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New Zealand Rugby confirm start date and schedule of Super Rugby Aotearoa competition
By Online Editors
New Zealand Rugby has confirmed that Super Rugby Aotearoa featuring the Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders will start on June 13, allowing players four weeks to adequately prepare with contact training.
Today’s news follows the Government’s announcement that professional rugby and netball could resume at alert level two.
The competition will see the five Super Rugby clubs playing each other home and away over 10 weeks, with two matches every weekend at 5.05pm on Saturdays and 3.05pm on Sundays. Matches will be played in closed stadiums until Government advises an approach to managing mass gatherings in controlled venues that will allow fans to return.
The schedule for the competition has also been announced today. In the opening weekend, the Highlanders will play the Chiefs in Dunedin on June 13, with the Blues playing the Hurricanes in Auckland the following day.
All matches will be streamed live on RugbyPass.
NZR chief executive Mark Robinson said he was delighted for fans that they would have top-quality rugby on their screens in just over a month.
“The thought of five world-class Kiwi teams battling it out in 20 matches over 10 weeks should put a smile back on the faces of many people. I know our players are excited and I’m sure rugby fans will be as well.”
Robinson said they always knew they had to take the Government’s lead on when it was safe for rugby to return, and now it was critical the sport did everything to mitigate the further spread of COVID-19.
“Medical and operational staff across NZR, the Players’ Association and the clubs have been working together to ensure we have detailed plans in place to protect the health and safety of everyone involved.”
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During the seventies, I was a journalist at the Cape Times and and because of my connection with WP athletics and rugby I personally knew many of the players and administrators. None of them were anywhere near as accessible as Rassie - not just to journalists but to the rugby fans in SA. I live in Bloubergstrand and the most popular sports bar in the hood is called Doodles. Every now and then, I’d say at least once a month, Rassie pops in and chats to local fans. The last person that I can remember of that stature, who was that accessible to supporters, was Jan Pickard who used to talk to people queueing outside Newlands and would desert the formal after match functions after about an hour or so and pop into the Springbok pub near Newlands. To say that Rassie is sociable is a monstrous understatement. I wonder if this has anything to do with the coaching environment he has created.
Go to commentsGeorge Ford was a disaster during the Autumn internationals. His defence is non existant, he is slow and other than booting the ball up in the air for others to chase I cannot see how he merits a place.
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