New Highlanders import Hosea Gear is finding it easy to settle into the Super Rugby season, thanks to familiar environment under an old coach, and a star turn at the Wellington Sevens.
Gear was the equal second highest try scorer for New Zealand in the tournament behind Frank Halai, with four tries, and was influential in New Zealand's victory.
He says his time with the sevens team has improved his fitness and has been excellent preparation for the Super Rugby season.
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"[Improving fitness] was one of the main reasons for going and it worked out quite well," Gear said. "We were still in pre-season with the XVs and I thought conditioning-wise, I would benefit more from the sevens program."
He says while it will take time to adjust to fifteen-man rugby again, the decision to play sevens was a good one, on balance.
"The challenges will be just to remember the calls, fit into a new game plan and readjust to the XVs side of things," he said. "But at the same time fitness levels have really helped me."
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph says Gear has had few issues fitting into the Highlanders' dressing room, despite having missed part of the pre-season for the sevens.
"He's pretty strong with his work ethic and professionalism. He's fitting into the Highlander environment like a glove and really relishing it."
That's partly because Gear has feel for Joseph's coaching style, having worked with him before.
"I've been with Jamie before, with the Wellington Lions and the New Zealand Maori, so I knew what sort of set up I was coming into and what sort of environment to expect."
The former Hurricanes wing hopes he can help the side improve their reputation over the 2012 season.
"Last year this team was seen as battlers and this year we want to be contenders. We've got plenty of experience as well, to feed on to the younger guys. Hopefully we can have a good start. "
Captain Andrew Hore echoed those sentiments and underscored Gear's importance to a successful 2012 season.
"The Highlanders have always had pretty good forwards, but to be fair they've lacked a bit of finishing," Hore said. "Hosea's world class and hopefully we can get a bit of ball to him and he can score a few tries."
