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No 'bore of the same' on the cards for next season despite minimal changes to Super Rugby Aotearoa

Eden Park. (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images)

The 2020 season has been one unlike any other – and it’s likely to never be repeated.

The half-season termination of Super Rugby, the revamped local competitions, the absurdity of whatever’s going on with the Rugby Championship – it’s the kind of thing you couldn’t dream up if you tried.

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With relative normality a possibility to resume next year (touch wood), New Zealand Rugby now has time on their hands to assess how to best move forward.

Of course, international travel could still be restricted in 2021, which limits options considerably.

Video Spacer

The Aotearoa Rugby Pod panel with James Parsons and Bryn Hall discuss what to expect from this All Blacks side heading into The Rugby Championship in the midst of a disrupted 2020 season coming off the back of a World Cup loss.

Video Spacer

The Aotearoa Rugby Pod panel with James Parsons and Bryn Hall discuss what to expect from this All Blacks side heading into The Rugby Championship in the midst of a disrupted 2020 season coming off the back of a World Cup loss.

The relationship between NZR and Rugby Australia is also at its “lowest ebb” according to RA chairman Hamish McLennan.

Having factored in the above, the New Zealand union has seemingly settled on trying to repeat history next year by rolling out a slightly revamped Super Rugby Aotearoa competition.

The home and away, 10-week regular season is still on the cards, but a grand final will be added to spice up the final weeks of the round-robin, should the Crusaders run away with the competition again.

In Australia’s Super Rugby AU competition, the top three teams all progressed to sudden death footy. It certainly prolonged interest in the final rounds, given the Brumbies had already drawn well clear and finished up three points ahead of the chasing Reds, despite the Queenslanders’ win in the final match of the regular season.

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Of course, having three out of five sides still around to play in the knockouts is a tad absurd, which is why Super Rugby Aotearoa will introduce just a solitary finals match between first and second on the ladder in 2021.

The Crusaders will still enter the competition as comfortable favourites but, as the Chiefs and Hurricanes both showed this year, the Cantabrians aren’t unbeatable, and a one-off final could fall any team’s way.

Speaking of the Chiefs, if they’re able to bounce back and find their mojo after a relative annus horribilis in 2020, there will already be plenty more interest in next season’s repeat of this year’s competition.

If the relationship between RA and NZR can be repaired, then a cross-over series between the New Zealand and Australian teams beckons – though some Kiwis will be wondering why the most interesting part of the season, the NZ derbies, will be taking place in the first half of the season with the trans-Tasman matches possibly serving up an anticlimactic end to the club season.

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It’s in 2022 when NZR really plan on taking things to the next level, with three expansion teams set to be decided upon in late November. That would give the new teams plenty of time to court talent for a competition that won’t kick off for almost 15 months – which makes a lot more sense than just the three months preparation that a team would have if they were included for 2021.

While it would be exciting to have a Pacifika team join Super Rugby Aotearoa next year (and, no doubt, long-due), an extra year of preparation won’t stymie the interest in bringing more Pacific Island players into Super Rugby.

Whether the likes of the South China Lions or Western Force can assemble a squad similar in strength to the Hurricanes or Blues still needs to be assessed, because nothing would kill the competition faster than adding some lightweight cannon-fodder. With over a year of planning and recruiting time, however, their chances of success will only improve.

Still, will adding a grand final and some Australian cross-over matches keep Kiwi fans enticed next year?

When Super Rugby Aotearoa kicked off, it was the only major rugby competition being played across the world and it naturally attracted viewers from all corner of the globe. That won’t be the case next year, assuming we don’t have another worldwide shutdown, and an international audience will be harder to attract.

Closer to home, New Zealand stadiums were overflowing thanks to the rejuvenated interest in rugby of any sort, let alone high-quality local derbies. That was partially thanks to the product on offer, but it was also in part due to the fact that we’d had a dearth of matches for months.

With the Rugby Championship not set to conclude until December the 12th (or the 5th, if NZR get their way), there’s likely not going to be quite as much thirst for rugby when Super Rugby Aotearoa kicks off in February as there was this season.

But if the Blues lining up the Crusaders at Eden Park on a Sunday afternoon can’t bring in a full stadium, then non-international level rugby really is dead in New Zealand, and that would require a full-scale investigation in of itself.

Hopefully – for the sakes of all of rugby’s stakeholders in NZ – Kiwis will once again embrace Super Rugby Aotearoa. Expansion can come in 2022, if it’s deemed necessary, but next year is a good time to take a little bit of a breather from change and let the on-field action be the main talking point.

The competition was an unmitigated success this year and providing crowds are allowed and the weather holds up, there’s every reason to believe that the golden period will continue for one more year before fans start hungering for increased diversity.

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RedWarrior 1 hour ago
Three-way race to be number one in World Rugby men's rankings

IF SA and NZ win then its 1,2,3 SA/NZ/IRL Otherwise as you were. This is largely irrelevant beyond bragging rights.


As I have pointed out elsewhere the practical use of the Rankings is to determine the seedings bands for the RWC draw. The draw takes place early 2026 and hopefully the rankings will be taken from then.


Important to be in the top 6, the top 12. (and likely the top 4).

This is because there are now 6 groups in the RWC 2027.

If you are in top 6 you are in Seeding Band 1. That means none of the other top 6 will be in your group.

Seeding Band 2 are teams from 7-12, who will have a top 6 team but no other 7-12 team.

After England's defeat by NZ there is clear water between NZ in 3rd, France in 4th and England in 5th. England are desperate for top4, ill come back and explain why later.

Lets look at Seeding Band 1 and 6th place. If you make 6th, no top 6 team is in your group, you are top dog. If you win your group, you won't be facing a top 6 team in your 1/8th final, you will be facing a weaker team. If you fail to make 6th place you WILL have a top 6 team in your group and if you don't win your group you WILL (probably) meet a top 6 in the 1/8 final. That's massive.


Its Argentina holding 6th now. Assuming England hold 5th, then its a 4 horse race for 6th. Argentina, Scotland, Italy and ...Australia. (ranked 6,7,8,9)

Australia play the Lions in NH summer 2025 they are running out of time to get up to 6th for their own RWC. They MUST make a move now. They must beat Wales and they really must beat Scotland to gain points and take points off them. Could they surprise England or Ireland? England may be the better bet but Schmidt knows Ireland so well having masterminded their downfall in France.

Another one to watch is Italy V Argentina. Italy are ambitious and they will want to start pushing the likes of Argentina. If they win this they are still in the hunt. Well worth a watch either way.


Top4: I think the top 6 will be seeded, all the way through from the draw. If thats the case then the top 4 will be seeded to avoid each other until the semi. Good for more certainty around ticket sales etc. That's a possible reason why England want in there. You're not in there you are hitting a top 4 team in a QF. That's an extra 50:50 match you can do without and avoid by being top 4.


Lets look at what Seeding bands might look like with todays rankings:


Seeding Band 1

IRE/SA/NZ/FRA/ENG/ARG

Seeding Band 2

SCO/ITA/AUS/FIJ/WAL/GEO


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: FIJI

1/8 final opponent GEORGIA

Prognosis: advance to 1/4 and potentially beyond


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if NOT in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: SOUTH AFRICA

1/8 final opponent NEW ZEALAND

Prognosis: You know the prognosis


I am pretty sure this is not lost on Joe Schmidt?


Keep in mind when enjoying the matches.

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