By Inky
May 5th 2008 @ 6:35am
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So nearly a clean sweep
The franchises continued to sort themselves into contenders and pretenders over the weekend.
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First the Crusaders dealt to the Sharks 18-10 in Christchurch, able to seal victory late in the game after losing Richie McCaw for ten minutes following a referee’s tantrum.
Failing to see many cynical off-the-ball infringements by AJ Venter and his niggly crew, usually because he was struggling to keep up, Stuart Dickinson binned McCaw for an athletic, split-second piece of timing.
The new law about immediate offside lines at the tackle came into effect, supposedly, but McCaw’s fetching style looked virtually flawless on replay, and certainly not worth a yellow card.
The Crusaders were unfazed and simply went into sudden death / Aussie ref mode. Considering you need the Crusaders to have a one-man handicap to make their games close these days anyway, and they always keep their nerve no matter what sort of strange official decisions are being made, their fans were still able to relax and enjoy watching the artists at work.
It took them until late in the second half before prop Wyatt Crockett toed the ball over the line and fell on it, but when he did it was to consign the Sharks to their third straight loss and an ignominious but overdue exit from the top four.
Then the Blues proved they are still genuinely in the hunt by beating the Reds 35-22 in Brisbane. All their recent disciplinary problems were bubbling under the surface instead of erupting for once… maybe it helped that their unruly captain Troy Flavell only lasted less than an hour, and that the field of play was left to the less hot-headed at the death, when tempers are usually shortest.
In a game of less significance where the playoffs are concerned, but an entertaining one nevertheless, the Highlanders were reduced to thirteen men for ten minutes in the second half but still held off the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein to win 31-28.
They might have won more handily had it not been for those sin-binnings, dropped passes with the line in sight and the unfortunate collision that knocked out their giant tighthead prop Clint Newland… but for a team that had lost the winning habit this was a pretty gutsy performance. Nothing new there, all their performances this year have been gutsy, but this was a rare win, and away from home no less against a team of bigger men.
The most remarkable performance was on the blindside flank by Adam Thomson, an established star in seven-a-side rugby and one who may yet enjoy higher honours in the fifteen-man code.
In that crucial second half period where thirteen Highlanders were hanging on by the skin of their teeth, he galvanised his tired team-mates several times with sublime skills.
His try was one of the year’s best. Stealing possession in his own half, he surged forty yards before the cover converged. Backhanding a pass to his support man as he was tackled, he still had enough breath to regain his feet and take the return pass for a magnificent score in the corner.
The Saturday games all had deep play-off meaning. The Hurricanes jumped into third place with a 38-12 pasting of the Lions in Wellington. Leading 26-7 at half-time, their second half performance wasn’t quite as slick as the first but they did more than enough to announce themselves as genuine threats for the title if the Crusaders drop their standards.
Andrew Hore has been showing them the way up front, and is so far ahead of the other All Black hooking candidates that he wouldn’t make a bad replacement as captain if Richie McCaw was ever unavailable.
The Chiefs then soured all the New Zealand sides’ good work over the weekend, blowing the first potential Kiwi clean sweep of the year with a truly horrid match in Perth. The Force deserved the 22-21 victory for keeping their heads in a situation where it seemed fifteen inmates had taken over the asylum. They took their chances, gratefully accepting every free gift the Chiefs handed them.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, proved that no matter how hot they can get with their tails up they will NEVER seriously compete for a Super 14 title. They cannot remain calm under any sort of pressure. They had at least ten opportunities to win this game and blew every one. When they weren’t shelling passes and kicking into charging players hands, they were missing shots from directly in front, refusing opportunities for points and losing the ball over the line.
Even when they finally took a 21-18 lead with a drop-kick, they blew it a minute later with a brainless offside, giving the Force an easy penalty which Matt Giteau slotted.
