When it comes to competition, the Northern Hemisphere is miles ahead

I watched the highlights of the Sharks-Blues semi-final and I was left doing the same thing I did during their pool game -- yelling at the ref at the persistent infringements of the South Africans. If I sound disgruntled then it's because I am. The Kiwi sides were up against it and probably the right teams won but several aspects about what I saw struck me. 1. Stu Dickinson still can't tell what a forward pass is. Someone should explain to him that he's a rugby union ref, not an AFL umpire! 2. Secondly, the off-the-ball niggle employed by the Sharks (largely hanging on the sleeves of their opponents in rucks and mauls -- AJ Venter is particularly good/infamous at this). 3. If the Bulls think that kicking penalty goals will win them games then good luck to them. Just don't expect SA to make the Cup final playing that way. 4. I wonder whether the SA teams would have made the semis had the 22 ABs been available at the start of the season. Probably not!! I'm hearing talk about the SAfricans leaving the S14. Frankly, if they do go, I will still sleep very soundly at night. English clubs will love them!

I said in my last post, that the difference was in the crowd figures and the team following. Last weekend the Super 14 semis bore this out. Two huge and parochial crowds provided a brilliant atmosphere for the game, and the Rugby was tough and exciting.It's just a pity that we have such small Rugby populations, in Australia and NZ, but pound for pound the quality is certainly there.

Your article: "Whilst the southern hemisphere rugby nations led again this year by New Zealand," and ".....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)...." Have to ask myself what planet you were visiting when you wrote this article. Or do you write them months in advance and trickle them out one by one while you're lying in a hammock in Barbados?

just a couple of comments around issues concerningPeter Hewat While I don't beloeve that hewat is of wallaby standard he certainly is a very useful Super 14 player for thought 1. If Ewen McKenzie makes statements indicating the value of point scoring players like Hewat then why did he let matt Burke go...is McKenzie good at spin or what? 2. The article about Tuquiri needing to apologise for having his phone on speaker while Michael O'Connor is bagging Hewat....let's get real here, O'connor should apologise to Hewat. What O'Connor doing having that type of discussion with another player. It shows lack of respect and common decency.

All I can say is shame on the IRB for letting the clubs have so much sway. It makes my blood boil everytime the topic of players not being able to represent their country (be it in any sport) comes up. The IRB could solve the problem simply by stepping in and stopping these types of contracts. If the clubs want to split, so be it. The split wont survive, but Rugby will.

DaniB, I hate to sound like a doomsayer but the chances of the European-based islander players playing in the RWC are aided only by the fact that the Cup is in France this time. As soon as the Cup is in a different time zone, that story will change. And while it's good for talented players to develop their game (and bank balance) overseas, there has already been reports that clubs chose not to inform their Islander players when they were required for national duty (ie World Cup qualifiers). Many Islander players are now having to retire from overseas duty early because their club has placed financial pressure on them to do so (Raiwalui for Fiji, Leota for Samoa, etc). If it sounds like I'm fixated on Islanders, it's because I'm half-Fijian and I know their problems very well.

I think it has a lot to do with the crowds. I watched a bit of the Llanelli v Leicester game on TV last weekend and the first thing that struck me was the size and parochialism of the Twickenham crowd. It's nothing more than a factor of the population size, the class distinctions and the fact that professional clubs hold sway over the national bodies. Doesn't mean that the Rugby standard is any better than ours. If southern hemisphere teams could get those sized crowds, then the competitions might look more attractive, but is the standard of play in the Northern hemisphere any better? Why do they need to buy players from the rest of the world - my guess is that they have to keep it exciting, and they won't do it with home grown players, particularly when their national teams can't really hold a candle to the southern hemisphere sides. Probably a lot of other commercial reasons that we don't understand. After all, they are competing with the magnitude of soccer which is the only other winter sport played there. We have a population of 20 million, with four major codes. Seems to me that Rugby has the right balance in this country.

