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Blues star nearly beats Beauden Barrett's fitness record as Super Rugby pre-season training kicks-off

(MICHAEL BRADLEY/AFP via Getty Images)

Super Rugby sides across New Zealand have returned to training ahead of the 2021 campaign, kicking-off their pre-seasons in gut-busting fashion.

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Looking to build on their second-place finish in Super Rugby Aotearoa last year, the Blues congregated at their Alexandra Park training base on Thursday and were put through their paces with their annual Bronco test that takes place on the first day of each pre-season.

It was that fitness drill that saw All Blacks star Beauden Barrett‘s name dominate headlines seven months ago as he crushed the Auckland franchise’s test record upon return to training from last year’s COVID-19 lockdown.

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The test, which is used as a measurement of aerobic endurance, sees players run shuttles of 20 metres, 40 metres and 60 metres five times over as quickly as possible.

Barrett produced one of the quickest Bronco times seen by a professional rugby player in New Zealand, completing the 1.2km test in 4min 12sec.

By comparison, former All Blacks halfback Andy Ellis holds the Crusaders Bronco record with a time of 4min 23sec, while ex-All Blacks captain Richie McCaw is the Christchurch side’s loose forward record-holder at 4min 30sec.

Others such as Jordie Barrett of the Hurricanes and Damian McKenzie of the Chiefs are believed to have clocked times little over 4min 20sec last year, but one Blues star went close to claiming Beauden’s title as Bronco king earlier this week.

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With Barrett missing due to sabbatical commitments in Japan, halfback Jonathan Ruru was crowned the Blues’ Bronco champion this year with a sizzling time of 4min 16sec, finishing just four seconds shy of the club’s record.

The impressive feat comes after Ruru finished last year’s Bronco test just two seconds behind Barrett to post a cracking time of 4min 14sec, two seconds fast than this season’s effort.

“Listen to the trainers and just run,” Ruru said in a video posted to the Blues’ social media channels when asked what the secret behind his rapid time was.

“You’re always sketched about coming into a Bronco, especially after Christmas and New Years. I think most of the boys hit their targets, which is good, so good start for the year.”

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While it wasn’t revealed how the majority of the other Blues players fared, hooker Kurt Eklund took to the camera to share his Bronco time of 4min 56sec.

“We’re going home happy today, people,” he said after having targeted a time of under five minutes earlier in the video.

The Blues aren’t the only side to have returned to training this year, as former All Blacks forward Vaea Fifita shared two clips on Instagram of the Hurricanes squad sweating it out in a boxing class.

“Good to be back with the @hurricanesrugby brothers,” the 11-test All Black captioned the post.

 

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The Chiefs also took to Instagram to mark the return of their players seven weeks out from the new Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign.

“Back to the hard mahi… bring it 2021,” the Hamilton franchise captioned the post that features photos of Angus Ta’avao, Nathan Harris, Laghlan McWhannell and Bradley Slater working out in the club’s gym.

Super Rugby Aotearoa gets underway on February 26 when the Highlanders host the Crusaders at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.

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J
JW 17 minutes ago
Let's be real about these All Blacks

The opening loss to Argentina by 38-30..

Was anything but fine margins, the scoreline was flattering for that game. They were beat in every margin but most emphatically be effort of Argentina. They were slow and likely arrogant in their prep following the England series. You can see the effect on the selection and poor messaging all the playmakers started receiving from the coaching setup there after.


Otherwise though there was also a lot of really good stuff that can too easily be labelled as lucky by people intent on making a point. The team was far from certain and clinical though and the best that can be said of their losses was that they were largely due to some atrocious decisions with cards twice against SA and the neckroll last weekend (you can't take away the 14 point try, that is typical French rugby and to be expected).


This team is good enough to be able to cope with those sorts of difficulties if they could just execute a bit better (but only as well as they have traditionally mind you). Sound selections aside. Some good positivity in this article but we know it's not going to be easy as the ABs have just been trying to return to their DNA after Fosters control but countries like Aussie have a much bigger task in that respect and SA is even trying to change their DNA (again). Those two opponents (along with France obviously) are going to provide some tough competition in seeing who can lead into the 2027 RWC with the best prospects and form behind them.

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