The Chiefs simply don’t know how to play with the lead. No matter what game situation, they start throwing it around like a hot potato as soon as things get exciting and the crowd volume rises. Fifty times at least, a man should have gone to deck and secured possession, but failed to do so because his adrenal gland was pumping pure stupid juice.
A couple of years back, I would have been smashing inanimate objects watching such a game. Nowadays I have simply learned to watch it and laugh in the same way I watch Buster Keaton movies.
After that came the Bulls tipping over the Waratahs 16-13 in Pretoria, and the Stormers ending the Brumbies hopes with a 20-10 win in Cape Town. It leaves the Waratahs holding second place on 37 by a single point from the Hurricanes, with the Stormers in fourth a further point back. Then come the Chiefs on 33, the Sharks on 32 and the Blues on 31.
It seems last week’s suggestion by Inky for a competition that ditches the South African teams struck a chord… I’d better elaborate.
It’s been pretty obvious in recent years that the Super Rugby expansion to 14 was an unpopular one. It worked in Perth, but how the South Africans managed to justify a fifth team is beyond me. If anything, they should have been reduced to three teams.
Sure, every year one South African franchise plays well… and in 2007, when we handed them the competition, two did… but they don’t typically play an attractive style, internally they’re a mess, and they’re always dangling in front of New Zealand and Australia the threat of splitting to play a different competition with the Europeans in their time zone.
The cultural differences aren’t just language-based. Those are just subtleties… like, if you hyphenated Orange Free State it would be a state without oranges. They just seem to think differently.
They would LOVE the Heineken Cup style of play. Let them start their new competition and good luck to them.
We could respond with a Trans-Pacific Union… the TPU, or TransPac if you needed an abbreviation. Everyone’s been talking about a competition that the Pacific Islanders and Argentina could play in, so why not create one?
Two Argentine teams (one from Buenos Aires and the other from the rural sub-unions) and one each from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga could replace the African teams overnight.
I’d watch.
Where would the money come from? Who cares? Are all the fish-heads too lazy to start new business relationships?
If so, THEY are the real problem.
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Harry said | May 5th 2008 @ 9:28am | Report comment
Inky, Japan and Hong Kong could both host professional teams in a Pacific S14 or S12 comp - the Pacific Island Warriors in HK (Fiji, Samoa and Tonga have a huge following their because of 7’s heritage) and both Japan and HK have lots of money. I’m sure a team of Argentinians could be put together to form a competent unti and hey presto, your away.
Let the Jarpies go to Europe for their provinical games. Would certainly revitalise the 3N tournament as well, which has been devalued in recent years by too much exposure.
By the way, no Kiwi is in a position to lecture Aus about our dud refs thei week after the display of Steve Walsh at Newlands.
wallythefly said | May 5th 2008 @ 12:52pm | Report comment
Inky, I think the new Super comp you describe would be brilliant. I’m not sure if its the case in NZ (if it is tell me) but i know in Australia there are always less crowds for games against SA teams than Kiwi or Aussie teams. So that’d be a big plus over here.
sheek said | May 5th 2008 @ 3:08pm | Report comment
Inky,
I don’t know if your expansion ideas are on the money. Re SA, you can’t say the Sharks & Stormers play unattractive rugby. At least, not always.
There seems to be an obvious Anglo-Afrikaans demarcation between the high-veldt conservative, notional Afrikaans teams & the coastal, more expresive notional Anglo teams (generally speaking). The Lions, when strong, can play the best of either style, reflecting their cultural diversity.
Anyway, if Saffies teams play in the S14 long enough, they might learn expansive play from Kiwis & Aussies (once upon a time!) & we might learn more about tight forward play. It won’t happen overnight…..but it will happen.
Doesn’t make sense to me, removing SA from a SH comp, while including Argentina, Pacific islands, Japan & HK. However conservative they play, they are nevertheless great technicians of the game.
