Tri Nations needs more Argie-bargy
Roar Guru By Sam Taulelei, 4 Sep 2009 Sam Taulelei is a Roar Guru
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- All Blacks, Argentina rugby, Rugby Union, SANZAR, Six Nations, Springboks, Tri Nations, wallabies
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The Tri-Nations needs Argentina. Why? To add some variety to a tired format and include a team that needs regular international competition and is deserving of a place at the SANZAR table.
An even number of teams is a better fit for a tournament than an odd number.
Four teams allows you to schedule double header matches each round, taking advantage of the timezone differences, and give rugby a high profile against other codes.
Four teams allows you to tweak the competition format to three rounds culminating in a final between the two teams with the most points. This means that home and away matches will alternate each year, like the Six Nations tournament.
Each team is guaranteed two home matches one year and only one in the alternating year unless they secure a home final finishing top of the table. You can retain the existing points allocation systems for wins and bonuses.
With two games a weekend, you can schedule a weeks’ rest between each round to offset the travel factor.
As I see it, there are three problems with the expanded Tri Nations format.
With only two teams playing each round, it creates a black hole of interest for the third country not involved. This makes it difficult to sustain any interest for the wider viewing public.
Without a true final to the competition, there is no natural climax for fans or broadcasters unless results and the draw work in their favour – such as last year’s “final” between New Zealand and Australia.
The expanded competition always means one team is disadvantaged with the draw and it takes too long to finish.
So a revamped format along these lines played over seven weeks for 2010 would resemble this:
Round 1
NZ (home) v Australia
SA (home) v Argentina
Round 2
Argentina (home) v NZ
Australia (home) v SA
Round 3
SA (home) v NZ
Argentina (home) v Australia
Final
Top two finishers
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September 4th 2009 @ 1:34am
Working Class Rugger said | September 4th 2009 @ 1:34am | Report comment
I still live in hope that Argentina will be able to participate in a new 4 Nations torunament in the near future. Would definitely give the tournament that element it is currently missing. Would even up the schedule as you mention. Each plays one another twice. Perfect.
September 4th 2009 @ 2:49am
Dave said | September 4th 2009 @ 2:49am | Report comment
As i am living in Argentina, I can assure you the games would be a spectacle. You only have to be near a stadium when a team of any sport is representing Argentina to feel the emotion and passion these people have. The Argies are on the outer of the rugby word and do not deserve to be in this situation. As far as I am concerned Argentina (I am Australian and it hurts me to say it) could very well be the best sporting nation in the world, but definitely not the best sports in the world! They are rated in top positions for many sports including, Futbol, Rugby, basketball, Volleyball, Polo, Golf, Tennis, Boxing without the funding that teams and sports persons get in Australia (Futbol excluded.) What I am saying is that the team, crowds, stadium are already here. It would do wonders for the game. Not just in Argentina but Uruguay, Chile and Brazil also. What the Argentines are waiting for is a little bit of help from SANZAR and the IRB. Have a read of this article. It is the thought of a Kiwi living here. http://www.challengeeverything.com.ar/vamosargentina/pumasscratchedagain.html
Is it just me or is something special going to happen with the wallabies this weekend? I hope that this weekend the walk home from a little Café in Buenos Aires with my head held high a little kick in my step, rather than hanging my head down and counting the dog shit on the pavement!
September 4th 2009 @ 2:52am
Knives Out said | September 4th 2009 @ 2:52am | Report comment
The 3N and a Super team! Wishful thinking, eh.
September 4th 2009 @ 3:25am
kraisch said | September 4th 2009 @ 3:25am | Report comment
We owe it to the Argentineans to give their rugby a stage for the world. Can’t South Africa begin to accomodate the Pumas in the Currie Cup?
4 Nations – brilliant. Even base them in Cape Town if you have to.
Why is the IRB trying emulate the useless of the ICC by doing sweet FA on this?
September 4th 2009 @ 3:49am
Dave said | September 4th 2009 @ 3:49am | Report comment
They are Argentine! Base them in Argentina!
September 4th 2009 @ 5:50am
Ziggy said | September 4th 2009 @ 5:50am | Report comment
Excellent idea. Who is the problem in ANZAR getting this up and running?
September 4th 2009 @ 6:32am
Jerry said | September 4th 2009 @ 6:32am | Report comment
How would that work in odd years though? Under that plan NZ and Aus play only one home game, which is fine – but in the years where the ‘middle countries’ are staying at home it might not work so well for SA and Arg.
