In April I wrote an article titled Super Rugby would be better off without South Africa.
At the time it was met with howls of dissension and its fair share of Aussie bashing. Bizarrely some comments even suggested I was part of some grand, News Limited conspiracy.
I couldn’t understand all the fuss, particularly from our friends in the Republic. Put simply, it benefits everyone, most of all South Africa.
However, if there are grounds to scream conspiracy here, those grounds can be found in the boardrooms of London, Durban and Cape Town.
Saracens Club Chairman Nigel Wray has come out publicly and stated that “sooner or later” South Africa will join the Six Nations. It is unclear whether he is also saying that South African provincial rugby will transfer to Europe, but that would seem the logical implication.
Wray is not the sort of guy who makes throw away comments. He has owned (or part owned) Saracens since the sport went professional. He’s in partnership with Johann Rupert, one of the most powerful men in South Africa.
Wray’s comments come at the end of a remarkable chain of events that suggests SARU and the powerbrokers in London are manoeuvring away from the Southern Hemisphere. And taking the New Zealand Rugby Union and ARU on a ride while they are at it.
The politically charged decision to force SANZAR partners to accept a sixth South African Super franchise team was the first ridiculous demand. Rather than seeking to grow into Asia or South America, SARU’s natural instinct was to put a gun to everyone’s head and demand a sixth side.
Then there are the less than full and frank TV revenue dealings that have cast a shadow over the spirit of the SANZAR union. As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald it seems clear that SARU has been taking liberties, the Wayne Pearce if you will.
Wray and John Smit have probably not had much opportunity to discuss Wray’s point of view. Unless they had a chance to speak during the Sharks v Saracens exhibition game earlier this year.
Of course South Africa’s links with north west London go back far further than that exhibition game.
Francois Pienaar captained Saracens soon after the game went professional. Brendan Venter was director of rugby and former SARU Chief Executive Edward Griffiths is now involved at Saracens. Johann Rupert, a prominent South African businessman with ties to the Stormers and Bulls owns half of the club.
Exactly what is going on here? My view is that those running South African rugby care very little for Australian or New Zealand Rugby.
Afterall, why should they? Providing they get a few games each year against the Wallabies and All Blacks all is well. The money is much better in Europe. And as Mr Wray says, “Whether you like it or not, TV is the master.”
Of course, as I said back in April, this isn’t all about money. Player welfare plays a huge part and there are significant concerns that the current proposal for Super Rugby put forward by SANZAR puts the players last. Wayne Smith has been most vocal in this regard. As a future All Black coach, his opinion deserves attention.
Then there are responsibilities to grow the game. Argentina has been waiting patiently and deserves an opportunity. The United States, Japan and Canada are untapped markets.
Arguments that any of those countries can’t be competitive within a generation are lacking vision and wrong.
A second string Pumas side pushed a full strength Irish team all the way, twice. The US and Canada came close to beating Scotland. Japan just beat Italy. Sure they aren’t world beaters yet, but an injection of resources and increased competition over the next 10 years could well turn that around.
Just look at the Americans at the FIFA World Cup!
It seems we can all put our heads in the sand and pretend South Africa’s exit isn’t coming or accept it and move on.
The New Zealand Rugby Union and ARU need to do the latter.
Eddard, please read this article I discussed the potential of the Currie Cup. http://www.theroar.com.au/2014/05/22/ditch-super-rugby-concentrate-currie-cup/
WSM58
Guest
The English Super League moved to a Summer competition for the same reason. It seems to work okay.
Hoqni
Guest
Adidas! That black guernsey with silver fern and tri stripes : a hot seller in asia,
ChrisT
Roar Pro
Yep. You just can't argue with a reasoned argument like that I guess
Eddard
Roar Guru
BB, why not do both? In 2016 you will have 6 top tier provinces that participate in Super Rugby. If South Africa were ever to go off on their own 6 teams probably wouldn't be enough for a longer, stand alone Curie Cup. Instead you could have a 10 or 12 team competition played over 18-22 weeks. And with that many extra teams at the top tier, why not turn the Currie Cup into a competition for the best players in Africa, rather than just the best in South Africa? I'm not saying open the floodgates completely but there could be a few spots per team designated to other African players. It wouldn't just be an altruistic exercise. It would allow teams to develop their brands in other African countries and attract more fans and top class talent in future. It would also help raise the level of a few other African nations that may at some point provide the Springboks competitive test matches. Competitive test matches = revenue. Inviting countries to take part in the Vodacom Cup is great, but it doesn't really achieve the same things. It's basically allowing teams of amateur players a chance to play against semi-pro and professional players. The best of these players need to be training and playing alongside semi-pro and professional players.
