Fans lament the 'fitting' way that Super Rugby Aotearoa is signing off for 2020
Super Rugby Aotearoa has been an excellent competition – there’s no doubt about it. While any rugby would have been looked upon favourably after the extended period without sport earlier in the year, the solely New Zealand competition has been incredibly well-received for a multitude of reasons.
One aspect that has frustrated fans, however, is the needless use of alternative strips – especially given the fact that only two sides in the competition share the same primary colour on their uniform.
When the Blues hosted the Highlanders in the early rounds of Super Rugby Aotearoa, the Blues donned their secondary strips – which were effectively just a lighter shade of blue. This created an unfortunate jersey clash, which made the match unnecessarily difficult to follow.
It brought back memories of the clash between the Highlanders and the Blues from earlier in the season when the Bulls were forced to change kits at half-time due to the similarities of the uniforms.
Now, in the final match of Super Rugby Aotearoa, played in front of an empty stadium due to coronavirus restrictions, the Highlanders have once again been involved in a ridiculous jersey situation.
The travelling Hurricanes, instead of wearing their traditional yellow and black jerseys, marched out onto the field wearing their grey-blue alternate strips – and fans were instantly incensed.
FFS why aren't @Hurricanesrugby in yellow? #HIGvHUR @TheCountry @rowie_nz @blairdrysdale77 @deanrabbidge @skysportnz
— Andrew Thompson (@Pandasport) August 15, 2020
First the game has no crowd and now there’s the most stupidest kit clash ????? #HIGvHUR
— ryanator109?? (@ryanator109) August 15, 2020
It was bad enough that the Hurricanes were wearing an ‘away’ strip when there was no clash in the first place – but the change actually created a clash, with the dark blue of the Highlanders fairly similar to the grey Hurricanes jerseys.
They've actually made a jersey clash when there wasn't one. #HIGvHUR
— Mark Currie (@MarkCurrieNZ) August 15, 2020
Slightly torturous watching Highlanders in dark blue and Hurricanes in grey #HURvHIGH
— Matt Hall-Smith (@MattHallSmith21) August 15, 2020
Can someone explain why the @Hurricanesrugby are playing in blue as well as the Highlanders? Nightmare for TV viewing which is what everyone has to do. #HIGvHUR
— Ben Carswell (@bcarswell) August 15, 2020
Why are the Canes not wearing yellow? Talk about a colour clash? #HIGvHUR
— ¯_(?)_/¯ (@Vinsanity275) August 15, 2020
Stupid choice of team colours @SuperRugbyNZ . Very hard to clearly distinguish each team on @skysportnz #HIGvHUR
— Gungehammer (@Gungehammer) August 15, 2020
I understand the marketing side of it but damn blue vs yellow is a much nicer contrast than blue vs grey ? #HIGvHUR
— Jacob Beleski (@JBeleski) August 15, 2020
Who approved this ridiculous jersey clash!? Can we please give Adidas the ? and play in home jerseys all the time next season? #HIGvHUR #SuperRugbyAotearoa
— Alister L (@al_nz) August 15, 2020
The piped-in crowd noise is weird and echo-y but definitely better than eerie silence. Wish the Canes were wearing their normal colour jerseys coz the lilac is harder to tell from the Highlanders' blue on wide shots. #HIGvHUR
— Asher Wilson-Goldman (@AsherGoldman) August 15, 2020
Sunlight is streaming into our lounge, and we can’t tell the difference between the Highlanders in navy and the Hurricanes is grey. The requirement to wear an away strip when there’s no clash of colours is just bizarre. #SuperRugbyAotearoa #HIGvHUR
— Tony Stuart (@TonyStuart55) August 15, 2020
@NZRugby @Hurricanesrugby @skysportnz Can we get them to change shirts? Rubbish for EVERY fan having to watch on TV #HIGvHUR #kitclash
— Ben Carswell (@bcarswell) August 15, 2020
The only disappointing aspect of #SuperRugbyAotearoa would have to be the away jerseys and more importantly the clashes for some games. Who signed off @Hurricanesrugby not wearing their normal yellow strip for this game? #HIGvHUR
— Paul M ???? (@88TheDon) August 15, 2020
Some fans were also quick to jump on the irony of the match officials wearing yellow, the Hurricanes’ normal colours.
Hurricanes had to wear alternative strip so they didnt clash with the ref?? #HIGvHUR
— Glen (@82beyou) August 15, 2020
Jersey colours are far too similar in #HIGvHUR game. The match officials are wearing yellow, guess I'll cheer for them!#SuperRugbyAotearoa
— Wendy Ross (@Zacross) August 15, 2020
Surprised the ref isn’t wearing a shade of blue to match the teams #SuperRugbyAotearoa #HIGvHUR
— Gavin Huet (@GavinHuet) August 15, 2020
While there’s no argument that Super Rugby Aotearoa has been a raging success, despite the interruptions in the final round due to the global pandemic, fans will be eternally hopeful that the jersey situation is cleared up for the future. As rugby historian Jamie Wall noted, however, the colour clash was a laughably suitable way for the competition to sign off for the year.
Fitting to finish Super Rugby 2020 with a jersey clash.
— Jamie Wall (@JamieWall2) August 15, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Very unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to commentsAll good, Gregor, except that you neglected to mention Sam Darry amongst that talented pool of locks. In fact, given Hannah’s inexperience and the fact that Holland won’t be eligible until next year, Lord and Darry might be the frontrunners this year, to join Barrett, Tuipoluto, Va’ii and possibly Whitelock. In fact there might be room for all of them if Barrett played 6 (like Ollie Chessum).
10 Go to comments