Cruden's revised contract situation at Montpellier opens door to Super Rugby return
Aaron Cruden could be angling for a switch back to Super Rugby following confirmation in France regarding his contract for the new 2019/20 season.
Montpellier, the French club the former All Black has been with since 2017 on a €700,000 a year deal, have announced that the playmaker will continue his stint at the club, but only as a World Cup cover medical joker until November 18.
It is the same type of scenario the Vern Cotter-coached club has reached with Jannie du Plessis, the former Springbok agreeing to provide cover until the World Cup is over and the international players missing from Montpellier are back in France.
“Aaron Cruden, a New Zealand international who joined the club in 2017, will stay in Montpellier during the World Cup season,” said a club statement.
“Jannie du Plessis, an international Springbok at the club since 2015, will also be hired as a World Cup joker. In parallel, he will continue to carry out his missions within the training centre.”
#Officiel : Jannie Du Plessis et Aaron Cruden restent montpelliérains, en tant que jokers Coupe du Monde.
➡️ https://t.co/P4QLZB1j4y pic.twitter.com/McAbkhn2Dp
— Montpellier Rugby (@MHR_officiel) July 25, 2019
There has already been speculation this past week that Cruden could be a target for the Hurricanes now that Beauden Barrett has decided to join the Blues in Auckland, but confirmation of his latest contract arrangement in France would suit any potential return to Super Rugby.
Cruden’s future has been much speculated on in 2019, with Bath and particular Dave Rennie’s Glasgow linked to the New Zealander. None of that speculation came to fruition, leaving Cruden to round off a frustrating, injury-hit season in Montpellier where the last of his 13 starts in a 27-game league season came in the play-off defeat to Lyon.
When interviewed last April, Cruden was at a loss as to why his availability was regularly being curtailed by soft tissue injuries. “I don’t really have an explanation (for the injuries).
“With muscle injuries, it’s always hard to pin down the problem. Maybe I tried to come back too fast at times. But I’m not sure about that and I don’t want to point at anyone, to say that it comes from this or that.
“Unfortunately, it happened. Now I trying to keep the ideas clear, to stay focused on how I can come back to contribute to the team,” he said, adding he hasn’t radically altered his warm-up routines.
“I didn’t change much, no. I like to think I have always been rather attentive and diligent in the approach of my physical preparation. So it has been about working hard with the medical staff, doctors, physiotherapists to put together a specific plan that would allow me to return as quickly as possible while being careful not to push too far.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzzfAbxg7LV/
“Everyone is working hard and I know everyone is disappointed that they have not seen me more often this year. But we all go through difficult things and we learn every day. I have suffered some injuries during my career, a few fractures, a ligament of a knee that kept me off the ground for several months, but never as many regular muscle injuries as this season.
“It’s frustrating but I still believe in my body and in my ability to find the game to contribute at the highest level. I just have to make sure to take all possible steps in my recovery process, to take good care of my body. If I do that, I have good hope for the end of the season.
“I would not be human if I didn’t have doubts. When you arrive somewhere with big expectations, you want to make your contribution. And when you can’t do it for various reasons, such as injuries, it can become frustrating. I try to stay positive, keep a cool head, keep the end goal in sight. For me, it’s playing quality rugby and having fun. A professional career does not last forever and it’s necessary to enjoy it.”
WATCH: The insightful RugbyPass documentary with Nemani Nadolo, Cruden’s Fijian team-mate at Montpellier
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments