Well Done Hurricanes, But You're Not Contenders. Yet.

The Hurricanes are 6-0, a record that most people wouldn't have expected them to be on at the start of the 2015 season.

Consider that their start of the season included two games to kick off the campaign in South Africa against the Bulls and Lions in the middle of summer in the highveldt plus taking on the Force in Perth who are always a banana skin for New Zealand sides travelling to and from the republic.

Consider also that they only played their first true home game of the season in Wellington on Friday night - the stadium had of course been reserved for the game every Kiwi seems to be crazy about at the moment for 6 weeks.

Consider all these things and it is quite a respectable achievement for the Central North Island franchise and a terrific start for new coach duo Chris Boyd and John Plumtree.

However, the real stuff is yet to come for the Canes who have only played two fellow NZ sides this season, i.e. the out of form Blues in a thriller in Palmerston North and a Highlanders side hit by injuries at the wrong time in Dunedin.

The Canes fans, coaches and players know that to really be considered serious title contenders, that firstly they need to maintain their winning run at home - one surefire way to get the crowds back to the stadium for the rugby after years of below par attendances. Motivation for the Wellington franchise is the fact that the Hurricanes will be the best quality rugby the city will see this year with the ABs only playing two tests at home this season with one of them in Auckland and the other in Christchurch.

Secondly, they need to beat the Chiefs and Crusaders, the two NZ sides everyone expects to lead the Kiwi fight for Super Rugby success. Lack of wins against the two when it matters have really been a problem for the Canes in the last couple of seasons and has proven fatal for a side that still relies heavily on confidence.

If the Canes are lucky, they could still make the playoffs without a win against either side, but the ramnifications of beating the Chiefs and Crusaders during the regular season could be huge later on in the season as they are likely to face one of them again to progress in the competition.

The talent has always been around in the Canes and even with the lost of players this season, the Canes still have talent in abundance. And for once, the talk has been about the gain of a star player, i.e. Ma'a Nonu which appears to have revitalised the whole team.

On that note, Nehe Milner-Skudder has proven to be one of the findings of a season where his contemporaries, TJ Perenara, Brad Shields and Jeff Toomaga-Allen have made the step to become leaders in the side. The Manawatu fullback's form has been so good that Hurricanes fans should probably be asking "Andre {Taylor} who?"