Super Rugby Aotearoa reached its anti-climactic conclusion last weekend with the cancellation of the final match between the Blues and Crusaders. While Eden Park switches from sold-out rugby venue to Covid-19 testing centre, Liam Napier and Christopher Reive dish out some awards. Without further ado, the winners are...
Super Rugby Aotearoa: The best and worst of the all-Kiwi competition
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Hoskins Sotutu, Warren Gatland, Will Jordan and Aaron Smith. Photos / Photosport
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He was the inspirational driving force they needed. In his influence on the Blues, Tuipulotu could be compared to Brodie Retallick's on the All Blacks. There is no higher compliment you could pay the big man. Long may it continue.
Christopher Reive: Aaron Smith. For the past seven years or so, Smith has been the benchmark for halfbacks in New Zealand.
This year, he took that mark to another level. Smith was reliable with quick, clean ball from the breakdown, with speed of delivery one of the key facets of his game.
His vision on attack was impressive, knowing when to pass, when to kick and when to take the line on himself.
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Often seen barking orders at his team, Smith's leadership was vital for a Highlanders side many wrote off at the start of the campaign.
Best attacker
Napier: Richie Mo'unga. Ngani Laumape's range of skill and power and Will Jordan's effortless ability to glide through minimal space frequently captivated but it's impossible to overlook Mo'unga's magic.
After a slow start to the season, Mo'unga found form following lockdown.
He dominated many statistical categories, including try assists and points, while producing the second-most offloads and defenders beaten – but the key indicator is his instance on taking the outcome on his shoulders in the telling moments.
The Blues are still kicking themselves about Mo'unga's quick restart that sparked the Crusaders' comeback victory in Christchurch.
Reive: Will Jordan. Is there any other option?
The young Crusaders fullback finished the season as the leading try scorer (six), first in linebreaks (15), defenders beaten (39) and metres carried (724), was second in offloading (nine) and fourth in total carries (88).
After showing glimpses of why so many were excited about him last year, this season gave him the opportunity for a full breakout campaign and he did exactly that.
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Best defender
Napier: Ofa Tuungafasi. Any number of loose forwards could claim this gong.
New Zealand is blessed with hard-hitting loosies who love contact – Sam Cane, Shannon Frizell, Dalton Papalii. But if there is one ball of muscle no one wants to confront, it's Tuungafasi.
New Zealand's leading tight-head prop tackled with such ferocity it was near assault.
It's no easy feat for any 129kg tight five member to defend the close in channels when the likes of Damian McKenzie and Jordan are lurking.
All season, though, Tuungafasi was the dead end street bouncer.
Reive: Dillon Hunt. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like there should have been a lot more noise made about Hunt's efforts this season.
The only player to make 100 tackles this season – averaging about 12 tackles per game – Hunt also secured 10 turnovers in his eight appearances.
A hard hitter who gets stuck in to his work, Hunt was been a talisman for the Highlanders this season.
The loose forward stocks in New Zealand really stepped up in Super Rugby Aotearoa, and Hunt was among the best of them.
Breakout star
Napier: Caleb Clarke. At the start of a new four-year cycle outside backs are lining up for the black jersey – yet it was Clarke who soared above the pack.
Time on the sevens circuit earlier this year elevated Clarke's game to another level. Sevens enhanced his aerial skills to the point he hopes opposition kick him the ball.
Clarke's size and strength make him incredibly difficult to bring down – he regularly offloads in contact – and he's then got pace in space to contain too.
The scary part of Clarke's development is he's 21 and his best is yet to come. A nod, too, the way of Hurricanes midfielder Peter Umaga-Jensen and Blues No 8 Hoskins Sotutu, who missed the back end of the season with a knee injury.
Reive: Hoskins Sotutu. If you'd watched the Mitre 10 Cup over the past couple of seasons, you would have known a little about Sotutu before Super Rugby Aotearoa.
If you hadn't, you sure knew who he was after the first four games of the Blues' campaign.
Unfortunately, the barnstorming No 8 was felled by injury and limited to just four games, but in that time, he had the nation demanding he be locked away by New Zealand Rugby long-term, with England and Fiji circling, if not being included in the All Blacks squad as soon as possible.
Hard running and heavy hitting, Sotutu certainly made his mark.
Biggest frustration
Napier: Refereeing blunders. The standard of New Zealand refereeing needs improvement.
