Super Rugby Aotearoa Player Of Round One

Rugby is back and it returned with a mighty bang!

The opening round of Super Rugby Aotearoa had it all! A family feud, a star's debut, big hits, banter and so much more!

Aaron Mauger's Highlanders kicked things off in sensational fashion as they claimed an unlikely win over Warren Gatland's side thanks to a late drop goal beating the Chiefs 28-27 at Forsyth Barr Stadium.

Less than 24 hours later, Dan Carter was running water for his new side, the Blues, with his former All Black understudy Beauden Barrett making his maiden appearance for the Blues. The Blues powered to a 30-20 win over the Hurricanes at a sold-out Eden Park with plenty of banter between Barrett's form teammates. 

With the opening round certainly producing over and above what it promised, we have selected our Super Rugby Aotearoa player of the round. There were numerous candidates for the award with Damian McKenzie, Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Shaun Stevenson, TJ Perenara and Vince Aso all impressing despite ending the game on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

As for the victors, Hoskins Sotutu showed exactly why he is the go-to man in the Blues' 8 jumper after Akira Ioane's stronghold on the jumper. The same can be said of Highlanders' number eight Marino Mikaele Tu'u who is already pushing for an All Blacks' call up. 

Beauden Barrett had a solid outing but Otere Black certainly gave his head coach Leon MacDonald something to think about when it comes to picking his first five with a solid and simply excellent showing in the pivot role.

Rieko Ioane, Mark Telea and Caleb Clarke were all sublime for the Hurricanes and definitely deserve a shout as too does Aaron Smith who produced a masterclass against the Chiefs but our Player of the round goes to the match-winner in the opening game.

Bryn Gatland sensationally claimed the family bragging rights as his drop goal sealed the victory for the Highlanders over his father Warren's Chiefs.

While it's easy to get carried away with a match-winning moment to decide an award like this, there is much more Gatland's performance than just the drop goal.

Gatland played just 21 minutes of the game against the Chiefs but was involved in two crucial moments in the match that ultimately decided the result.

The one of which was, of course, his fantastic drop goal to win the match after Damian McKenzie had slotted one of his own.

The other was a solid tackle to hold up Chiefs' winger Shaun Stevenson up over the line as the Chiefs looked to have scored the try to potentially put his side ahead.

The Chiefs would score from the subsequent scrum after the Chiefs opted not to go to the line, but Damian McKenzie was not able to convert his shot at goal despite having not missed from the tee the entire game. Anton Liernet-Brown dotted down far out wide on the left-hand side and had Stevenson scored, the fullback would have had a slightly easier attempt from the right-hand side.

While the inclusion of Gatland off the bench was certainly the difference between the two sides at the end of the day, the story behind his inclusion in the game makes it even more impressive.

He was a late addition to the Highlanders' bench following an injury to All Black first-five Josh Ioane – information he was able to keep from his father until an awkward moment during a family dinner on Friday.

"I found out on Thursday and then had dinner last night with him and Mum," Bryn Gatland said.

"Halfway through dinner he got a text and he looked at me and said, 'Are you on the bench tomorrow?'.

"I didn't want to give the gameplan away!"

The pair then talked somewhat prophetically about how events might unfold. Former Wales boss Gatland revealed: "We had a joke, and he said, 'I've got a feeling I'm going to come on and kick the winning drop goal'.

"I'm not happy about the result, but he showed a bit of calmness there and he's done that in the past and won games in clutch moments.

It doesn't end just yet as the 20 odd minutes off the bench against the Chiefs was Gatland's first bit of action since last year June when he broke his leg in the Highlanders clash with the Sunwolves in Tokyo.

He subsequently missed the remainder of the Super Rugby season for the Highlanders as well as the Mitre 10 Cup season with North Harbour.