After two whitewash rounds against the Australian Super Rugby teams, a new competition has perhaps come up amongst the New Zealand teams for the trans-Tasman tournament - keeping the streak alive.
Australian Super Rugby players, coaches and fans have been handed a harsh reailty check in the opening two rounds of the competition with the Super Rugby Aotearoa-winning Crusaders delivering a brutal exclamation mark on Saturday with their 63-28 win over Australian champions the Reds.
Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu said part of that 10-0 start could be credited to the physicality of New Zealand teams.
"It's still physical but, I think, compared to the New Zealand teams week in and week out it's a touch off," Tuipulotu said of the Australian outfits.
"In saying that, you're still haveing sore bodies after the game and the next day."
Tuipulotu said the perfect start by New Zealand teams has created a new pressure though with no-one wanting to be the first to lose to an Australian team now.
"You don't want to say it but it's there in the background, it's there subconsciously," he said.
"It's a pretty big scalp that we don't want to be on the end of so I'd say in the back of our minds we don't want to be the first team to lose to an Aussie team in this comp."
The Blues host the Brumbies on Saturday evening at Eden Park where Tuipulotu could play a large role after finally returning from a lenghty stint on the sidelines with a shoulder injury via the bench in last week's big 48-21 win over the Waratahs.
Tuipulotu said the time away from the game have been good for the body.
"This eight weeks has been long," Tuipulotu said.
"The body was a bit stiff and sore but it was just the usual soreness I'd get after a game ... but Tuesday now and it's feeling pretty good."
Tuipulotu's men have surged to the top of the trans-Tasman competition with their big wins over the Rebels and Waratahs so far but the 28-year-old said that isn't making his team complacent.
"We've had to work quite hard for the scores we've had," he said.
"For us, it's always the first half we seem to struggle with... you can't really do that in a game of professional rugby.
"You've got to start from the start and go for the full 80."
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