Highlanders vs Blues Prediction: An entertaining opener ahead

The first round of the 2023 Super World Rugby competition will see the Blues take on the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium. Both teams will come into this matchup with the intention of winning, as they are looking forward to getting off to an incredible start to the new season.

The Highlanders have lost their last three games of 2022, so this will be their fourth loss in a row going into this game if they perform poorly. The Highlanders just squeaked into the playoffs the year before after finishing in 8th place with 23 points after playing in 14 matches. They were separated from the Western Force, another team that ended with the same number of points as the Highlanders, by a goal difference. However, they weren't able to play well in the playoffs, so they fell behind the Blues, who had won the regular season with a record of 35-6.

After falling short in the championship game, the Blues will enter this season expecting nothing but the best and most likely winning the trophy. During the previous campaign, the away team ended the regular season with 58 points, which put them in first place in the league rankings. They played a total of 14 matches, and during those games, they scored 472 goals while allowing 284 goals to be scored against them. The away team enters the current campaign having won four of their previous five matches, giving them a perfect record heading into this new campaign.

The away Blues sides are the clear favorites to win this encounter, and there is no shadow of a doubt in our minds that they will be able to pull off the victory. The host team is not a very formidable opponent, and despite the fact that we anticipate a very strong performance and a different character from them in this match, Blues are still anticipated to be in a position to exercise decisive control over the course of this contest.