With three exceptions, the Blues has looked to its own provincial unions and development programme to complete the line-up for the 2019 Investec Super Rugby Championship.
There remain many more questions than answers when evaluating the chances of the Blues in Super Rugby 2018.
The Highlanders and Blues have named their teams ahead of Friday night's Kiwi derby in Dunedin.
The All Blacks have five games left in 2017, but that hasn't stopped the New Zealand teams getting themselves geared up for next year's Super Rugby season already. Here's the squads named today: