Solutions for the sake of the Super rugby concept
Roar Pro
By Allan Young, 14 May 2009 The Crowd is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- ARU, Rugby Union, South Africa rugby, Springboks, Super Rugby, wallabies
Related coverage
- Rugby Union news
- Super Rugby news
- Wallabies news
- South Africa Springboks news
- 2011 Wallabies squad news
The current Super14 starts too early and crowds are turned off by it. The number of teams needs to be reduced to a Super 9, with five teams from the present fourteen amalgamated, or perhaps a Super 11, with a Japanese and Islander team.
An Island team is problematic, as their best players play overseas. Can a Super competition bring back some of their players?
I doubt it.
For travel reasons, games between national teams should be played before the international section of the competition. We need South Africa for their money, to attract crowds, and to stretch the skill level of the competition
The Wallaby nursery is mostly the private schools in New South Wales and Queensland. Australia has to do the hard yards on grassroots support to further develop club and provide more national or extended international tours.
The ARU cannot survive on the huge money made from their international calendar, and despite the appallingly negative press for New Zealand teams, it is the Kiwi games that bring the ARU their money.
In the not to distant future, air travel will become a problem as peak oil establishes itself.
New Zealand also need to do the hard yards to promote their national competition.
The New Zealand media was foolishly and pathetically sold off to Australia and the national media is an apology for promoting a national culture.
The Australian media, except perhaps for the print media, not only overwhelmingly promotes rugby league but also rubbish rugby union. And they target their promotion through media presenters working for the Australian media.
The NZRU complain that “they can’t control the media” and their response is to sit on their hands.
The mediocre NZRU management need to get off their marketing backsides and focus on the grassroots and insist on accountability of the media corporations (as they do to some extent in Australia), otherwise the once historically proud national sport of rugby union is doomed to, at best, go into a gradual decline.
Enjoy sports? Enjoy a bargain? All Sports Online has your favourite sporting brands at up to 70% off. Online only, premium quality sporting goods and merchandise at discounted prices. Get a deal now.
Do you have what it takes to become a sports writer? Write for the roar
Rugby Union articles
- Will Super Rugby crowds continue their slide? (198)
- Will South African rugby force a Super 21 by 2018? (172)
- Brumbies 2012: New coach, new players, new attitude (128)
- Dan Parks and the unsolved questions of expat rugby (61)
- Pocock set to be named new Force skipper (56)
- Can the ‘Tahs win the battle after losing the Waugh? (51)
- What does the future hold for the Six Nations (50)
- Wales show Southern Hemisphere how to play running rugby (27)
- What opening matches of Six Nations taught us (18)
- Will Super Rugby crowds continue their slide? (201)
- Clinical Chiefs cost rusty Rebels in Corio (9)
- Six Nations shows rugby is a parochial game at heart (5)
- Goose’s Super Rugby up-and-comer XV for 2012 (29)
- What does the future hold for the Six Nations (50)
- Explore:
- ARU, Rugby Union, South Africa rugby, Springboks, Super Rugby, wallabies
mitzter said | May 14th 2009 @ 7:59am | Report comment
Go the transman comp!
keep the 3N(4N) I hope everyone at this meeting realises this is the future and not hemisphere-spanning club comps
sheek said | May 14th 2009 @ 8:26am | Report comment
Allan,
Your mention of ‘peak oil’ is an oblique (& possibly bleak as well) acknowledgement that external forces cannot be ignored in framing both international & national comps.
Dwindling oil reserves, a consequential rising price for scarce resources, & at present, a lack of alternate technologies, will impact severely on sporting structures.
Sub-consciously at least, it is one reason why I have argued Australia should do more to develop its own national comp. NZ & SA might not always be around, although the specific reason wasn’t always clear to me. But there it is – the world economy, to use a phrase to lump it all together.
Besides, I’ve never been a fan of ‘global economy’. Sounds fine when everything is going swimmingly. But recent events have shown how quickly human nature goes to water (silly thing to say since we’re mostly water anyway!).
Anyway, this wasn’t meant to be an economic treatise.
Have you noticed how the Island rugby nations have been ignored? Lack of collective wealth. Not enough people to buy pay-TV subs, expensive products, etc. The Islands offer nothing economically in this professional sporting world.
In the future (but happening now in Australia & NZ), the greatest export of the Islands will be to fill the national teams of most of the ‘big 10′ with players whose heritage can be traced back to Fiji, Samoa & Tonga.
Not only will we have Australian & NZ Islanders, but also English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, French, Italian & God forbid, possibly South African & Argentine Islanders as well!
Sad but true.
LeftArmSpinner said | May 14th 2009 @ 8:37am | Report comment
Dont worrry about an islander team, if that is too hard and I suspect it is, financially. Just open the doors to the players. They can assemble a team in the future. Its about the players!!!
Allan, I think you have gone a bit too far too soon. There is a logic to Rugby being played/assembled on a north south rather than east west basis, when it comes to time zones. But the economics dominate. Peak oil, much too premature on that one.
Conor said | May 14th 2009 @ 3:32pm | Report comment
Free to bloody air tv.
That is such an important factor i reckon,
so many rugby fans have to run down to the pub to watch there game and hope theres a spare tv that aint playin league!
Just a couple of australian games a week will do wonders to get to the grassroots as so many people look to free to air for quality viewing.
Not only this but league and afl get more coverage on the news becaus it gives those channels a chance at promoting its own program. Channel 9 news for example has tonnes about league cause it gives itself a chance to advertise the games its airing that weekend. It might have a snippet about union to give a wider audince something but it can only be viewed on another channel.
Free-to-air, wider audience, more grassroots, more effective coverage.
Working Class Rugger said | May 14th 2009 @ 4:51pm | Report comment
Bring in a Trans-Tasman. 5 from both NZ and Aus. And 1 each from Fiji and Samoa. Both have participation levels of about 25,000 players. If they have a professional set-up at home much of the talent that goes overseas will stay. Why because many Islander boy would prefer to stay close to family and friends rather than travel to the other side of the World.
Working Class Rugger said | May 14th 2009 @ 4:53pm | Report comment
And Conor’s post to.
ohtani's jacket said | May 14th 2009 @ 9:31pm | Report comment
Speaking of a possible Japanese team, I guess pleased to hear Eddie Jones pipe in on this…
“Rugby in Japan is funded by the companies. If there was to be a Super team in Japan, it would take away from the company competition. The only way it could happen is if it was the Japan national team. If that’s the case, the Japan national team is not going to be run as an Australian franchise.
“So I struggle to see how Australia are going to benefit from Japan being in an expanded Super 14. Financially, the only way they are going to get any benefit is from extra television rights.
“Over in Japan, there are 12 free-to-air television stations, so pay-TV is not something people rush out to buy. About three years ago, only about 1 per cent of the population in Japan had pay-TV. So it’s not a massive market over here, and rugby in Japan is only about the 10th or 12th sport, and it will only increase if they get the World Cup. So I think [ARU chief executive] John O’Neill is talking with a bit of bravado there.”
ohtani's jacket said | May 14th 2009 @ 9:37pm | Report comment
BTW, the podcast that came from might interest ‘Tahs supporters since Ewen McKenzie and Jones are on the show together, though McKenzie is a bit diplomatic about the Waratahs. ruggamatrix is the site.
Hemjay said | May 15th 2009 @ 7:04am | Report comment
so the saffas are staying it will be interesting to see which union sold out and which mouth now has their tail between its legs. Watch this space lads.
ohtani's jacket said | May 15th 2009 @ 3:48pm | Report comment
So the trans-tasman comp’s not a go’er. Who would’ve thought?
You’d have to think that the Aussies got the 15th franchise, but perhaps not the format that O’Neill wanted. Surely, the SARFU got some protection for the Currie Cup.