Also, rugby used to be appreciated for the abilities of its players to travel the world. But this is getting ridiculous. I do think young up & coming players are becoming a little turned off by the enormous amount of travel required in rugby - S14, 3N, NH tours. It’s great for 3-4 years, then the novelty starts to wear thin.
I keep saying truncate the Super comp, even if you include more teams. Introduce a RWC pool style comp. reduce matches from 13-15 to 3-6 (4 pools x 4 teams) or 4-7 (4 pools x 5 teams). This then frees up about about an extra 8 weekends for national domestic comps.
As an Aussie, while I can enjoy watching classy teams like the Crusaders, hurricanes, Sharks & stormers running away, what I really want, what I pine for, is NSW, Qld, ACT & WA flogging the hell out of each other in say, the semis of an Australian national comp.
You kiwis who have your ANZ Cup, & you saffies who have your Currie Cup would know precisely what I’m talking about!
I think SH both rugbyunion & rugby league is in enormous strife, but what to do about it? In NZRL, they are being threatened with having government funding removed, because the game is going backwards. In RU, we’re seeing more & more players heading overseas, because that’s where the money is.
Signing a contract is meaningless. Coaches getting sacked mid-season, both codes, & players suddenly deciding they want to be elsewhere, namely Britain, France or Ireland.
Private equity is supposed to be the answer, but it might be implemented too late. Australian & NZ rugby, for example, looks like emulating Soccer. Rugby’s equivalent of the A-League will mainly become a nursery for up & coming players, returning veterans, & mostly B class players.
The best 200 players in each country will be chasing the big bucks in the NH, just like Argentina. There’s some work to be done, & it might mean turning current structures on their head, & starting afresh. But the battle is increasing to desperation to keep leading players & coaches in the SH.
Photon said | May 5th 2008 @ 4:37pm | Report comment
Moronm, there’s no such place, I should know I live in the Free State province!!
Photon said | May 5th 2008 @ 4:49pm | Report comment
In addition to that Inky, you know as wellas everyone else that you guys don’t have a sellablle product without South Africa, The NPC isa dying comp See the Crowds and the most financially viable Super 14 games take place in South Africa. You think it’s difficult holding on to your star players now, see what happens when the NZRU truly dos go bankrupt!! Wake up buddy without South Africa you guys are screwed, O’Neil knows it Tew knows it, in fact anyone with two brain cells could tell you that. So you can spend as much time as you like playing big dick on Spiros site but the reality is cash is king and without us simpleton japies, you won’t be getting any
Spiro Zavos said | May 5th 2008 @ 11:14pm | Report comment
The SMH’s Greg Growden wrote up an interview with Steve Tew, the CEO of the NZRU, that gave details of what might be an extended Super Rugby tournament in 2010. Each of the SANZAR countries would have five teams, with the fifth Australian side presumably being in Melbourne to tie up the eastern seaboard states. Then in NZ there would be a Pacific Islander team. in Australia a Japanese team. And in South Africa an Argentinean team.
The tournament would involve home and away matches inside each country, amounting to 10 matches. There would also be one round robin featuring all the teams playing each other, 17 matches. Then an extensive finals series.
The tournament would stretch into June/July. The Tri/ Four/Five Nations would follow, with the October/November Europe tour. The players would get 2 months off.
If SANZAR can pull off this type of Super Rugby tournament, a lot of the problems facing rugby in Australia and NZ would disappear. It’s an exciting prospect and one to be devotedly hope for. I can see where John O’Neill’s sponsorship concept might fit in here with, say, the Japanese side.
sheek said | May 5th 2008 @ 11:27pm | Report comment
Spiro,
I can’t accept that Steve Tew’s model for a future Super comp is the way to go. In fact, it is full of arrogance from first world rugby nations to second world rugby nations.
Having a Pacific Islands team based in NZ is not a new idea, nor is it bad. But having a Japanese team based in Australia & an Argentinian team based in South Africa is absurd to me, especially the Argentinians. They deserve more respect.
