the competition's 17-year history, and the arrival of Wallaby backrower Scott Higginbotham from the Reds.

Much of the Rebels' hopes hinge on their Wallaby duo Kurtley Beale and James O'Connor, who missed much of last season through injury.

Welsh number eight Gareth Delve will be a driving influence in the forwards. Damien Hill is into his second term as coach since taking over from coach Rod Macqueen.

The Rebels, missing the experience this year of senior backs Mark Gerrard and Stirling Mortlock, face a challenge to test the other strong Australian teams as they continue to lay foundations of rugby in the Australian Football League heartland of Melbourne.

The Reds failed in their bid for back-to-back Super Rugby titles when they went down to the the Sharks in the play-offs, after winningsix straight matches to get to their home qualifying final as Australian conference champions.

The 2011 winners have a new head coach in last year's Western Force mentor Richard Graham, with Ewen McKenzie moving above him in a director of coaching role.

Much of the Reds' hopes this season hinge on the creativity of their Wallaby halves Quade Cooper and Will Genia behind a strong forward pack, led by skipper James Horwill.

A strong all-round squad features Wallaby backs Digby Ioane, Michael Harris and Ben Tapuai. The Reds are expected to push strongly to finish top of the Australian conference along with their traditional rivals, the Brumbies and Waratahs.

The Sharks scraped into the play-offs last season and then eliminated defending champions the Reds in Brisbane and Stormers in Cape Town before