Aaron Cruden reveals the lure of provincial rugby: 'Ngans actually sent me a message to ask me about playing Mitre 10 for Manawatu'
There will be a tremendous roar when Super Rugby Aotearoa kicks off in mid-June after what will have been a three month wait without rugby in New Zealand.
That roar may be confined to fans’ homes, with live audiences unlikely at least for the early stages of the competition, but with Super Rugby finally back on the menu, there’ll be plenty more ammunition for watercooler chats across the country – though they may also be conducted through an online medium.
Creating a new competition hasn’t been an easy task for New Zealand Rugby with so many stakeholders to consult on the process and even once the idea was formulated, there were a few hurdles for the nation’s five Super Rugby clubs.
The Chiefs ran into one major hurdle – having returned from France, first five Aaron Cruden was only contracted to the side until June.
Although nothing’s been confirmed, Cruden is expected to head to Japan for next season’s Top League. Re-negotiating terms could cause a few headaches because Cruden’s future side wouldn’t want the marquee player to arrive injured – which becomes more probable when his final game with the Chiefs is pushed out further in the calendar.
Thankfully, the deal was sorted and Cruden is free to lace up the boots for the Chiefs until the end of the new season in August.
What remains uncertain is the playmaker’s plans for later in the year, with Cruden not initially signing a contract tying him to a provincial union for the Mitre 10 Cup season.
“Ngans [Ngani Laumape] actually sent me a message to ask me about playing Mitre 10 for Manawatu,” Cruden told RugbyPass.
“At this stage, we’re not really sure, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens with any rugby and what that sort of framework looks like and then we’ll just go from there.”
That was prior to the new competition’s confirmation and the 31-year-old may feel that re-committing to Super Rugby is enough to quench his rugby thirst for 2020 but there will be certain aspects of returning to Manawatu that must appeal massively to Cruden – especially if all the All Blacks are involved.
“The ability to play with world-class players like Ngani is always appealing, especially when you go back to your province where you grew up,” he said.
“For me, Manawatu were the ones who gave me my first opportunity in the professional game and I’ll always be extremely thankful for them. The green and white still have a jersey at home here so I’m certainly very proud of those roots.”
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The 2020 edition of the Mitre 10 Cup is due to kick off in early September – one month after the original planned start date.
While fixtures aren’t yet available for the competition, expectations are that it will follow the same format as in previous years with split divisions, although outgoing Taranaki Rugby chairman Lindsay Thompson has suggested that some teams may not be able to take part given the financial hits the unions have taken due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Assuming all goes ahead as planned, fans would likely see some players suiting up for provincial rugby for the first time in a number of years, with top All Blacks rarely being employed by their provinces.
Scott and Jordie Barrett, who were both originally contracted to Canterbury, changed allegiance back to their local Taranaki in recent seasons but neither has actually had the opportunity to don the amber and black hoops.
Others like Aaron Smith and Sam Whitelock accrued plenty of caps for their provincial sides early in their careers but haven’t played a Mitre 10 Cup game for a long time.
Big things were expected of the Chiefs' 10 in France but the reality was disappointing. Still, no one would question the ability of the playmaker now that he's back in NZ. @TomVinicombe spoke with Aaron Cruden about his return. #SuperRugby #AllBlacks https://t.co/57nyavRSqb
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 10, 2020
For Cruden in particular, who has been away from New Zealand for the past two seasons, a return to Manawatu for the Mitre 10 Cup would also allow the pivot to spend plenty of time with his family and possibly play with his younger brother too.
“Stuart, my younger brother, made his debut for Manawatu last season in the Mitre 10 Cup and is just coming through the ranks there so he was hoping to push for an Under 20s spot this year,” Cruden said. “I’m sure he’s obviously putting his head down and still training hard like the rest of us.”
The Under 20s competition has been called off for 2020, which means New Zealand’s upcoming talent will have to earn selection in a provincial side if they want to get any high-level rugby under their belt this season.
For Aaron Cruden, however, 2020 will be his sign-off from New Zealand rugby – regardless of whether he links up with Manawatu – and he’ll be doing his part to help guide the Chiefs to their first Super Rugby title since 2013.
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments