Just as this year's rugby season comes to an end, season 2020 is only 2 months away.
The Blues and Chiefs kick the year off on January 31, in Auckland, two weeks earlier than this season. Coaches from the 5 New Zealand franchises got their campaigns underway yesterday by rolling their arms over in a friendly game of backyard cricket, a nod to the national winter code moving further into the cricket season.
The earlier start means a shortened pre-season for the squads. Teams are due to begin assembling at the end of this month but aren't expecting their World Cup All Blacks until early January.
The short preparation window and late return of some members will require some franchises to test their depth early on. Highlanders coach Aaron Mauger says "it's a good challenge and really important one for us to get right. We set those guys up to be at their best early season. So conversations as [the returning All Blacks] come back from the World Cup, we'll connect with those guys next week or so and map it out and see how they're feeling."
Meanwhile, Blues coach Leon MacDonald says it's not the condition of his squad that he will be worried about by the end of January, "I think the biggest thing will be the heat and the early kick-off time and how hard the grounds are, that's probably what's going to catch us out. But I know the players will love the fact they get a shorter pre-season, less running on the hills and more playing the game, which they love," he says.
With a wealth of experience headed offshore since the last Super Rugby season, the likes of Keiran Read, Sonny Bill Williams, Brodie Retallick and Ben Smith, there are 46 "rookies" included in the 195 players named last night.
Among them is Southland Stags lock Manaaki Selby-Rickit (Ngāti Raukawa) who has earned himself a contract with the Highlanders. The 2m lock ventured south a couple of seasons ago in search of regular game time, following his sisters Te Huinga Reo and Te Paea who had done the same with their netball careers.
While a back injury restricted Selby-Rickits Mitre 10 Cup campaign this year, Highlanders coach Aaron Mauger says Selby-Rickit has been on their radar for a while, "we committed to Manaaki early, sort of last year and try to get him right for this Super Rugby season. There's plenty of upside in Mana's game, quite a rangy lock, very skillfull guy, got great spacial awareness. Yeah, I think in time he's going to become a very good lock.," Mauger says.
With a full year now under his belt as Blues coach, having been promoted to the head coach role during last years pre-season, MacDonald says he and his coaching team are better prepared for this season and are excited to continue finding a way back to the top, "to have a pre-season and our own mark I suppose is the exciting thing and as a coaching team we're really happy with the squad we've pulled together. I feel like we've got a good mix of young talent and coupled in with some good older heads as well," he says.
Among those named in the Blues squad for the first time is Beauden Barrett, acquiring him from the Hurricanes. The two time World Rugby Player of the Year will add invaluable experience to a backline that will be missing Augustine Pulu, Williams and Ma'a Nonu.
Although they've seen their star player move to their northern rivals, the Hurricanes aren't letting it affect their preparation. While assistant coach Jason Holland admits they did search for a worthy replacement, they're excited by the prospect of what Barrett's former understudies Jackson Garden-Bachop and Fletcher Smith. Stepping out of the shadow of Barrett, and into their own light, the two Māori All Blacks will be looking forward to playing many more minutes. Holland says, "they've been in behind Beaudy, I suppose but contributing massively behind him in the last couple of years as far as off-field, our prep our strategy and stuff. The boys are completely ready to put their best foot forward and looking forward to seeing how they grow their game a little bit by getting a bit more time."
The cricket bats will be put to one side now as they begin their pre-season training and plotting how to take each other out again.
See the image gallery below for the five New Zealand Super Rugby squads