New coach John Plumtree is expected to tighten the Hurricanes’ defence and see if he can squeeze more out of the tight five.

If he can, watch out, as they still have the most dangerous backline in world rugby.

Scrum and lineout have been issues for a while and not much looks to have changed for 2019.

If we look at the locks, Fatialofa is gone and Fifita is (hopefully) shifting to No 6.

They were the starting duo when the Hurricanes won the 2016 title and since then they’ve also lost the admirable Mark Abbott.

James Blackwell is a very capable all-round player, but lacks a bit of height. Geo Cridge has the ideal build to be a good Super Rugby lock, but serious injuries have limited him to just eight minutes of game time in four years.

Isaia Walker-Leawere is another big body with huge potential, but a Super Rugby rookie to all intents and purposes.

That leaves Sam Lousi as the absolute rock of the second row and he was a rugby league player until not that long ago. Lousi is big, durable and immensely powerful and, a bit like Walker-Leawere, still largely untapped. Given the right coaching and encouragement, though, Lousi could really become something.

The scrummaging will be interesting. Toby Smith was a handy addition in 2018 and Ben May and Chris Eves are talented and versatile bench options, but there’s an overall lack of grunt among the props.

Je To’omaga-Allen hasn’t developed as some might have hoped and while Alex Fidow is a noted ball-carrier, his return from injury this year won’t sti en up the scrum.