2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa season
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. The competition supplanted the 2020 Super Rugby season, which was suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| 2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Countries | New Zealand | ||
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin tournament | ||
| Champions | Crusaders(1st title) | ||
| Matches played | 19 | ||
| Attendance | 345,561 (18,187 per match) | ||
| Tries scored | 112 (5.89 per match) | ||
| Top point scorer(s) | Richie Mo'unga, Crusaders (99) | ||
| Top try scorer(s) | Will Jordan, Crusaders (6) | ||
| Official website | Official site | ||
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Announced on 6 May, 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. 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.
Due to the reinstatement of restrictions nationally on 11 August after new cases of community transmission, 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.
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. There will be an increase of Sunday afternoon fixtures, which proved popular in 2020.