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The prospect of a highly-attractive “clash of the hemispheres” game to determine the world’s best club side is set to be introduced in 2012, much to the delight of Northern and Southern rugby fans.
A play-off between the winners of the Heineken Cup and what will by 2012 have become the Super 15 has been mooted many times before.
The Guardian newspaper in the UK says that, “all the major unions are now fully behind the proposal and are redoubling their efforts to finalise a firm date for the match, which would be staged in Europe, possibly in early December.”
There is concern that any delay in organising the match will leave the way clear for promoters from outside the sport to take advantage.
Northern Hemisphere clubs, and ones in the Southern Hemisphere, have had approaches from Monaco, Abu Dhabi and, most recently, from South Africa.
They believe that if the stakeholders within rugby don’t create this, somebody else will, and we’ll find an outsider coming in, according to Northern Hemisphere rugby officials.
The prospect of the reigning European champions, Leinster, playing the Super 14 holders, the Bulls, from South Africa, at a sold-out Lansdowne Road Stadium in Dublin would be an attractive one for fans and broadcasters and could generate substantial income for the game.
With the Northern Hemisphere unions pushing the idea, they see the date as being the biggest issue.
Once the dates of the new domestic comps in the Southern Hemisphere are known, things can be finalised. The proposal is that it be held in the Autumn – either before or after the Autumn Internationals, when Southern Hemisphere players will be in Ireland and other Northern Hemisphere countries.
It would only affect two clubs from an individual league – whether it’s the Top 14, GP or the Magners League – so fixtures would not be affected.
The NSW Union has different ideas.
CEO, Jim L’Estrange, said: “That might take the form of a series involving the winners of the three Sanzar conferences (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) against, say, the French Top 14 champion and the English Premiership winner. From a NSW union perspective, we’d certainly be interested in something like that as long as our top players were available.”
It’s not a done deal, and there’s issues to be worked through.
Would it be fair to ask Super 15 sides to perform two months in advance of the start of their Super 15 season, although many of their players would be test-match hardened?
Should it be just a one-off match, or is the alternative from Australia, who are probably less confident about ever getting a chance to participate unless as a conference winner in a mini-series, a more balanced proposal that would gain the favour of fans?
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.