Super Rugby's leading source of Super Rugby and Rugby Championship News, fixtures and results for the Southern Hemisphere tournament contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Japan.
Mark Geenty05:00, May 28 2021
Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
Gareth Evans returns to the Hurricanes No 8 jersey, under the captaincy of Reed Prinsep, right (file photo).
Five months after undergoing an ankle reconstruction, and a year since his previous run-on start, Gareth Evans will don the Hurricanes No 8 jersey on Friday night with the nervous excitement of a debutant. The one-test All Black (against Japan in 2018) and Super Rugby title winner (with the Highlanders in 2015) will gallop onto his home ground at McLean Park, Napier, to face the Western Force after playing 30 minutes off the bench in the 35-13 win over the Rebels.
Western Force will host the Chiefs in Perth in the opening round of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan is hoping his side’s long trek to Perth can make for a happy homecoming in what he terms will be a ‘battle of the scrappers’ against the Western Force on Saturday night. With a hideous schedule, compounded by making the final of Super Rugby Aotearoa, which will see the Chiefs play 10, or even 11, matches in as many weeks, you can bet none of their squad were exactly jumping for joy at the prospect of boarding an eight-hour flight for their Super Rugby Trans-Tasman opener.
The Wrap: 153 reasons why Waratahs coach Rob Penney must be left alone A Set the default text size A Set large text size
Replay A Set the default text size A Set large text size
Consider the following names. It’s a long list, but bear with me; that’s the point.
Malachi Hawkes, Moses Alo-Emile, Paul Alo-Emile, Guy Millar, Dave Lolohea, Emile Tuimavave, Sekope Kepu, Oli Hoskins, Paddy Ryan, Shambeckler Vui, Sam Talakai, Les Makin, Pek Cowan, Tim Metcher, Aidan Ross and Jermaine Ainsley.
Tolu Latu, John Ulugia, Julian Heaven, Sam Kitchen, Effie Ma’afu, Hugh Roach and Lindsay Stevens.
Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Waratahs coach Rob Penney is under immense pressure to retain his job after another defeat to the Western Force. The Waratahs fell 20-16 to the Force at Bankwest Stadium on Friday night, earning the unwanted tag of being the first team to lose to the Force since they returned to Super Rugby. It’s the first time the Force have won a Super Rugby match in 1329 days. The four-point loss wasn’t an embarrassment but given the visitors played with just 14 men for the final 15 minutes after Andrew Ready punched Hugh Sinclair in the head in a post-ruck scuffle, the match was there to be won.