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The winners and losers of the opening round of Super Rugby 2020
We may only have just ticked over into February, but Super Rugby is back in full swing with 14 of the competition’s 15 sides in action over the weekend just gone by.
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Some teams surprised with dominating displays and shock upsets, while others picked up right from where they left off last year, whether that was through an anticipated victory or a capitulation leading to defeat.
With that in mind, here are our picks for Super Rugby’s winners and losers in the opening round of the 2020 campaign.
Continue reading below…
Winners
Aaron Cruden
It had been three years since Aaron Cruden last donned a Chiefs jersey prior to gracing Eden Park for the 2020 season-opener against the Blues on Friday evening.
He had to wait until the second half to make his long-awaited return for the franchise of which he helped lead to back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, but if his performance three days ago was anything to go by, then it will be no surprise to see the 31-year-old veteran starting against the Crusaders in Hamilton this week.
Cruden was instrumental in overturning a 19-5 half-time deficit into a compelling 37-29 victory where he exuded class, confidence and experience.
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The influence he cast upon the Chiefs’ backline after being injected into the clash was clear for all to see, as Warren Gatland’s side ran in four second half tries to complete an impressive comeback.
Cruden showed guile in his running game to set-up Solomon Alaimalo’s 69th minute try and composure to slot a crucial drop goal six minutes later to illustrate the importance of having a world-class playmaker at the helm of any Super Rugby side.
By luring the 50-test All Black back to Waikato Stadium, the Chiefs possess exactly that.
Sunwolves
You would be hard pressed to find any punter who saw the Sunwolves’ hugely surprising 36-27 victory over the Melbourne Rebels in round one coming.
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A scheduling clash between Super Rugby and the Top League resulted in all but three players from last year’s squad defect to Japan’s premier domestic competition, leaving them bare of almost any firepower within their ranks.
Add to that the departure of revolutionary head coach Tony Brown to the Highlanders, and it was difficult to envisage the Japanese franchise winning a single match in their final season of existence.
That didn’t stop the Sunwolves from tearing apart a lacklustre Rebels outfit in Fukuoka, though, as the Japanese franchise ran in five tries to catapult themselves to the top of the Australian conference in convincing fashion.
Stormers
The Cape Town-based club established themselves as early frontrunners for the South African conference title at Newlands on Saturday as they comprehensively dismantled a confused-looking Hurricanes side.
Stacked with numerous World Cup-winning Springboks, including national skipper Siya Kolisi and World Rugby player of the year Pieter-Steph du Toit, the hosts nullified their opponents to keep them scoreless and register an imposing 27-point winning margin.
The Stormers’ ability to take full advantage of many of the Hurricanes’ costly errors is what ultimately steered them to their maiden win of the year, with tries scored by halves duo Herschel Jantjies and Damian Willemse clear evidence of that.
While head coach John Dobson will be sweating over the fitness of both Kolisi and star hooker Bongi Mbonambi, his side have nevertheless made a bold statement and look a force to be reckoned with over the coming weeks.
Dominigo Miotti
Cruden has a rival for this week’s most emphatic super sub in the form of Jaguares first-five Dominigo Miotti.
Coming into the fray inside the first five minutes of his side’s 38-8 thumping of the Lions at Estadio Jose Amalfitani in place of the injured Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, Miotti ran riot against the former South African powerhouses.
Finishing the match with a try, five conversions, a penalty and two try assists, the 23-year-old was sublime in an unexpectedly elongated showing from the bench to drive the Argentines to a first-up win.
Now sitting atop the overall table, Miotti could well be handed the playmaking duties for the foreseeable future as the Jaguares look to go one better than last year’s runners-up finish.
Losers
Blues
There was no doubt that leading into the opening weekend of Super Rugby, the team that was facing the most pressure to perform from the get-go were the Blues.
With a play-off drought lasting nine years and no championships to speak of since 2003, the Auckland club are desperate for a top eight finish, and a round one victory over the Chiefs would have done wonders to alleviate fears of yet another underwhelming campaign.
Despite only one of the four franchises being victorious, collectively the Australian performances indicate the @wallabies could field a strong side in 2020, writes @ArgyleSport. #SuperRugby https://t.co/KpB1tqcF4r
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 3, 2020
However, Leon MacDonald’s squad blew a 19-5 half-time lead to fall to a resurgent second half Chiefs side in front of their home crowd, setting a tone of mediocrity for the season ahead once again.
For the sake of their fans, one hopes that the embattled franchise can clinch a morale-boosting victory in Newcastle against a youthful Waratahs team.
Rebels
After missing out on a breakthrough play-offs appearance last season, the bar has been set high for the Rebels this year as they aim for a first-ever quarter-finals berth.
Tasked with dispatching a seemingly lowly Sunwolves outfit in round one, most felt that the Melbourne-based side had been dealt a favourable hand to kick their 2020 campaign off the right way, but their opponents had other ideas.
Without the experience of departed stars Will Genia, Quade Cooper and Adam Coleman, the Rebels were blown off the park by a Sunwolves team that had nothing to lose, and their aspirations of making the post-season took an early dent.
Head coach Dave Wessels said in the lead-up to the clash that Super Rugby is a competition for men, but it looks as though his squad still has a lot of growing up to do.
Hurricanes
With Beauden Barrett gone to the Blues, Ardie Savea out with a long-term knee injury, Dane Coles left to rest in New Zealand and John Plumtree a late withdrawal to link up with the All Blacks’ coaching staff, the Hurricanes looked worryingly rusty in Cape Town without their quartet of integral figures.
Not even the return of TJ Perenara and Jordie Barrett could save the one-time Super Rugby champions, who severely lacked a clinical edge throughout their clash with the Stormers in hot conditions at Newlands.
Yellow cards to Vaea Fifita and Billy Proctor didn’t help their cause either, and Fletcher Smith’s quest to fill the gigantic boots of the older Barrett as the Hurricanes’ leading playmaker couldn’t have gone much more poorly.
A trip to Argentina to face the high-flying Jaguares beckons this week, and unless new head coach Jason Holland can find a quick-fix solution to the Hurricanes’ woes over the next few days, the Wellingtonians may have to wait until round three to pick up their first win of the year.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Hope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
1 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
9 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
39 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
9 Go to comments