Super Rugby Teams

Tuivasa-Sheck will leave the Warriors at the end of the NRL season to take up a contract with New Zealand Rugby in the hopes of playing for the All Blacks at the 2023 World Cup.

The Blues are favoured to secure his services, given he lives in Auckland with his young family and was a former under-20 representative for the team.

All Black wing Caleb Clarke, who starred for the Blues before bursting onto the international stage in 2020, would love to have him at the Auckland based franchise.

Under the new 15-team, three conference format, franchises will play 16 regular season matches with eight of those being against teams within their conference - that means home and away matches for the five NZ franchises.

The New Zealand derbies have been a highlight of the competition and Kirwan says while more local matches is good, they take a much greater toll on the players.