Sure, officials initially had a tough time policing the crackdown on the breakdown which settled as the competition progressed. But there was far too much inconsistency in rulings, a lack of common sense at times when consulting the TMO, and match-altering decisions.
The Chiefs copped a couple of shockers – Sevu Reece's try following a clear knock-on in Hamilton case in point.
On balance, Australia has a better standard of refereeing at present.
Sorting out the unnecessary clash of team jerseys should also be high on the agenda.
Reive: Chiefs. Hands up if you, too, had the Chiefs coming out on top of the competition at the start of the campaign.
Plagued by injuries, having suspect calls go against them, and five of their eight losses being by seven points or less, you can only imagine how tough the viewing was for Chiefs fans.
So much potential, zero reward.
Shock of the season
Napier: Chiefs. No one predicted the Chiefs' demise. Based on their early-season form some, in fact, tipped them to win the NZ derby tournament.
Pre and post-lockdown they were, however, a progressively different team.
Despite Lachlan Boshier's best efforts, nine straight losses remain incomprehensible.
Reive: Bryn Gatland wins game one for the Highlanders. The stage was set in the first game of the season.
Projected title contenders versus consensus strugglers.
Warren Gatland's Chiefs against Bryn Gatland's Highlanders.
The Highlanders got the better of the first half, taking a 22-16 lead at the break.
The $1.33 favourite Chiefs fought back late in the second half through an Anton Lienert-Brown try and Damian McKenzie dropped goal to move two points ahead with two minutes remaining, only to see Bryn Gatland step up and respond with a dropped goal of his own in the dying stages of the game to steal the win from the side coached by his father.
Few expected the Highlanders to tip up the Chiefs, and to do it in such dramatic fashion was just beautiful.
Surprise package
Napier: Hurricanes. It's easy to forget the upheaval the Hurricanes endured prior to this season.
First they lost the irreplaceable Beauden Barrett. Then with John Plumtree promoted to the All Blacks, Jason Holland was thrown in the deep end as a rookie head coach a matter of weeks before the season.
Holland and new forwards coach Chris Gibbes watched their men lose the first two games of the Kiwi competition but they then instigated a five-match unbeaten run that included being the first team to knock over the Crusaders in Christchurch in four years.
So much for a rebuilding year while alternating Jackson Garden-Bachop and Fletcher Smith at first five-eighth.
Reive: Highlanders. Few outside of the great southern lands expected much from the Highlanders in this competition.
With the bookies, they were the only team to begin the competition paying double figures to win it outright. Yes, they finished fourth of five teams with a 3-8 record, but they were competitive in every match; their five losses were by an average margin of 10 points, though that figure is blown out a touch by a 20-point loss to the Crusaders.
The Highlanders did what they've done so often, taking the doubt and using it as motivation, putting on tough, rugged performances week after week and competing with every team.
Rate Super Rugby Aotearoa out of 10
Napier: Nine. The closest you could get to test match rugby. Look no further than significant, in some cases double, crowd and viewership uplift to gauge the success of this tournament.
Reive: Seven. There was a lot of frustration through the opening two rounds given the initiatives introduced around the breakdown to try to speed up the game and lower injuries in that area, which led to plenty of penalties.
Once the teams and referees were more accustomed to them the rugby was enjoyable to watch, though not having a finals series or a grand final took some suspense out of it.
How should the competition look next year?
Napier: Five Kiwi teams, two to three Australian sides, one Pacific venture if it can be ready in time.
If not, give the Pacific team another 12 months to safeguard their long-term future.
Border restrictions will, of course, play a major role in determining any format.
Reive: South Africa seem set on leaving Super Rugby, which offers opportunity.
In a perfect, Covid-19-free world, we'd be able to get a competition together with the five New Zealand franchises, three from Australia, an Argentinian entry and a Pasifika entry.
The Jaguares developed into genuine Super Rugby contenders and with so many players in the team also fronting for Argentina, it only helps their national system.
That outcome would be the same for a Pasifika entry, with the long-term goal of developing the game.
Going to three Australian teams means the talent pool isn't so diluted and the teams will be stronger for it.
The New Zealand teams form one division, the others for a second.
Ten teams, two byes each and everyone plays each other twice.
The top team in each division makes the playoffs, and as do the two teams with the next best record.
