New Zealand Rugby confirm start date and schedule of Super Rugby Aotearoa competition
New Zealand Rugby has confirmed that Super Rugby Aotearoa featuring the Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders will start on June 13, allowing players four weeks to adequately prepare with contact training.
Today’s news follows the Government’s announcement that professional rugby and netball could resume at alert level two.
The competition will see the five Super Rugby clubs playing each other home and away over 10 weeks, with two matches every weekend at 5.05pm on Saturdays and 3.05pm on Sundays. Matches will be played in closed stadiums until Government advises an approach to managing mass gatherings in controlled venues that will allow fans to return.
The schedule for the competition has also been announced today. In the opening weekend, the Highlanders will play the Chiefs in Dunedin on June 13, with the Blues playing the Hurricanes in Auckland the following day.
All matches will be streamed live on RugbyPass.
NZR chief executive Mark Robinson said he was delighted for fans that they would have top-quality rugby on their screens in just over a month.
“The thought of five world-class Kiwi teams battling it out in 20 matches over 10 weeks should put a smile back on the faces of many people. I know our players are excited and I’m sure rugby fans will be as well.”
Robinson said they always knew they had to take the Government’s lead on when it was safe for rugby to return, and now it was critical the sport did everything to mitigate the further spread of COVID-19.
“Medical and operational staff across NZR, the Players’ Association and the clubs have been working together to ensure we have detailed plans in place to protect the health and safety of everyone involved.”
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NZR medical manager Karen Rasmussen said a set of protocols for playing professional rugby at level two had been developed and will be endorsed by the Government.
She said the protocols include daily symptom and temperature checks for players, team management and other officials involved in the competition, as well as stringent hygiene and cleaning, contact tracing practices, and asking anyone who feels unwell to stay away, self-isolate and get tested.
“A major factor will be ensuring we control who enters the team bubbles and that we have necessary measures in place to mitigate against any risk to the health of all team members, as well as the health of their families and the wider community,” said Rasmussen.
“Team members will be asked to minimise their contacts outside of the team environment and their family bubbles.”
The teams will also fly in and out on match days by charter flights, with the earlier kick off times allowing teams time to return to their home base after the games.
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Sky CEO Martin Stewart welcomed the news Super Rugby Aotearoa would soon be underway.
“This is superb news for sport fans, our partners New Zealand Rugby and SANZAAR, our team at Sky, and the players themselves. We look forward to working together to produce and deliver these exciting matches for New Zealanders and our global audience.”
As a result of the confirmation of the start of Super Rugby Aotearoa, NZR has now confirmed a start time for this year’s Mitre 10 Cup.
“With the support of the provincial unions, we have been able to schedule a full 14 team Mitre 10 Cup Premiership and Championship competition with kick off on 11 September,” said Robinson.
An amended Mitre 10 Cup draw will be released in due course.
NZR is continuing to look at options for this year’s Farah Palmer Cup and for the Black Ferns matches as the country builds up to Rugby World Cup 2021.
Super Rugby Aotearoa Schedule
Round One:
13 June – Highlanders v Chiefs at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 5.05pm
14 June – Blues v Hurricanes in Auckland (venue TBC) at 3.05pm
Round Two:
20 June – Chiefs v Blues at FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton at 5.05pm
21 June – Hurricanes v Crusaders at Sky Stadium, Wellington at 3.05pm
Round Three:
27 June – Blues v Highlanders in Auckland (venue TBC) at 5.05pm
28 June – Crusaders v Chiefs in Christchurch (venue TBC) at 3.05pm
Round Four:
4 July – Highlanders v Crusaders at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 5.05pm
5 July – Chiefs v Hurricanes at FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton at 3.05pm
Round Five:
11 July – Crusaders v Blues in Christchurch (venue TBC) at 5.05pm
12 July – Hurricanes v Highlanders at Sky Stadium, Wellington at 3.05pm
Round Six:
18 July – Hurricanes v Blues at Sky Stadium, Wellington at 5.05pm
19 July – Chiefs v Highlanders at FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton at 3.05pm
Round Seven:
25 July – Crusaders v Hurricanes in Christchurch (venue TBC) at 5.05pm
26 July – Blues v Chiefs in Auckland (venue TBC) at 3.05pm
Round Eight:
1 August – Chiefs v Crusaders at FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton at 5.05pm
2 August – Highlanders v Blues at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 3.05pm
Round Nine:
8 August – Hurricanes v Chiefs at Sky Stadium, Wellington at 5.05pm
9 August – Crusaders v Highlanders in Christchurch (venue TBC) at 3.05pm
Round Ten:
15 August – Highlanders v Hurricanes at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 5.05pm
16 August – Blues v Crusaders in Auckland (venue TBC) at 3.05pm
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful 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 comments