Crusaders lie in wait: Full Super Rugby Aotearoa draw
It’s mate against mate in the much-anticipated battle for Super Rugby Aotearoa supremacy.
Are those chuckles coming out of camp Crusaders? The first ever all-Kiwi Super Rugby competition is about to start up and it’s been impossible to move the conversation past the Blues. The team that has barely taken a trick the last decade is suddenly the one everybody is talking about.
Of course the Crusaders will be loving it as we head into week one of Super Rugby Aotearoa, the post-Covid-19, hyper-local, hybrid league that has sprung up to lead the code’s response to the global sporting shutdown. The red-and-blacks have been champions the last three years, a record-breaking 10 times in total, and have only twice missed the finals of the wider competition since 1998. And they have a squad brimming with quality in 2020, improved even further post-shutdown with the addition of lock Sam Whitelock off the back of his Japan commitments.
But right now they’re hiding in plain sight, barely raising a ripple on the punditry pond as we contemplate New Zealand’s five franchises going toe-to-toe over the next 10 weeks to decide, if not Super Rugby’s finest side, certainly the Kiwi kings.
Part of that is circumstance. The Crusaders have a bye in week one, which opens with the Highlanders hosting the Chiefs on Saturday night, and the Hurricanes visiting the Blues on Sunday. And part of it is that their enduring excellence, their perpetual poise, is so ingrained, so established that it is almost taken for granted. No discussion required.
But also part of it is that the Blues are a genuinely compelling story, and seemingly getting better by the day. The club that had made just a single post-season appearance (2011) in the last decade, that has wallowed as perpetual woodenspooners in the Kiwi conference, has given every appearance that it has finally got its act together.
Before Super Rugby shut down in its holistic form in mid-March seven rounds in, the Blues had made quite the promising start, winning five of their first seven matches, including their last four on the bounce. Something very auspicious looked to be bubbling along in the big city.
Since then they have added probably the two finest New Zealand No 10s of the professional era in the form of Beauden Barrett and Dan Carter. It seems incredible to write this sentence, but the Blues – the team that has for so long been hamstrung by its lack of a world-class first fiveeighths – now has an embarrassment of riches in the playmaker position.
Barrett’s addition alone should lift a very good team into the excellent category. As we’ve seen time and again through his career, he’s a player who can make a significant impact at either 10 or fullback, and often during the same match. He looks well poised, returning from lockdown in prime condition, as evidenced by his recordbreaking Bronco test time.
All going to plan, the 29-year-old All Blacks linchpin will make his Blues debut against his old franchise, the Hurricanes, and younger brother, Jordie, next Sunday at Eden Park. If, as expected, the doors are open, rugby fans should turn up in their numbers to take in this captivating prospect.
Barrett, a competitor of the highest order, loves the big moments. And they don’t come much more elevated than this. Can arguably the most gifted player of his generation pilot the ultimate transformation for a franchise that has mastered the art of underachievement?
Barrett will have a pretty decent supporting cast around him, too, and the permutations are delicious. Finlay Christie is back to provide an edge at halfback alongside the improving Sam Nock, Otere Black looms as an excellent Plan B should Barrett be employed at fullback, and Rieko Ioane, TJ Faiane, red-hot rookie Mark Telea, Matt Duffie, Caleb Clarke and Joe Marchant should all enjoy running off the gifted attacker.
Then there’s Carter to consider. At 38 he is assuredly not the difference-maker he once was. But in this brutal competition, with eight Kiwi derbies in 10 weeks, depth and experience are going to be vital. Carter provides both in spades.
The great one is unlikely to be ready for action till round three or four, but he shapes as a heck of a backup plan, an excellent mentor and a potential difference-maker if he can be nursed through the physical nature of what lies ahead.
Forwards coach Tom Coventry’s message to his pack will be a simple one. It will centre on the requirement to give potentially the most explosive backline in the competition the ball to do their thing. Patrick Tuipulotu, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Karl Tu’inukuafe, James Parsons, Hoskins Sotutu, Akira Ioane, Dalton Papalii, Blake Gibson et all look well capable of just that.
The Crusaders, as mentioned, remain the team to beat. Before shutdown they had won five of six, and they now have Whitelock back to add further steel to a pack that exudes quality.
Their backline is world class, from Richie Mo’unga in the form of his life, to Braydon Ennor and Jack Goodhue in midfield, to Sevu Reece, George Bridge, Will Jordan and – maybe – David Havili out back.
Master motivator Scott Robertson has not put a foot wrong since stepping into the top coaching job and you have to think he will have his men primed for a challenge they will be energised by. The hype being generated by their northern rivals will simply serve as grist to their mill.
The Chiefs and Hurricanes will also fancy their chances, though both may need some luck with injuries through a competition sure to exact a brutal toll.
Both had won four of six matches before the shutdown. The Chiefs, remember, had rolled both the Crusaders and Blues and looked to be thriving under the astute guidance of Warren Gatland.
The break has allowed hard-nosed loosie Luke Jacobson (concussion) and test prop Nepo Laulala (knee) to leave behind nagging issues and they will add crucial depth to a pack that will fancy its chances of grabbing a fair share of the pill.
If they do the Chiefs will be a tough outfit, with a
backline thriving under the guidance of Aaron Cruden and the rapier thrust of Brad Weber. Anton Lienert-Brown, Damian McKenzie and Solomon Alaimalo are world-class finishers and creators, and Etene Nanai-Seturo returns from sevens duty to add depth to the speed brigade.
The Hurricanes cannot be under-estimated, especially with Ardie Savea back in the vanguard. The form Kiwi forward of 2019 will help address some shortcomings up front, and they have a backline more than capable of putting points up in a hurry.
Their first-up clash against the Blues should tell us a lot. The Aucklanders stung the Canes with their week six upset in the capital and Jason Holland’s men will be well motivated to answer that. Doubly so with the presence of their old mate Barrett in the opposition.
Then there’s the Highlanders. Nehe MilnerSkudder is a good pickup, as is Vilimoni Koroi. But it’s hard to view the southern men as anything but makeweight in an otherwise intriguingly even competition.
Aaron Mauger’s men had won just one of six matches prior to shutdown, and appeared decidedly short of the class required to win consistently at this level. Returning Josh Ioane to No 10 might help, but the southerners might have to be content with an upset or two.
With the world watching, and fans set to be welcomed, New Zealand rugby has a grand chance to remind everyone that it still produces the most talented players on the planet.