Welcome back, Super Round. The three-day rugby festival went down without a hitch as the city of Christchurch welcomed 10 of the 11 Super sides to their brand new stadium in a weekend that had everything from a Brumbies capitulation to an extra-time thriller.
Read on as we discuss some of the key talking points from the weekend.
BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME
Congratulations Christchurch and the Crusaders. Super Round was in fact super with a three-day rugby festival taking over the city, proving the concept was never wrong, simply the location was.
Previously hosted at Melbourne’s AAMI Park from 2022-24 — it was dropped from the fixtures last year given the axing of the Rebels and the expiry of the hosting rights — the location was always questionable. In the middle of AFL heartland and attached to a team that had few rusted on supporters, it failed to garner the crowds and was lambasted by New Zealand media as a “flop”.
But across three sold out days, in front of close to 75,000 fans, the Super Round concept was reborn and reenergized in Christchurch, a city that has turned to the Crusaders on several occasions to get them through the darkest of days. In simple terms, it was a raging success.
Sixteen years on from the 2010 Christchurch earthquake that collapsed Lancaster Park’s stands and 15 years from the disastrous 2011 earthquake that tore the city apart, killing 185 people, the city has waited for one of its final puzzle pieces to be placed.
With a glass roof to stave fans from the elements, 25,000 permanent seats (an additional 5,000 can be added), one New Zealand stadium or Te Kaha — strength and resilience — welcomed in a new era not just for Christchurch and the Crusaders, but for Super Round itself.
From activations around the stadium and the city, including fan meetings with players, buskers and dancers along the ‘fan trail’ between the Bridge of Remembrance and the stadium, and events at local bars just a 15-minute stroll from the stadium, to the five exhilarating matches that were played out across the three days, fans were treated to a pure festival of rugby in rugby heartland that so deserved it.
Venues Ōtautahi told RNZ ahead of the weekend they had 650 kegs on site; 50,000 soft drinks; 9000 burgers; 7000 American hotdogs; and about 6000kg of chips ready for the estimated 75,000 fans set to pack out the stadium.
From the opening match that saw a see-sawing affair between the hosts Crusaders and the Waratahs before a rampaging team in red took the game away in the final 10 minutes to secure a much needed bonus point, to an extra-time thriller between the Blues and the Reds that saw the Auckland-based franchise break Queenslander hearts and condemn Australia to a 0-3 weekend.
The only team to miss out on the excitement were the Western Force, who no doubt will be chomping at the bit to be included at next year’s event.
The spectacle was spectacular and within minutes of the Chiefs rounding out the weekend with a win over the Fijian Drua, Super Rugby CEO Jack Mesley, Crusaders boss Colin Mansbridge, and Christchurch New Zealand chief executive Ali Adams were facing the media making plans for next year’s Super Round.
“It’s fair to say, whilst we had high hopes, we certainly didn’t probably expect the success that it’s been this weekend,” Mesley said.
“I think the success of it obviously means that we want Super Round in our calendar, and we want it in great cities like Christchurch.”
Already the Highlanders have put their hands to host next year’s event, and no doubt several more will be keen to get the three-day festival to their town, but given the success in Christchurch, its incredible new stadium and proximity to their city centre, it would seem cruel to take away the event they revitalised.
“Obviously, these guys, the Crusaders, and the city backed it to bring it back. We will certainly be starting there. But, you know, we will have conversations with others as well.”
Either way, Super Round is back and after this weekend it’s unlikely to ever go away.
PENNEY TAKES A GAMBLE, RENNIE COULD TAKE THE WINNINGS
“Leicester, you can play both centre and flanker?”
“What? Like it’s hard?!”: Leicester Fainga’anuku, probably.
It was the shock positional switch that had tongues wagging in the lead up to the opening match of the weekend. The Crusaders taking on the Waratahs, a must-win clash for the home side’s playoff ambitions, their first in their new stadium, in front of a sold-out crowd and against one of their fiercest rivals, and Rob Penney rolled the dice on what could define the historic night.
In the lead up to kick off Sky Sports commentators asked former All Blacks and Crusaders great Richie McCaw his thoughts on the switch: “It’s going to prove that backs can play in the forwards… I always said they weren’t tough enough.” While it was very much tongue in cheek there was still a feeling of trepidation of what this move could actually bring. Would it crash and burn? Or be a masterstroke from Penney?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the centre turned flanker put on a highlight reel display and rewarded Penney for his gamble.
Despite a slow start, conceding an early breakdown penalty, Fainga’anuku came into his own, shrugging off the error to quickly use his midfield skills to carry hard out wide, while his ball handling kept the ball alive on several occasions. Defensively he was big, on one occasion battering straight into Waratahs wing Andrew Kellaway to cause the error, finishing the night with nine tackles, while he also worked hard around the breakdown.
But his dominance came with ball in hand. Finishing the night with 19 carries — he had the most of the match — gaining 39 metres, while he bundled through defenders, taking two with him as he crossed over the line to cap off his night, while another barnstorming run set up another.
“There’s a lot of superlatives. He did everything we asked of him, plus more. And he’s such a competitive man, and we knew he had a skill set to do the job,” Penney said post-match
It’s no secret the hybrid player has been in the eyesight of coaches for several years now with Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus turning to centre Andre Esterhuizen as a flanker off the bench last year, to great effect, while England have also dabbled in the art of the hybrid player with No.8 Ben Earl given a run in the centres last year.
Given Fainga’anuku’s success against the Waratahs, it may not be long until we see Dave Rennie give the 26-year-old a chance at the hybrid role for the All Blacks.
0-3: AUSSIES’ PLAYOFF HOPES DEALT HUGE BLOW
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham didn’t hold back following his side’s blowout loss to the Hurricanes on Saturday night: “I think the results maybe would indicate, particularly the last two weeks, that we’ve gone backwards.”
He’s not wrong.
With three straight wins to start the season, including a 26-year hoodoo breaking win over the Crusaders and a strong win over the Blues, they have since dropped five of their last seven with a shock loss to the Drua last week and now a hammering 45-12 loss to the Hurricanes in a match in which they barely looked in the contest.
Their lineout was poor, pipped off multiple times in try-scoring positions, while their kicking was substandard, both from inside their own territory and inside the Hurricanes’, kicking four dead — two from penalties and two from hand. You can’t expect to beat the table toppers — and secure the first Aussie rout of all five Kiwi teams in a regular season — making such errors.
While the Brumbies remain in contention for a top four spot — they currently sit fifth — their ability to rise will come at the detriment of their fellow Aussie Super sides.
With the Reds sitting three points behind them in sixth and the Waratahs just barely in the equation on 19 points at eighth, the Brumbies will face all three Australian sides — the Reds in Brisbane on Saturday, the Western Force in Canberra, and then the Waratahs in Sydney the following week — making the run to the finals treacherous and requiring wins against all three.
But with the Hurricanes, Blues, and Chiefs all but locked into the top three, it leaves just three finals spots left and with the Highlanders jostling their way into the pack it’s almost impossible for all three Australian sides to make the playoffs.
