Darry Worthington runs the rule over the outright betting market for the 2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa tournament, which gets underway on Friday the 12th of June.
Image Copyright – Steve Haag Sports
The start of the 2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa season is just a few shot days away and rugby fans will be eagerly awaiting it. These next few days will also give punters a chance to have an outright strike before the prices move due to the action getting underway.
To Win Tournament Outright
Crusaders 11/10
Chiefs 5/2
Hurricanes 6/1
Blues 6/1
Highlanders 33/1
The Favourite
The Crusaders come into this one as they were for Super Rugby proper; red hot favourites. The Cantabs are currently available at an extremely short price of ? to win the inaugural Super Rugby Aotearoa tournament.
It’s no real surprise that Scott Robinson’s side dominates the betting charts. They are a super consistent side who are likely to flourish in a league style tournament.
They’ll also have the first week of the tournament off which may well work in their favour as they’ll be able to see how things play out and identify the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents.
On top of this, they have by far and away the most settled squad, and while they have a few key men all they operate as a proper side with no individual bigger than the whole.
The Pretenders
Warren Gatland’s men are the second shortest with the bookies and are currently trading at ? to take top honours. They were enjoying a decent start to the Super Rugby season prior to the COVID-19 pandemic four of their six fixtures and racking up an impressive win over the Crusaders.
While they are not as well-balanced as the Crusaders – their forward pack isn’t as strong as their backline – they do have some real superstars in their team including All Blacks Damien McKenzie and Aaron Cruden.
The aforementioned two men will play a pivotal role in the Chiefs’ campaign.
The Newlook Hurricanes
The Hurricanes have gone from being a team full of established stars to a team packed with a couple journeymen – Vince Aso and Cobus van Wyk spring to mind here – and a sprinkling of talented All Blacks in the form of the somewhat over the hill Dane Coles, the irrepressible TJ Perranarra, the human juggernaut Ngane Laumape and the heir apparent to his brother’s thrown, Jordie Barrett.
While the final four men on this list are solid players, they won’t be able to win this tournament by themselves, so young guns like Du Plessis Kiriffi, Asafo Aumua and one of the younger tens will need to step up to the mark. A lot will also hinge on what sort of form Ardie Savea is in with the All Black loose returning from injury.
The Big Blue Threat
Will it finally be the year of the Blues? We’ll the Auckland side look very nicely poised to launch a real title challenge as they looked good prior to the break in Super Rugby and they’ve also added some real firepower in the form of Dan Carter who will play alongside the man who took over his All Black number 10 jumper, Beauden Barrett.
Strangely enough, the price on the Blues hasn’t moved that much and they are still available at? to win the tournament. Perhaps this is because they are the Blues after all and we know they are the only team in the world who could sabotage their own campaign even if they have the some of the most prominent talents on their books.
The Highlanders Without a Hope in Hell
That may be a rather mean sub-heading but it’s what the majority of rugby pundits will be thinking headed into the first-ever Super Rugby Aotearoa season.
The men from Otago were having a nightmarish start to Super Rugby proper losing four of their opening six games while drawing one and winning only one. They were hammered by the Sharks and a struggling Bulls side prior to the season being put on hold.
While they have sure up their side somewhat by bringing in 2015 World Cup winner Nehe Milner-Skudder, they are still going to struggle.
One thing that could work in their favour is coach Aaron Mauger stating that he will move Josh Ioane back to fly-half. The young gun played most of the early salvos of Super Rugby 2020 at inside centre and the ploy really didn’t work as the Highlanders backline failed to fire.
Verdict: Blues 6/1
They couldn’t do it with Sonny-Bill Williams and Ma’a Nonu on their books but I think they may finally break their long-running Super Rugby – yes, it is Super Rugby Aotearoa but it counts – drought this year.
