Throughout the country there are numerous clashes and rivalries that stir the blood, but in terms of Super Rugby, arguably the biggest one of them all is the encounter between two teams that between them collectively hold 10 of the 14 Rebel Sport Super rugby titles.
Add three runner’s up berths, and a further three semi final spots (where the teams haven’t gone on to reach the final), and it gives you some indication as to the pedigree of the Crusaders and the Blues.
The Crusaders – with seven titles, two runners up “gongs”, and two further top four positions – are Super rugby’s most decorated team. Since reaching their first top four in 1998, they have dominated the competition in a manner that few sides in domestic rugby could compare.
The Blues set the early precedent in the competition, reaching the first three finals and winning two. While the region may have the greatest record in New Zealand domestic rugby overall, dominating the Ranfurly Shield and NPC/Air New Zealand Cup, they have been usurped by the Crusaders when it comes to Super rugby.
However, the Blues are the only team in the competition not to have an almost massively one sided head to head ledger against the red and blacks.
The two foes have won eight games apiece, and the matches are always fiercely competitive, with 11 of the 16 matches being decided by 12 points or fewer.
Such is the lineage of these two sides, that 2001 is the only year where at least one of them has not reached the top four in Super rugby.
As for All Blacks, it will be in many respects the first major selection trial, with potentially 17 All Blacks on display between the two teams. It could have been even more, with both sides currently missing three test players each due to injuries.
But for all the players on display, the biggest test probably comes for Stephen Brett (pictured), who faces his old team for the first time.
Brett, who won 39 Super rugby caps for the Crusaders, made his debut in 2006 against the Blues in Christchurch, when the home side ran rampant against their northern rivals 39-10.
Naturally the enigmatic playmaker hosed down the fact that it was a big match.
"It's just another game really," Brett said to stuff.co.nz
"I played them pre-season, and got that bogey off the back early. So it's a matter of just concentrating on my own game.
"There are obviously going to be a few late hits and there will be a few messages. But it's going to be a good game, I'm looking forward to playing against the boys, and I'm sure they're looking forward to playing against us."
It will pit one of the emerging first five eighths of New Zealand rugby against the world’s premier number ten, with Brett saying he had chatted to Dan Carter about the game.
"We had a few chats about it before I was going to come up," he said.
"I gave him a few cheeky calls that I was going to hit him early, and he said don't worry about that I'll be hitting you early first. It's going to be a good battle."
Both sides have won two and lost one, with the winner likely to move toward the cherished glow of a top four berth.