Super Rugby 2020

Stargazer

https://twitter.com/rugbycomau/status/1219883446882881536

Stargazer

Ardie Savea's goggles are staying.

Unfortunately for Hurricanes supporters and fans of Savea's all-action style, the loose forward won't make a Super Rugby appearance until well into the second half of the season but confirmed yesterday he was committed to the space age eyewear which caused a storm at last year's World Cup.

Savea said he would probably wear headgear in order to keep the goggles' strap secure.

Savea, who has played 44 tests and was one of the game's standouts last year, will see his surgeon again today but has few expectations around when he will return to the playing field. He had surgery before Christmas and has now returned to the gym, where he can do upper body weights, biking and boxing.

"Hopefully he'll say I can put a bit more weight on the knee. I'm not expecting much, I just know it's feeling better each day, so that's a positive.

"I'm just taking my time. The advice is you have to look after your knee or it can come back and bite you on the bum. I just have to do everything I can to get it right — fully right."

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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12302298

Duluth

Yeetyaah

@Duluth watched it last night, not bad. I wonder why Karl Te Nana is wearing a Chiefs jersey and also what sponsor Mils has taped over on his jersey.

Stargazer

This week's preseason games:

Thu 23 January 2020 - Greenfield Park, Albury (NSW) - 2 games, k/o 5.45pm & 8.15pm NZT (3.45pm & 6.15pm local time)
Rebels v Brumbies
Game 2 streamed LIVE on brumbies.rugby

Friday 24 January 2020 - 2.30pm - Chiefs HQ, Hamilton
Chiefs v Chiefs (inter-squad match)

Friday 24 January 2020 - 3.00pm - Takapuna RFC, Onewa Domain
Blues v Hurricanes

Fri 24 January 2020 - 6.00pm - Wanaka A&P Show Grounds
Highlanders v Crusaders:
LIVE on Sky Sport 1

Fri 24 January 2020 - 10.30pm NZT (7.30pm AEST) - Dalby, Queensland, AU
Queensland Reds v NSW Waratahs
Game streamed LIVE on reds.rugby

Sat 25 January 2020 - 8.45am NZT (Fri 24 Jan - 4.45pm local) - San Isidro Club, Buenos Aires
Jaguares v Georgia XV
Will probably be streamed LIVE on espn.com.ar

Sat 25 January 2020 - 4.45pm NZT (12.45pm local time) - Mikuni World Stadium, Kitakyushu
Sunwolves v Challenge Barbarians

KiwiMurph

https://www.rugby.com.au/news/2020/01/23/super-rugby-waratahs-siosifa-lisala

The Waratahs have put the final piece of their 2020 squad puzzle in place with the signing of centre Siosifa Lasila.

Waratahs coach Rob Penney hinted at a new centre signing some weeks ago and it was reported then that Lasila was reported to be on his way, the club only confirmed his addition on Thursday.

The Japanese Sevens international and former Tonga U23 player played under Penney at Japanese division two club Toyota and it was that relationship that brought him to NSW.

Nepia

@KiwiMurph said in Super Rugby 2020:

https://www.rugby.com.au/news/2020/01/23/super-rugby-waratahs-siosifa-lisala

The Waratahs have put the final piece of their 2020 squad puzzle in place with the signing of centre Siosifa Lasila.

Waratahs coach Rob Penney hinted at a new centre signing some weeks ago and it was reported then that Lasila was reported to be on his way, the club only confirmed his addition on Thursday.

The Japanese Sevens international and former Tonga U23 player played under Penney at Japanese division two club Toyota and it was that relationship that brought him to NSW.

Good to see the Australians are also wasting Super spots on overseas journeymen just like us.

Stargazer

The Challenge Barbarians' line-up is in the media release.

https://twitter.com/sunwolves/status/1220214943288442881

Wurzel

@Yeetyaah said in Super Rugby 2020:

@Duluth watched it last night, not bad. I wonder why Karl Te Nana is wearing a Chiefs jersey and also what sponsor Mils has taped over on his jersey.

Mils is a Holden ambassador, hence blacking out the Ford logo. They forgot to tape over the small Ford logo on the back of the jersey when the turns and walks up the steps

Yeetyaah

@Wurzel ah right. I did think it was Ford as it's an older jersey, but coz of the small one I thought it couldn't be.

Higgins

@mikey07 said in Super Rugby 2020:

@Stargazer Does that mean he won’t be back for the Magpies this year? They seem to sign super rugby contracts and not come back to play Mitre 10 Cup which sucks.

Not necessarily in this case as we have got Danny Toala who has way more going for him the Ili has.

Stargazer

Full time: Blues 29 - 28 Hurricanes (HT: 17 - 14)

Scorers:
Blues - Tony Lamborn, Jordan Hyland, Dalton Papali'i, Akira Ioane, Sam Nock tries; Stephen Perofeta, Harry Plummer con
Hurricanes - Ben Lam, Ricky Riccitelli, Jamie Booth, Asafo Aumua tries; Fletcher Smith 3x, Jackson Garden-Bachop con

Stargazer

Oh dear, will this apply to all All Blacks (at all 5 franchises)? Is this imposed by the ABs coaches/management?

https://twitter.com/sumostevenson/status/1220560049447194624

Bovidae

I was going to ask if this was going to happen as none of the ABs have played yet. It will make selection more interesting and squad depth an advantage.

Nepia

@Stargazer said in Super Rugby 2020:

Oh dear, will this apply to all All Blacks (at all 5 franchises)? Is this imposed by the ABs coaches/management?

https://twitter.com/sumostevenson/status/1220560049447194624

I don't get the whiny-ness of that tweet - it's the opening round and just about every team in the comp will have a player on restricted minutes for some reason or another. Plus it happens pretty much every year. Plus NZR pays the bills for those players.

Stargazer

@Nepia IMO, the extended and other mandatory ABs breaks and restrictions haven't been good for the quality of rugby in the affected games, the last few years. Also, fans want to see the best possible team play. It's hard enough to get bums on seats if all players are available. Why make it harder?

I guess, what annoys me most is that we hear this now, instead of NZR just being open about it and stating in their media releases that there will be certain restrictions on game time. Which other restrictions are or will be imposed that we don't yet know about?

Bovidae

@Stargazer Why not Coles too? I'm sure the SR coaches have been well aware this was going to happen even if the public wasn't informed. The Canes aren't that affected compared to the Crusaders and Chiefs.

Machpants

I can't remember wehere but it is something like 20/40/60 minutes for the first 3 games for ABs? Anyway, it is not even news. All the ABs that were in the RWC Squad and are still around will be on reduced game time - however they implement it. It's been like that for dozen or more years. And it's the same this year, quelle surprise. It's like the fkn commentators moaning when someone get's penalised for not rolling away when they couldn't- yes we know it's not possible to roll away but them's the rules, has been for years, stop fkn mentioning it every time FFS! /rant

Nepia

@Stargazer I don't think the odd missing ABs make much of a difference to early season standard of play, it always takes a while to get going.

I'd rather we manage our players than have them play all through the comp.

Hopefully J Barrett is back when the Chiefs play the Canes.

Stargazer

The preseason game between the Highlanders and Crusaders is on the Highlanders FB page instead of Sky Sport:

https://www.facebook.com/HighlandersFB/videos/1638230119634167/

The Silver Fern

Super Rugby 2020