September 4th 2009 @ 7:48am
sheek said | September 4th 2009 @ 7:48am | Report comment
Sam,
It’s so bleeding obvious, isn’t it!!!
But unfortunately, the bleeding hearts club society will offer a dozen & a hundred excuses why it can’t be done.
Wasted space SANZAR only has to add one extra ‘A’………. SAANZAR!
September 4th 2009 @ 11:08am
Jerry G said | September 4th 2009 @ 11:08am | Report comment
Nah, put the extra A after the Z, that way SANZAAR sounds like something both a Japie would say.
September 4th 2009 @ 8:31pm
kraisch said | September 4th 2009 @ 8:31pm | Report comment
“both a Japie would say”?
I think Japie’s speak two languages at least on average, and before you retort with “neither very well”, look at your sentence above.
Play in the front row much, Jezz? :-0
September 4th 2009 @ 8:42pm
Jerry G said | September 4th 2009 @ 8:42pm | Report comment
Chill out, it was just a comment about the accent Kraisch. I can imagine someone like Tony Greig saying “Sanzaaaaar”.
The ‘both’ was just a typo but if you want to start talking grammar there doesn’t need to be an apostrophe in “Japie’s” and the comma you put in after “average” is superfluous.
Oh, and how does Australia get two letters in “SANZAR”?
September 4th 2009 @ 8:48pm
kraisch said | September 4th 2009 @ 8:48pm | Report comment
Thanks for taking part in an elaborate stake-out to draw out expert English speakers. Your headhunter will be emailing you later about positions going in China.
Tony Greig – now that’s a South African Eastern Cape accent, assaulted in the south of England and mangled in OZ – possibly the first case of a Trans-Indian (Ocean) accent . Barry Richards a close second.
September 4th 2009 @ 7:58am
Nick said | September 4th 2009 @ 7:58am | Report comment
Why limit it to only one game? Just make it home and away with a break week in the middle and no final. In other words the old Tri-Nations except you play Argentina when the other two teams are playing. Sure its a bit of crazy travel to go to both South America and South Africa inside a few weeks but it would be awesome.
Hold it just in September and October, you’d get the same number of games as they play right now, more markets, new teams.
Finally, although a final seems like a good idea, there are already too many finals. A league system is fairest, you win the most games consistently… you win.
But how do we get their best players into competitions that can accomidate them playing national fixtures when it suits us?
September 4th 2009 @ 8:16am
Andrew B said | September 4th 2009 @ 8:16am | Report comment
This year SANZAR have tried to get Argentina involved, but the UAR basically turned up to the meeting in the UK unprepared. From a pure rugby perspective, yes, the Argies should be involved, but its a professional game now and they need to bring a proposal to the table that at least has some dollar signs on it. The IRB have been trying for years to get professional rugby up an running in Argentina, with (from memory) 1 million pounds sitting there for them to take once they sort it out. Finally this year they ‘employed’ 25 or 30 professional rugby players – but the hilarious thing is, they can’t play rugby. Not allowed, because their domestic competition is still amateur. Every Union has some crazy administrators, but the UAR appear to have more than their fair share.
Yes, the 3N needs Argentina and a revamp, but from where I sit, Argentina are getting in their own way.
September 4th 2009 @ 8:37am
sheek said | September 4th 2009 @ 8:37am | Report comment
I meant that should read SANZAAR.
Anyway, Sam has it right, start small, then build. Each of the 4 nations play each other once, best two into the final.
That means two nations play 4 times, & 2 nations play 3 times. Double-headers every second week makes sense, considering the fast distances to travel.
A problem has been identified – two teams get 2 home games, two teams get one. But that changes the following year. I’m cool with it. The same thing happens in the 6 nations at present.
September 4th 2009 @ 5:12pm
AndyS said | September 4th 2009 @ 5:12pm | Report comment
But as was stated during the SANZAR negotiations, 3N is the biggest element in the revenues deal with News. Would SANZAR as is take a big pay cut to “start small, then build”? The only way I see Argentina being involved is if it either makes more product/games, or has the same number of games but makes a more interesting product. Of those two, I would have thought the 4N, home and away would be the best starting point. The biggest hurdle will be time zones, such that games in Argentina won’t rate well here and vice-versa, so the collective value of the twelve games could take a hit.