It was 1995 all over again during the first week of the iInternational series, with Jonah Lomu and Graeme Bachop making a return to test rugby in the form of Julian Savea and Aaron Smith on Saturday night and the return of the North vs South challenge after its 12 year hiatus on Sunday afternoon in Dunedin.
The All Blacks' first outing after their World Cup triumph seven months ago has been highly anticipated and covered extensively by the media.
Steve Hansen has proven himself on the world stage as an assistant coach, but could the man known as ‘Shag' bring the goods as the top boss?
Credentials mean little in the eyes of the New Zealand public, winning results are the only thing capable of taming the beast. The harsh reality of being the All Blacks head coach is there a 4 million other New Zealanders who think they could do their job better.
This was proven even before the first kick off; Hansen's first squad selection of the year was met with criticism from both the media and public.
However, these critics were silenced after an impressive 42-10 romp over the Irish.
It was a test which saw three rookies stake their claim on the big stage: Julian Savea scoring 3 tries on debut, a big, strong uncompromising winger - ‘Lomu-like' if you want to put it bluntly.
Aaron Smith did exactly what he has shown everyone throughout the Super Rugby season, a small cheeky halfback who knows how to run the ball and can pass like Graeme Bachop, with Brodie Retallick being solid at the breakdown.
The ‘new era' of All Blacks seems to be exactly the opposite of this, are we just selecting players based on formulas that have worked in the past?
Something I have always been wary of, but if it works, why change it?
Even the Wallabies seem to have adopted this theory, Will Genia does seem like the ‘new George Gregan', let's just hope he doesn't break as many hearts as Gregan did.
After a successful start to Steve Hansen's new era on Saturday, Sunday saw another blast from the past make its return after 12 years. North vs South is a rivalry that has a warm place in the hearts of the older generation, even my grandfather is someone who speaks about this game with some fondness.
The game was held to help raise money for the ORFU to pay back some of its small creditors; it was a game that wasn't met with a lot of kindness by the media or the public, with some people saying that it ‘meant nothing'.
Try telling that to the players on the field.
It may not have had the most spectacular line up due to many players playing test rugby, but the intensity of the game and even the fight that broke out told me that if it had a little tweaking, it could take its rightful place again in the New Zealand rugby calendar, our own ‘State of Origin' if you will.
Jason Rutledge's South Island side proved too classy for Luke Braid's North side, running in 32-24 victors.
Not a bad way to start the June test window, next up: All Blacks vs Ireland in round 2.