The 2020 Super Rugby AU season, branded as Vodafone Super Rugby AU, was the inaugural season of Super Rugby AU, a professional Australian rugby union competition organised by Rugby Australia (RA). The tournament replaced the Australian component of the incomplete 2020 Super Rugby season that was shut down in March of that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It featured the four teams from the 2020 Australian conference, with the addition of former Super Rugby franchise the Western Force. The season ran from 3 July to 19 September 2020.

The won the inaugural title, defeating the 28–23 in the Grand Final at Canberra Stadium.

Law adaptions On 12 June, Rugby Australia announced seven law trials designed to make the game more entertaining for the fans and players. The trials were adapted from the 10 optional law trials available for unions and competitions given by World Rugby in May 2020. The following trials were used during the competition:

Law trialsScenarioGoal line drop-outWhen an attacking player carrying the ball is held up in the in-goal or knocks the ball on play restarts with a goal line drop-out.When a kick enters the in-goal area and is forced by the defending team play restarts with a goal line drop-outMarkA kick originating in the attacking 22m area cannot be marked by the defending team within their own 22m area. The kick can however be marked within the defending team's in-goal area and play restarts with a 22m line drop-out.Red card changeA red carded player can be replaced after 20 minutes, unless all substitutions have been used.50/22A kick taken from within the defending team's 50m area that travels into touch within the opposition's 22m area having first bounced in the field of play results in a line-out throw to the kicking team. This does not apply following a free-kick.22/50A kick taken from within the defending team's 22m area that travels into touch within the opposition's 50m area having first bounced in the field of play results in a line-out throw to the kicking team. This does not apply following a free-kick.Super Time2 x 5min periods of extra time; in the event of a drawn game after regulation time where the first points scored wins the match for the scoring team

Regular season Standings

Round-by-round The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets: Team progression Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 QF GF 5 (1st) 9 (2nd) 14 (1st) 18 (1st) 18 (1st) 23 (1st) 28 (1st) 28 (1st) Won 0 (5th) 1 (5th) 1 (5th) 2 (5th) 2 (5th) 2 (5th) 2 (5th) 3 (5th) 0 (5th) 2 (4th) 6 (3rd) 10 (3rd) 14 (2nd) 14 (4th) 15 (4th) 19 (3rd) Lost 4 (2nd) 6 (1st) 10 (1st) 11 (2nd) 11 (4th) 16 (2nd) 21 (2nd) 25 (2nd) Won Lost 1 (3rd) 5 (3rd) 6 (3rd) 6 (4th) 11 (3rd) 15 (3rd) 15 (3rd) 19 (3rd) Key: Win Draw Loss Bye DNQ = Did not qualify

Match grid

Matches Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10 – Super Saturday

Finals Bracket

Qualifying final

Grand Final

FB 15Tom BanksRW 14Andy Muirhead OC 13Tevita KuridraniIC 12Irae SimoneLW 11Tom WrightFH 10Noah Lolesio SH 9 Joe Powell N8 8 Pete Samu OF 7 Will Miller BF 6 Lachlan McCaffrey RL 5 Cadeyrn NevilleLL 4 Murray Douglas TP 3 Allan AlaalatoaHK 2 Folau Fainga'a LP 1 Scott Sio Substitutes:HK 16Connal McInerney PR 17James Slipper PR 18Tom RossLK 19Nick Frost BR 20Rob Valetini SH 21Nic White FH 22Bayley Kuenzle WG 23Solomone Kata Coach:Dan McKellar FB 15Jock CampbellRW 14Jordan Petaia OC 13Hunter PaisamiIC 12Hamish StewartLW 11Filipo DaugunuFH 10James O'ConnorSH 9 Tate McDermott N8 8 Harry WilsonOF 7 Fraser McReightBF 6 Liam WrightRL 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto LL 4 Angus Blyth TP 3 Taniela TupouHK 2 Brandon Paenga-AmosaLP 1 JP Smith Substitutes:HK 16Josh NasserPR 17Harry Hoopert PR 18Ruan SmithLK 19Tuaina Taii Tualima FL 20Angus Scott-Young SH 21Moses Sorovi FH 22Bryce Hegarty FB 23Jack HardyCoach:Brad Thorn Man of the Match: Noah Lolesio (Brumbies)

Assistant referees: Amy Perrett (New South Wales) Reuben Keane (Australian Capital Territory) Television match official: James Leckie (New South Wales)