Regarding the new national competition, ARC. Attendances are a bit of a worry. Last years one off APC with a higher dose of S14 players barely got more than a few thousand fans turning up. I'm hoping the home games in Perth & Melbourne with change that and the ABC coverage may help. We couldn't even see an APC game on TV. ARC needs to get more free to air exposure to gain some popularity amongst less fanatical rugby fans & as some games (of the 2 per week?) being shown are on ABC2. Not everyone has digital. There will be some extra players of reasonable standard getting regular games like fringe S14, Sevens, some overseas & semi retired, to up the standard. Lachan McKay, Scott Daruda, Chris O'Young, Lloyd Johansson, Cameron Treloar, Patrick Phibbs, Peter Owens, Tim Atkinson, Matt Cockbain, for example. Eight games is not enough compared to NRL or AFLs 16 odd games plus bigger finals. Eventually Adelaide needs a team, but who would be the tenth to even the numbers?

Hi Andrew, I'm not sure that history matters in this case - many of the players in the European clubs are going to be released to play in this coming RWC. I for one don't mind seeing an international mix in teams, regardless of the size of player bases in countries. Variety and shared learning is a valuable thing! I loved it when Abdel Benazzi came down under to play for an Australian club - it really added to the competition, and I used to wish for more of this. Looking at the experience of Australian cricketers going overseas to play county cricket in the UK in the offseason, it didn't seem to harm their games at all. I do agree that clubs should not hold the ultimate power above national unions to decide upon representative honours, as is the case in soccer. You are definitely right to be concerned there.

As many would know, there's a massive club v country battle going on in England & France, for control of the game. There's even the possibility of a World Series Cricket/Super League split ala 1977 & 1995. Such a situation would split the game wide open, perhaps destroy it. There's always the pheonix option, of the game rising from the ashes stronger than before. But that remains to be seen. Call me old-fashioned, or a socialist, or whatever, but the game must be controlled by the national unions, & it must be contained hemispherically & regionally, by salary caps & drafts. Everyone can make money eventually, just as long as they don't want it all NOW, & at the expense of others & the game. Okay, that sounds like restraint of trade. However, most sports rely on tradition as a basis of their game. That is, familiar entities playing each other, year in, year out. Surely, that is worth protecting. So the English & French clubs should give control of the international game to the national bodies, & compromise of freeing their players for national duty. In turn, the national bodies will have to provide 'windows', which is a current practise, for international matches. In this respect, Rugby will become like Football, with regional leagues - European 6 Nations (several divisions); Southern Hemisphere 4 Nations; Pacific Rim 6 Nations, etc. Internationals between NH & SH nations might become infrequent outside of World Cups, although they will still happen. In this respect, it could be a return to the old traditional tours, every 7-9 years or so. The salary cap & draft will be needed to protect domestic comps from collapse, eg, New Zealand & Australia. Players can still go to Europe & chase the bigger money, but only after they have served their time for their country, or are no longer wanted. A test player who is say 31-32 years old, with 7-8 or more years as an International, can argue for a release to chase bigger money elsewhere. At the end of the day, it's about compromise. If all parties are willing to concede a little, for the overall betterment of the game, then that is good. Otherwise, "we're in for some rough weather", as the retired old sea captain said to his butler in the movie 'Mary Poppins'. Or words to that effect.

DaniB, mate, check your history books. Those Samoan players you see running around Europe will not be released to play for their country in the next RWC. They certainly weren't released for the last RWC which made the Islanders' participation a bit of a farce and made a mockery of the RWC (and IRB). The fact is the European clubs should not have to recruit overseas players -- the English RFU has the largest player base of any union in the rugby world, NZ has one of the smallest. Give it five years and rugby could end up like soccer, where the clubs have too much of a say in internationals. The greed in European rugby is unbelievable!

I have recently moved outside of Australia, and to my surprise have found that I have enjoyed watching European rugby. It is great to see the passion of the players and the fans, and I can't wait to watch the final this weekend. In particular, the fact that they have a mix of players in the teams - British, Irish, Italian, Argentinian, Islander, Aussie and Kiwi, and more - is a boon to their play, and can really make the games exciting. To me, one big benefit of Euro rugger is for those countries with little access to tournaments such as the S14, or limited domestic competition. I think it's fantastic to be able to have their players in these comps to expose them to strong rugby. I for one look forward to when the Samoan players come together for the RWC - from what I've seen in the Euro games, they could be really amazing!

If the Northern competition is so advanced then why the f*** are they trying to buy up all the All Blacks down under? Andrew Kacimaiwai