2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa season

2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa season
CountriesNew Zealand
Tournament format(s)Round-robin tournament
ChampionsCrusaders(1st title)
Matches played19
Attendance345,561 (18,187 per match)
Tries scored112 (5.89 per match)
Top point scorer(s)Richie Mo'unga, Crusaders (99)
Top try scorer(s)Will Jordan, Crusaders (6)
Official websiteOfficial site
(Next) 2021 →

The 2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa season (branded as Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship reasons) was a domestic club rugby union tournament organised by New Zealand Rugby. It was a 10-week, round robin tournament played by the five New Zealand-based teams of Super Rugby.[1] The competition supplanted the 2020 Super Rugby season, which was suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Announced on 6 May,[2] the competition ran from 13 June to 14 August, making it the first professional rugby union competition to occur since the beginning of the pandemic.[3] On 8 June, with most non-travel restrictions relating to the pandemic having been lifted in New Zealand (Alert Level 1), it was announced that the matches would be played with spectators admitted, making it among the first professional sporting events not played behind closed doors since the beginning of the pandemic's global spread.[4]

Due to the reinstatement of restrictions nationally on 11 August after new cases of community transmission,[5] one match in the final round was played behind closed doors, and the other was cancelled due to Alert Level 3 in Auckland and declared a 0–0 draw — resulting in the Crusaders clinching the tournament championship.[6][7]

With New Zealand border restrictions and managed isolation requirements not easing despite the country back in level 1 alert level as of October 11, 2020, Super Rugby Aotearoa and Australia will return in 2021, and Super Rugby Aotearoa will by sponsored by Sky New Zealand.[8] There will be an increase of Sunday afternoon fixtures, which proved popular in 2020.[8]

  1. ^ "Super Rugby Aotearoa draw and 'experimental' rules". Otago Daily Times. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Covid 19 coronavirus: New Zealand Rugby confirm details for 'Super Rugby Aotearoa' at alert level 2". NZ Herald. 7 May 2020. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa ready to kick off in June". superrugby.co.nz. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  4. ^ "NZ lifts restrictions, crowds free to attend Super Rugby". ESPN.com. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  5. ^ Cheng, Amelia Wade and Derek (11 August 2020). "Covid 19 coronavirus: Auckland in lockdown, rest of country in level 2 - Four cases of community transmission". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Super Rugby Aotearoa: Blues-Crusaders game in Auckland is officially cancelled". Stuff. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b "Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa draw announced". superrugby.co.nz. Retrieved 25 March 2023.