Unfortunately, I can’t offer anything better at the moment, or at least, I’m struggling to articulate what’s in my mind. No doubt a lot of dumb ideas are going to be put forward before any decent concept shows itself.
People will be doing their darndest to think ‘outside the square’, coming up with breakthrough structures/concepts. Unfortunately, many of these ideas will probably be from the edge of reality, or outer space!
Harry said | May 6th 2008 @ 9:01am | Report comment
There’s no reason why teams in this comp could not be based in the mega-wealthy centres of Japan and Hong Kong (and Shanghai down the track). These places have good stadiums and a ready made significant fan base - skewed towards expats in HK granted, but I’d wager you’d consistently get 25,000 + to HK stadium to see S14 games.
Matt said | May 6th 2008 @ 9:41am | Report comment
This act of arrogance is still a helping hand to Japan the PI’s and Argentina though Sheek. At least for them it is something.
It does offer some positive steps for the future. Eventually Japanese rugby might be strong enough to sustain their own Japan based side, as well as Argentina supporting themselves as well. It would be great publicity!
But these points aside, I completely agree that this model is not an acceptable one. Good on them for looking at different options, but this one is not the right one.
My questions being with:
A) What happens when Japanese and Argentinean rugby becomes self sustainable? Will the franchises be moved there?And are we then expecting players to fly to Argentina and Japan, on top of the travel they are currently undergoing?
This ‘hosting’ just seems like a short term fix to me, which will eventually need to be replaced with teams being based in their own country?
B) If players are leaving because they are travelling too much, how will more travelling help, aside from money? All this conference format will do is substitute the Provincial games in the domestic comps (in NZ and SA) with domestic games involving franchises.
Then we’ll add more long haul travelling, over a longer season. So we’re replacing domestic provincial games with long haul flights for the extended round robin.
C) If talk has been circulating about the possibilty of cutting the Highlanders, then how can NZ support another Super franchise? The current ones are not being very well supported at present, so how will putting a PI based side into Auckland help? Will they simply try and take on the Warriors head to head in the South Auckland marketplace?
D) Where are the players for 4 new teams come from? Where are all these PI, Agentinean and Japanese players coming from? As well as the new Australian team?
The Argies and PI’s will need to be drawn back from Europe, this will be easier said than done. The Argies will not be based in Argentina, so there’s no enticement other than money for them. The Japanese will need to be removed from the Top League so you’d need to offer them good money to get them to leave home. A lot of the PI’s are NZ born is anyway, so this could be easier, but money would still need to be close to that in Europe.
I’m worried that SANZAR is looking at the map to success the wrong way. They are peering down the road of American style franchises, when European style clubs seem the far better approach for Rugby to take.
I honestly wonder why each Union doesn’t just put more emphasis on it’s own domestic competition. Sure the money wouldn’t be as big, but then money wouldn’t be the only factor to consider. Home grown comps foster more patriotism and loyalty than franshises. By placing more and more emphasis on money as the driving factor of the game we are suggesting that players aspire do the same thing. As the administrators sell of the soul of what made the game so great they are providing the perfect role model for their players to do the same.
At some stage in the future, even if SANZAR decides to stick with its Franchise model, the NH clubs will have more buying power than the south. The simple economics of NH sports suggests this is the case. Private investment, the growth of the game (12%pa) and the simple exchange rate difference means that there will always be more potential money in the NH.
If you’ve created a model based on open player trading markets across all these continents (as they have suggested with this new Super comp) then players will only really care about the money. As soon as you can get more money you’d go to Europe anyway, especially if you’re travelling heavily in the south.
So no, I don’t think this Conference style is the best option.
Spiro Zavos said | May 6th 2008 @ 11:28am | Report comment
The problem with home grown competitions and tournaments is that there is no money in them, cf the ARC tournament. Rugby’s great strength is its international reach. This is why, sooner or later, getting a Japanese involvement in Super Rugby maskes sense.