'Everyone is going to be fired up': Hurricanes star reveals excitement about Super Rugby restart
Super Rugby players aren’t meant to spend April and May on the sidelines, so having been forced to do so by Covid-19, there’s little wonder a return to the grass is being eagerly anticipated.
New Zealand Rugby this week unveiled Super Rugby Aotearoa, a ten-week round-robin competition with all five sides playing each other home and away.
“It’s going to be a spectacle, I reckon,” said Hurricanes hooker Ricky Riccitelli.
“Everyone’s going to be so keen and that amped and fired up to get back out on the footy field.
“There’s been a lot of speculation about it and a lot of waiting around not knowing what’s happening.
“By the time it comes around to that first kick-off – jeepers – I don’t know if I’d want to be the one running back on the first kick-off!”
The squads will reassemble next week and prepare for the first of eight gruelling derbies, starting with the Highlanders hosting the Chiefs in Dunedin on Saturday June 13. The Hurricanes will meet the Blues in Auckland the next day while the defending champion Crusaders have been handed the competition’s first bye.
A return to contact training is seen as crucial to prepare the players for the rigours of such high-intensity action.
“With eight super rugby derbies for each team, it’s pretty much the hardest rugby below international level you can get,” said Riccitelli.
“It’s getting the bodies ready so it’s safe for everyone. It’ll just be building into it and getting used to tackling again and being knocked around a little bit. It’s more like damage control, so you don’t go from zero to one-hundred straight away.
“Along with the big contacts, it’s a much faster brand of footy that we love to play in New Zealand. There are bodies going everywhere and you need faster reaction times.
“But once you’re out there, you’re pretty much playing and don’t actually notice the (increased) level of it.”
After 13 years of service in Australia, Kurtley Beale will depart for French glamour club Racing 92 ahead of the 2020-21 season.https://t.co/TuhvNOzPP4
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 11, 2020
The nuggety Taranaki rake spent the first month of lockdown at home with his mum in New Plymouth before returning to the capital in Alert Level Three.
“As weird as it sounds, sometimes a break can be a good thing,” he said.
“You can refresh and have a really good think about things and what you want to get out of your trainings and your footy.
“But speaking to the boys, we’re just all so amped and ready to get back into work and get amongst each other and around each other’s company. I’ve missed the lads and the environment so it’ll be so awesome to go back into battle with them on the weekends again and put some good performances out there.”
The only thing missing will be the crowds with the competition to be played behind closed doors as part of the protocols around mass gatherings.
“It’ll definitely be different but the boys are so keen to get back into it, I don’t think it’ll be a big factor,” said Riccitelli.
“Obviously not having fans in the stadium is not ideal, but we’re just grateful to be back playing some footy and doing what we love doing.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Except for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to comments