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The winners and losers of the opening round of Super Rugby 2020
By Alex McLeod
We may only have just ticked over into February, but Super Rugby is back in full swing with 14 of the competition’s 15 sides in action over the weekend just gone by.
Some teams surprised with dominating displays and shock upsets, while others picked up right from where they left off last year, whether that was through an anticipated victory or a capitulation leading to defeat.
With that in mind, here are our picks for Super Rugby's winners and losers in the opening round of the 2020 campaign.
Continue reading below...
Winners
Aaron Cruden
It had been three years since Aaron Cruden last donned a Chiefs jersey prior to gracing Eden Park for the 2020 season-opener against the Blues on Friday evening.
He had to wait until the second half to make his long-awaited return for the franchise of which he helped lead to back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, but if his performance three days ago was anything to go by, then it will be no surprise to see the 31-year-old veteran starting against the Crusaders in Hamilton this week.
Cruden was instrumental in overturning a 19-5 half-time deficit into a compelling 37-29 victory where he exuded class, confidence and experience.
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Latest Comments
I think we need to get innovative with the new laws.
Now red cards are only 20 minutes, Razor should send Finau on a head hunting mission to hospitalise their 10 with a shoulder to the chops.
Give the conspiracy theorists a win.
Go to commentsEngland played well enough to win but couldnt score when they needed to and couldnt defend a couple of X-Factor moments from Telea which was ultimately the difference. They needed to hold the ball more and make the AB's make more tackles. Territorially they were good for the first 60. Defending their lead and playing pragmatic rugby in the last 20 was silly. The AB's always had the potential to come back. England still have a long way to go, definite progress would have been shown had they won but it seems they are still stuck where they were shortly after the six nations and their tour to NZ
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