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Super Rugby is back with the possibility of Beauden Barrett making his Blues debut against the Hurricanes in the first round of the revised Kiwi competition.
The Blues will host the Hurricanes in Auckland on Sunday, June 14, the day after the opening game between the Highlanders and the Chiefs in Dunedin.
Anthony Au-Yeung / Getty-Images
Former Hurricane star Beauden Barrett will make his Blues debut next month.
The crusaders say goodbye the first weekend.
The new competition will be played over a period of 10 days a week, with two games every weekend at 5.05pm on Saturdays and at 3.05pm on Sundays.
Matches will be played in closed stadiums until the government advises on an approach to managing mass gatherings in controlled venues that will allow fans to return.
The games will be played at FMG Stadium Waikato, Sky Stadium and Forsyth Barr Stadium, but Eden Park in Auckland and Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch have yet to be confirmed as venues. It is understood that negotiations are still taking place between the clubs and those venues.
Kai Schwoerer / Getty-Images
Richie Mo’unga makes a break against the Highlanders at Orangetheory Stadium in February.
New Zealand Rugby revealed the draw on Monday, two months after the competition was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The government announced a change to National Alert Level 2 on Monday afternoon, paving the way for professional sport to resume, albeit with no fans in the stands.
The Super Rugby competition will conclude on August 16 with a game between Blues and Crusaders.
As a result, a full 14-team, 12-week Miter Cup 10 was delayed to begin on September 11.
The revised competition, called Super Rugby Aotearoa, will be the first elite-level rugby competition to resume anywhere in the world.
“This is great news for the game across the country,” said CEO Mark Robinson. “It has been a difficult time across the country and if this can go some way to provide leadership and inspiration for kiwis to make it difficult, then that is fantastic.”
“A lot of people around the world will be seeing this. We want to provide leadership, not just in New Zealand but throughout the sports world in terms of how we approach this. Therefore, it is essential that we do it well.”
Acting NZ Rugby medical adviser and former All Blacks doctor Dr. Deb Robinson said it was vital that the clubs follow strict hygiene and safety protocols as they begin a four-week build-up for the start of the season .
“It is really important because we need everyone to stay well, not only in terms of not catching Covid-19, but we need them to stay well overall because any kind of disease means we have to isolate people, send them to do the tests and wait for test results.
“Any kind of illness will make things difficult,” he said.
Dr. Robinson said that the Covid-19 protocols would create a different rugby environment than what was familiar.
“It is not going to look like a normal Super Rugby training or a week of travel,” he said. “There will be many changes, but all of New Zealand will face many changes in the next two weeks. We are no different.”
Mark Robinson confirmed the Farah Palmer Cup and any possible Black Ferns fixtures remained a work in progress.
“We are very committed to the women’s game and trying to do something. It just takes a little time and understanding of our situation around the resources available later in the year,” she said.
Robinson confirmed that All Blacks would play in the Miter 10 Cup later in the year if there were no test commitments during that period.
