The 25th Super Rugby season starts tomorrow, but the silver anniversary will lose its shine with the absence of many stars who lit up the World Cup only a few months ago.
In the final season of the cumbersome conference system and one that will say sayonara to the no longer wanted Japanese Sunwolves, the talent vacuum will be highlighted from the first game when the Auckland Blues host the Waikato Chiefs.
The Blues’ star signing from the off-season, Beauden Barrett — the All Blacks playmaker and double World Player of the Year — has an extended holiday written into his new contract and is not to be seen until the middle of April.
Photo: AFP
It is not just the Blues who are suffering, as the Chiefs’ Brodie Retallick, another former World Player of the Year, has been excused from Super Rugby so that he can play in Japan, but still be available for the All Blacks.
Most of the Springboks squad that lifted the World Cup in Japan are now scattered throughout Europe and Japan.
The powerful Crusaders forward pack, which laid the platform for their consecutive titles over the past three years, has been decimated with retirements and sabbaticals for Sam Whitelock, Kieran Read, Jordan Taufua, Owen Franks and Matt Todd, along with backline general Ryan Crotty.
However, coach Scott Robertson has taken a positive approach to the loss of talent.
“Obviously, a lot of those guys have been part of the furniture here for a long time, so there is a real fresh feel around the place,” he said. “It’s time for the next crop to come through and take a bit more on their shoulders.”
It is a view shared by ACT Brumbies head coach Dan McKellar who lost 157 Test caps with the departures of David Pocock, Christian Lealiifano, Henry Speight, Rory Arnold and Sam Carter after the World Cup.
Rather than buying big-name replacements, McKellar said he had confidence in his younger squad members to fill the void.
“We’ll back the young guys,” McKellar said. “They’re young guys, but we’re backing them because they’re ready to go and they’ll be ready to go on the 31st.”
The Brumbies open against the Queensland Reds who have picked up James O’Connor and Henry Speight to join Jordan Petaia and Samu Kerevi for a potent backline.
The Bulls play the Sharks who are without Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira, along with Ruan Botha and the Du Preez brothers, Dan and Jean-Luc.
The Sunwolves start their final season against the Rebels, while the Crusaders play the Waratahs.
The Stormers, who have kept Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit — while Eben Etzebeth and Damian de Allende have moved to France and Japan — play the Wellington Hurricanes and the Jaguares are at home to the Golden Lions.
Kylian Mbappe struck from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat a dogged CA Osasuna 1-0 on Tuesday to make a winning start in Spanish La Liga under new coach Xabi Alonso. The France striker, last season’s European Golden Shoe winner, scored early in the second half, after he was fouled in the area by Osasuna defender Juan Cruz. It was enough to seal the points in Alonso’s first game in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Madrid now unbeaten in their opening fixture of a league campaign since 2008. “You can see that Kylian wants to do even more
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
FIGHTBACK: Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Jiang Xinyu of China rallied from a set down to advance to the final of the women’s doubles at the Tennis in the Land Russian second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova on Thursday beat defending champion Linda Noskova 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-2 at the Monterrey Open to secure her place in the semi-finals of the US Open tune-up event. Alexandrova, 14th in the world rankings, started the decider brightly after two tightly contested sets and while Czech Noskova fought back to level at 2-2, the Russian regained control to seal the victory in just over two hours at the WTA 500 event. “I’m really glad that I could make it through, even in three sets, because it was difficult today — she served so well, she hit so
RSS