Super Rugby Trans-Tasman: A reunion between Australians and New Zealanders

Has been forced to play separately since the start of the health crisis, and the Australian and New Zealand franchisees will meet from Friday through June 19 at Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, a new competition in tight form.

In the starting line: Five Australian Formations (Brumbies, Rebels, Reds, Waratahs and Western Force) and five New Zealanders (Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders, Hurricanes).

They will each face the five representatives of the opposing country over the course of five weekends of competition, and at the end of which the two highest-ranked teams will face each other in the final on June 19.

The first meeting will take place on Friday in Dunedin, southern New Zealand, between Highlanders and the Reds. Each franchise guarantees at least two games at home.

Before global sport was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Super Rugby, a major competition in the southern hemisphere, gathered a total of 15 from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Argentina and Japan.

Instead, only national versions were created in Australia and New Zealand: Super Rugby AU and Super Rugby Aotearoa.

The 2021 editions of these two tournaments ended last weekend with the Reds in Australia, the final winners of Brumby (19-16), and the Crusaders in New Zealand thanks to their success over the leaders (24-13).

Led by the opening half of All-Blacks Ritchie Moonga, the Crusaders will be the favorites for this first edition of Super-Rugby Trans-Tasman.

The competition will resume two new bases of expertise in Australia and New Zealand: “Abandoning the goal line”, Defenses are supposed to reward when a striker is blocked in the goal or drops the ball there, and a possibility of a substitution after 20 minutes for a player who has received a red card.