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Here’s some banter and reflection about rugby and beyond from a neutral perspective.
Let us kick off on a positive note: the inclusion of a Fijian team in the NRC. It is early days, but this could be a real game changer. It is no secret to anyone following rugby that if Fiji gets some proper backing from ARU, New Zealand Rugby Union and World Rugby they could easily develop into a very competitive Tier One nation within five or ten years.
Now the first step has been taken to that direction. Kudos to everyone involved.
Contrary to what some Roarers wrote in the comments section earlier this week when the news broke, this is not a move by the ARU to poach players from Fiji.
Why? Well, because the Fijian team is basically the Fiji A-team and they will all play in the Pacific Nations Cup before the NRC season even kicks off in 2017, which means they are only eligible to play for Fiji.
Obviously, ARU wants something from this deal as well. So what can that be? I reckon it is to strengthen the Australian Super Rugby franchises. From now on, they will have first pick on any emerging Fijian talent coming through the NRC.
In a couple of years, a large part of the Fijian Test team could well play for Australian Super Rugby franchises and that will make them way more competitive. Yes, this means some Australian boys will miss out on contracts, but we are talking about maybe 15 to 25 contracts spread out over five teams.
Speaking about five Australian teams, the only way all five of them will survive is for them to get more competitive. Australian fans do not come through as a bunch who embrace losers, so I think most of the Australian rugby community will cherish stronger teams (getting hammered by Kiwi teams week in and week out is no fun at all), even if it means two or three players in the team are playing Test rugby for Fiji instead of the Wallabies. The large Fijian community in Australia will most likely get more involved and follow their local team.
What about Samoa and Tongo? If the inclusion of the Fijian team turns out to be a success, it is going to be much easier to plea the case that they should be included in the future. But until then, let us hold out for a while and consider the difference between Fiji and the other two.
Fiji has a population of almost one million people, three times more than the other two combined. One million people is not a lot, but at least it is enough to support a really competitive team (both on and off the field), and maybe in the future their own Super Rugby franchise as well.
If New Zealand, with a population of five million, can support five Super Rugby teams, then Fiji could probably support one.
Last weekend looked to be a boring one with no Test rugby on the menu. But I am addicted to rugby and I need my fix. First I turned north (or west actually) to watch some European Cup rugby and the heavyweight meeting between Toulon and Saracens.
Both teams looked mighty impressive on the team sheets with household names like Nonu, Burger, Lobbe, Habana, Halfpenny and many many more superstars.
Everyone who has wasted two hours of their life watching European club rugby before knows that star-filled team sheets count for nothing, but this time the game lived up and surpassed my expectations. It was an excellent game from start to finish.
I kept an extra eye on the English stars in Saracens and I am sorry/happy to report they all looked great. Eddie Jones have said that England need several world-class players if they going to challenge the All Blacks for world supremacy, and it looks like three or four players are raising their hands.
Both Vunipola brothers played rock solid, Maro Itoje was immense (as always) and it is hard to grasp he is only 21 years old and started his Test career only six months ago, Owen Farrell was back from injury but showed no signs of rust, slotting home kicks for fun and putting his body on line in defence with fearless and effective tackling.
Speaking about Eddie Jones, I’m getting a wee bit tired of the lazy reporting from media in the Southern Hemisphere. Yes, he has said the All Blacks are possible to beat, that they have flaws, that England should not carbon-copy them and so on.
But in every single interview from which these quotes are taken, he has praised the All Blacks just as much as everyone else, but somehow the media around the Tasman ditch turns a blind eye to that. Come on fellas, Eddie is no fool and making fun of him and portraying him as a kamikaze bigmouth is stupid and disrespectful. And it might come back and bite you hard in a place where the sun don’t shine.
After Toulon-Saracens I watched the second semifinal in the Currie Cup between the Bulls and Western Province. And I was lucky again. All the talk about the South African rugby crisis felt surreal while watching this game. It was high-quality rugby, end to end action and huge drama.
Obviously, many things are wrong with South African rugby, but not everything.
Remember Brumbies old scrumhalf Nic White? He had an absolute nightmare in the game between Northampton and Montpelier. All Wallabies fans should be happy that he only has 22 caps and is out of contention for a gold jersey.
I wanna give a yellow card to New Zealand media and rugby public. They have more or less completely ignored the news about a Fiji team in the NRC. Why? Why? Why?
The normal thing to do the days before a Bledisloe Test is to focus on that game. But what’s there to say? Everyone knows Wallabies will loose and New Zealand will break the world record with 18 straight Test victories.
And the rich getting richer; England did not reach the knockout phase of the Rugby World Cup last year but the RFU enjoyed huge success off the field. The RFU’s annual financial report shows the Union doubled its revenues to £407.1 million with record profits for rugby investment of £102.3m, an increase of 37 per cent.
The highest turnover in the RFU’s history was boosted by World Cup-generated revenue of £228.1m, with the tournament exceeding expectations on all fronts (bar the host nation’s performance).
Stuart Barnes used to get on my nerves a lot. But not anymore. I have grown to like him a lot lately, especially when the boys at the Kiwi TV show ‘The Breakdown’ call him up on Skype for a chat. Great sense of humour and lots of knowledge.
I was almost falling asleep while watching a replay of the game between Wasps and the hopeless Italian side Zebre. But when the commentator kept repeating the name Tom Cruise I woke up and was thinking ‘what the hell?’ It turned out the Wasps have a hooker named Tom Cruse. I wonder how many questions he gets about his name on a weekly basis?
I saw an ODI cricket match between India and New Zealand on Sunday afternoon. And the stadium – called Himachal Pradesh – was so beautiful. And the surrounding settings was mind blowing. Is that the must beautiful cricket stadium in the world, or what?
Since almost all readers of The Roar know their cricket I figured this is a good place to ask.
And finally, being born and raised with football in Europe, Australian football (not AFL) is not something I paid much attention to. Ever.
But somehow – I have no idea how – I found myself watching some highlights from the second round of the A-League. And oh my sweet lord… Tim Cahill! That first goal in the Melbourne derby is a worthy contender for the Puskas Award 2016. Almost as good as his cracker against Holland 2014.
Have a nice weekend!
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.