Squads

+ squad Forwards Allan Alaalatoa • Jahrome Brown • Tom Cusack • Murray Douglas • Folau Fainga'a • Nick Frost • Ben Hyne • Harry Lloyd • Lachlan Lonergan • Lachlan McCaffrey • Connal McInerney • Will Miller • Cadeyrn Neville • Tom Ross • Pete Samu • Scott Sio • James Slipper • Darcy Swain • Rob Valetini • Shambeckler Vui Backs Tom Banks • Issak Fines • Mack Hansen • Len Ikitau • Solomone Kata • Bayley Kuenzle • Tevita Kuridrani • Noah Lolesio • Ryan Lonergan • Andy Muirhead • Reesjan Pasitoa • Guy Porter • Joe Powell • Toni Pulu • Irae Simone • Nic White • Tom Wright Coach Dan McKellar

+ squad Forwards Ollie Atkins • Johan Bardoul • Ollie Callan • Pekahou Cowan • Tevin Ferris • Ben Grant • Dom Hardman • Victor Harris • Chris Heiberg • Greg Holmes • Feleti Kaitu'u • Kane Koteka • Fergus Lee-Warner • Kieran Longbottom • Jackson Pugh • Andrew Ready • Tom Sheminant • Brynard Stander • Henry Stowers • Heath Tessmann • Jeremy Thrush • Angus Wagner Backs Jake Abel • AJ Alatimu • Marcel Brache • Pama Fou • Nick Frisby • Kyle Godwin • Nick Jooste • Richard Kahui • Brad Lacey • Jono Lance • Jordan Luke • Grason Makara • Jack McGregor • Rory O'Sullivan • Jonah Placid • Ian Prior • Byron Ralston • Jake Strachan • Henry Taefu Coach Tim Sampson

+ squad Forwards Charlie Abel • Jermaine Ainsley • Angus Cottrell • Cabous Eloff • Mees Erasmus • Pone Fa'amausili • Matt Gibbon • Esei Ha'angana • Richard Hardwick • Ross Haylett-Petty • Trevor Hosea • Josh Kemeny • Boyd Killingworth • Gideon Koegelenberg • Rob Leota • Efi Ma'afu • Declan Moore • Isi Naisarani • Cameron Orr • Matt Philip • Anaru Rangi • Jeral Skelton • Michael Stolberg • Jordan Uelese • Michael Wells • Brad Wilkin Backs Lachie Anderson • Andrew Deegan • Tom English • Dane Haylett-Petty • Reece Hodge • Lewis Holland • Andrew Kellaway • Marika Koroibete • Frank Lomani • Ryan Louwrens • Campbell Magnay • Bill Meakes • Tom Pincus • Theo Strang • Matt To'omua • Semisi Tupou • James Tuttle Coach David Wessels

+ squad Forwards Angus Blyth • Sean Farrell • David Feao • Jethro Felemi • Feao Fotuaika • Harry Hoopert • Tom Kibble • Alex Mafi • Fraser McReight • Josh Nasser • Zane Nonggorr • Brandon Paenga-Amosa • Lukhan Salakaia-Loto • Angus Scott-Young • JP Smith • Ruan Smith • Ryan Smith • Jack Straker • Tuaina Taii Tualima • Taniela Tupou • Seru Uru • Harry Wilson • Michael Wood • Liam Wright • Dane Zander Backs Jock Campbell • Filipo Daugunu • Chris Feauai-Sautia • Josh Flook • Carter Gordon • Jack Hardy • Bryce Hegarty • Scott Malolua • Tate McDermott • James O'Connor • Hunter Paisami • Jordan Petaia • Henry Speight • Moses Sorovi • Hamish Stewart Coach Brad Thorn

+ squad Forwards Robbie Abel • Angus Bell • Darcy Breen • Joe Cotton • Jack Dempsey • Max Douglas • Tetera Faulkner • Charlie Gamble • Ned Hanigan • Will Harris • Jed Holloway • Michael Hooper • Tom Horton • Harry Johnson-Holmes • Ryan McCauley • Dave Porecki • Tom Robertson • Rob Simmons • Hugh Sinclair • Tom Staniforth • Lachlan Swinton • Pat Tafa • Chris Talakai • Tiaan Tauakipulu • Carlo Tizzano • Andrew Tuala • Jeremy Williams Backs Cam Clark • Ben Donaldson • Lalakai Foketi • Jake Gordon • Will Harrison • Karmichael Hunt • Jack Maddocks • Nick Malouf • Michael McDonald • Tepai Moeroa • Mark Nawaqanitawase • Alex Newsome • James Ramm • Triston Reilly • Henry Robertson • Mitch Short • Jack Walsh • Joey Walton Coach Rob Penney

Notes

References

External links