Lock Josh Bekhuis will play his sixth consecutive game this season when the Highlanders meet the Sharks at Carisbrook on Saturday.
Not that Bekhuis regards it as a big deal because he played every minute of all 15 games for the Southland Stags in last year's national provincial championship.
"It's been really good," the enthusiastic Bekhuis said. "I guess you could say the Stags season has given me good conditioning for the Super 14. My body feels really good."
"I'm fairly satisfied with my form. I've still got a lot to work on and a lot of goals to achieve. I just look forward to every game."
"It feels like a short week after all the travelling we've been doing. But I think the boys are recovering pretty well and we won't be using that as an excuse."
Bekhuis, 23, who has played 48 games for Southland, will have Hayden Triggs as his partner on Saturday with All Black Tom Donnelly ruled out because on an ankle injury.
It is one of a series of sweeping changes as coach Glenn Moore seeks to re-invigorate his team after its gruelling three-match tour of South Africa.
Other changes include a new five-eighths combination with Robbie Robinson making his debut in the No.10 jersey and Michael Hobbs moving out a place.
There are 11 Southlanders in the squad of 22, eight in the starting lineup and three in the reserves.
The Natal-based Sharks are winless, but have claimed four losing bonus points, and Bekhuis knows they will pose a challenge.
"They'll be desperate and we'll be desperate, too. They've been close in every game and we just need to pull it all together against them," he said.
"We've watched them a bit and they're a good team. They're physical, like the other South African sides. They're forward-orientated and they like the crash and bash so there's going to be a challenge in that."
Bekhuis said the Highlanders had to improve on areas of their play.
"We want to improve our set pieces, which haven't been as good in recent weeks as they were at the start of the season. We want to get the backs going forward, and we want to come out firing at the start of games rather than conceding early points," he said.
"We've definitely got a lot of potential. If we can harness that, I still think we can have a good season."
"It's good to get back and play some home games. It would be good to get a few wins under our belts and get on a bit of a roll."
Bekhuis said the South African tour was an invaluable experience.
"It's always hard in South Africa and it was good to come away with six points, though we would have liked more," he said.
"We played well against the Cheetahs, let ourselves down a bit against the Stormers and Bulls though it was good to get a bonus point in Pretoria. We didn't start so well in some games but we kept battling back so that was encouraging."