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Fans take to Twitter to pick the best Super Rugby player from each Kiwi team this season
Fans have taken to Twitter to take part in a voting campaign organised by the Super Rugby NZ account to determine who the best player from each Kiwi franchise has been this season.
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Although only seven rounds of the competition were played before the tournament came to a standstill due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there have been plenty of standout performers from each club in 2020.
The Blues in particular surged into a vein of form rarely seen by the Auckland side since their last play-offs appearance in 2011, and currently sit in fourth place on the table while Super Rugby remains suspended.
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Leading their charge was rookie wing Mark Telea, who sits top the defenders beaten charts, and second in the try-scoring, clean breaks and metres carried tallies.
His efforts proved to be too much for skipper Patrick Tuipulotu, dependable midfielder TJ Faiane and impressive No. 8 Hoskins Sotutu, who were all unsuccessful nominees for Blues MVP in the voting polls.
Racking up 40 percent of the votes, Telea topped the podium with Tuipulotu finishing in second with 28 percent, while Sotutu came in at third with 23 percent, leaving Faiane in last spot with only nine percent of the count.
Lagging just behind the Blues on the standings are the Chiefs, whose 27-24 defeat to the Hurricanes in the last round of action has left them stuck in fifth spot for the time being.
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Coached by new boss Warren Gatland, the Hamilton side had been in sparkling form before Super Rugby came to a halt, with the likes of flanker Lachlan Boshier, returning pivot Aaron Cruden, and All Blacks duo Brad Weber and Anton Lienert-Brown all shining in their respective positions.
All four players received nominations to be crowned Chiefs MVP for this season, but it was All Blacks prospect Boshier who ran away with the title, finishing in first place with a whopping 48 percent of the votes.
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has confirmed he will be taking a pay cut, and that players will follow suit, as New Zealand Rugby looks to limit its costs.https://t.co/3N5iSGGJFG
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 28, 2020
Halves duo Cruden and Weber earned a joint-second finish with 20 percent of the count, while Lienert-Brown’s efforts won him 12 percent of the public’s hearts.
Just behind the Chiefs lie the Hurricanes, whose win over their North Island neighbours in Hamilton two weeks ago leaves them in sixth spot from as many matches.
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That last-gasp win at FMG Stadium Waikato can be attributed to the boot of star fullback Jordie Barrett, who had proven to be one of the key players not just in that match, but throughout the entirety of the Hurricanes’ season.
The 17-test All Black subsequently won 44 percent of the public’s vote in a landslide victory for the Hurricanes MVP award, leading fellow nominees Ngani Laumape (26 percent), Ben Lam (16 percent) and Du’Plessis Kirifi (14 percent).
Further south are the New Zealand conference-leading Crusaders, who sit in third place overall and trail the first-placed Sharks by a solitary point.
With five wins from six matches, there have been a plethora of MVP candidates to choose from Scott Robertson’s side, but few, if any, have impressed more than three-cap All Blacks fullback David Havili.
Kieran Read has admitted he's unlikely to return to Japan this season despite the Top League rugby competition working to return in the coming months.https://t.co/AU8MfyGaHN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 28, 2020
The 25-year-old had been in scintillating form for the reigning back-to-back-to-back champions until he needed emergency surgery to fix a bowel infection, sparking numerous calls for an international re-call.
Havili’s exploits earned him 34 percent of the fan vote, seven percent ahead of the second-placed Jack Goodhue, who edged out tireless rookie flanker Tom Christie by two percent, while new captain Scott Barrett came in at last place with 14 percent.
Things haven’t been so rosy for the Highlanders in 2020, as the Dunedin club sit in 11th place with just one to their name.
The raft of key departures has certainly taken its toll for the southern men this season, but the retention of 92-test All Black Aaron Smith last year was much-needed, as has been reflected in the fans’ votes.
The 31-year-old accrued a whopping 47 percent of the tally to outshine fellow Highlanders MVP nominees Jona Nareki (26 percent), Marino Mikaele-Tu’u (15 percent) and Jesse Parete (12 percent).
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
76 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments