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When it comes to competition, the Northern Hemisphere is miles ahead
Garth Hamilton
Roar Guru
24th April, 2007
13
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Garth Hamilton
Roar Guru
24th April, 2007
13

the wasps rugby

Whilst the southern hemisphere rugby nations led again this year by New Zealand, have by and large produced more exciting rugby over the years, when it comes to exciting competitions, it is the north who have the advantage. And by a long way.

Whilst the 2007 version of the Super 14 plays out its almost inevitable death throes (once again almost guaranteed to be contested by two of the only three provinces to have won the competition, Auckland or Canterbury), the first of the competitions open to English teams, the EDF Energy Anglo-Welsh Cup, has come to a conclusion with Leicester seeing off a spirited second half square-up by the Ospreys of Wales.

Leicester, having already qualified for a position in the Guiness Premiership semi-finals and the European Heineken Cup finals, find themselves in a sea of excitement as the media talks up their chances of taking home three titles this year. Sunday’s final was the first of a three part grand final act to be played out on English rugby’s stage and serves as an appetizer for the main course – the Premiership.

The Anglo-Welsh Cup is much younger than the Super 12/14 competition (prior to 2005-6 there was a similar competition open only to English teams) and relies mostly upon the centuries old enmity the Welsh feel for the English to generate its attraction. The standard of rugby in this particular competition hasn’t always been at the highest as teams rotate rosters to save their ‘firsts’ teams for their respective national premierships, sending out reserve grade teams to defend the clubs honour.

The competition also suffers from the usual maladies of northern hemisphere rugby – bad weather and boggy pitches – turning many games into ‘fat man’s delight’, ten man rugby. Average crowd figures for the Anglo-Welsh cup games hovered just above 8,000, up 40% on the previous season.

However, despite these setbacks, the final was a strategic and financial success. The game drew significant media interest and a large television audience. On the ground, the exciting play came from the home grown talent, in the form of Daniel Hipkiss who showed more than just a visual resemblance to his namesake, Daniel Herbert, and the exciting Welshman, Shane Williams.

Leicester held on for a deserved victory and the look on Martin Corry’s face as he raised the silverware, after a difficult year for him, certainly was that of a man well pleased with himself and his team.

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More important though were the looks on the fans faces. They cared.

The Anglo-Welsh competition has succeeded because it appealed to the grass roots fans of long established clubs. These people and those watching on television don’t care what competition they are watching as long as they are watching the same team they’ve been supporting for years.

The Anglo-Welsh cup, or whatever cup eventually replaces it when the cards are again inevitably reshuffled by the RFU, will always succeed as long as it sticks to this simple formula.

Leicester may or may not go on to win the Premiership but a long, hard season of rugby has already guaranteed some achievement for the Tigers. The different competitions encourage teams to give experience to younger players whilst old war-horses are rested. It also encourages up and coming teams to devote their energy to the less prestigious of the competitions in order to develop some sort of winning culture in their club so that one day they can challenge the heavyweights of the Premiership.

Restructuring the southern hemisphere seasons will never be an easy task and an exact duplication of the northern system will not work given the importance of long established national competitions in New Zealand and South Africa. The Super 14 competition, much like the Tri-Nations, appears to be in need of spicing up if the low attendances experienced on both sides of the Tasman this year are any indicator.

Changing old competitions, as proven by the success of the Anglo-Welsh Cup, can be a viable option if it is contested by rugby teams with an already established fan base. The introduction of Italy into the Six Nations has reinvigorated an old and proud competition and has allowed the Azzurri to develop one of the best forward packs in world rugby.

The introduction of the APC, as a stepping stone competition between club and Super 14, will answer two very important questions for Australian rugby; firstly, will it effectively develop up and coming players and secondly will it appeal to more than four blokes and a dog.

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With the Australian provinces already spread too thinly with international talent, young players will find experienced senior players short on the ground when the Wallaby squad is removed from their ranks. Expect more misguided schoolboy errors than development under the watchful eye of cagey old timers.

Supporters of Australian club teams, if forced to choose who to give their support to, will stay with their beloved clubmates rather than watch a game between two new teams, neither of whom demand their allegiance. Australian TV rugby audiences don’t have the weight to support crowds of 8,000.

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