ChrisT
Roar Pro
Still missing my point. If the Bok's world changed to where they were playing NH opposition regularly in mid season and rarely playing the higher ranked teams (and probably at times less favourable to their respective seasons), they'd almost certainly suffer in the IRB ranking stakes - it's just the nature of the ranking points system, sports results and the shape of the rugby ball. No one's disputing the current W/L record - but the world I'm talking about would be a different one. For example, you play a much lower ranked team and smash them - there's no benefit to you ranking points wise. Get pipped by a point occasionally, it hurts your ranking points a lot. This would happen. I'll put it another way. Imagine geography, seasons and travel issues didn't exist and SA and England swapped comps. With the familiarity of playing the higher ranked teams and the boost in performance that gives a team, I'd pretty confidently predict over time England and SA would swop ranking positions.
etienne marais
Guest
With you on this one. Oftentimes this year, my priority games to watch, did not even feature an SA team (although I am a Saffa). Anytime, midday or the dead of night...bring it on!
There is so much wrong with your statement, I don't know where to start. What you are basically saying NZ is the only country supposed to have 5 teams? They have always had the most teams and hence they have had an advantage in building depth, something SA and OZ only got years later. NZ also has central contracting which means their talent is spread more evenly amongst their franchises. If it is going to be twelve teams rhen it should be four teams each.
Eddard, we already have government down our necks to develop more local black talent, where would you like to fit the other african nation's players in? We invite these countries to take part in the Vodacom Cup, I think we are already doing more than most tier one nations.
Midnight_mangler
Guest
Mate I am paying attention but I think you may have a problem counting. Add up the win loss totals for all teams vs SA for the November internationals for the last ten years and let's look at facts. England and Wales, arguably the strongest European teams, will have next to nothing to show for themselves. Ireland and Scotland are better sure, but I suspect there is some complacency at work there. Either way, the Bok record against NH over the last ten years is far superior to anything NH has achieved in SA in the same time. And this is "when they are tired at the end of their season". Start living in the real world mate.
Garth
Guest
Rob9, I understand that SOO is a mainstay of the Aussie league scene. I also understand that contesting it between solely between NSW & Queensland is probably hindering NRL expansion. After all, Victoria can't field a team in SOO, so where is the incentive to take league seriously. Which in turn leads to a lack of clubs outside of NSW & Queensland, so anyone who is interested in playing has to head there or to Auckland if they can't get the Storm interested, which means they can only turn out for NSW or Queensland in SOO. If Aussies truly think a state representative side is and should be just a "club", then it is a sad time for Aussie rugby. As for AFL, it barely registers on this side of the Tasman. It's just a weird game played by some Aussies on a cricket ground. Looks pretty and they say it has rules, but.....
Jerry
Guest
Rebel Sport main office knows it has to market to NZ in NZ. So does the bank that owns BNZ. The tournament was only referred to as the Rebel Sport Super 14 on NZ broadcasts anyway, in Aus it would have been referred to by whatever sponsor the ARU had arranged. AIG & Adidas are a different kettle of fish obviously - they're sponsoring an international brand for international markets. Hardly the same as Super Rugby sponsorships.
Garth
Guest
Not a patronising tilt, Nek Minute, scientific fact. Also why would all of Europe move to playing rugby in their summer just to accommodate South Africa.
Garth
Guest
Of Course AIG doesn't base their "splurge" on NZ's "miniscule" market, but they sure as hell don't base it on Australia's slightly larger one (by US standards) either. They base it on the fact the the AB's are a highly recognised & marketable brand on a GLOBAL level.
Rob9
Guest
I'm well aware of the scale of the company. What you seem to be forgetting about is the minute level of popularity the game still has there. You forget, businesses will back ventures when there's a chance of money coming back to them. Yes you can factor company pride into the equation in Japan. But that doesn't mean a lot in an externally based competition that's not the Top League where they're competing effectively against other company teams.
Rob9
Guest
The NZ bank branches and Rebel stores may not give a flying toss as you put it about Australian exposure but the guys paying the bills at the top sure would. At least in the case of Rebel Sports, they're all company stores. Do you seriously think a huge multinational like AIG would splurge what they have to the NZRU based solely on the minuscule NZ market??
Owen McCaffrey
Roar Guru
Japan just bought Franz Steyn from the Sharks. Those Japanese Clubs have unlimited money. Buying one Super Rugby club is like getting a big mac combo for them. You are not realising the scale of that country. Their GDP is larger than ALL SANZAR nations combined including Argentina. They are the third largest economy in the world and they just happen to like to play around with rugby teams like the rich guys in France. So who are SANZAR to stop them? The French millionaires are doing the same thing - what's the difference? What? You don't think a French millionaire could afford a Super Rugby team if they were in the neighbourhood? Of course! They throw away 10million pounds a year on player salaries like it's water. We are talking about the big fish here. That's why SANZAR want to court Japan.
Owen McCaffrey
Roar Guru
Article in the NZ newspapers today said the Team will have to come up with $100million over 5 years. With that amount of money there must be some serious backing behind the team. They are still talking up Singapore, which would unlikely be a company-named team but out of Japan it would be.
Jak
Guest
No they wouldn't. The best euro teams would struggle to make the finals
Jerry
Guest
Yeah, they're 3 and 3 in Ireland since 2000. Not great, but a 50% away record is still decent, especially when combined with a 100% home record. But consider their record against NZ & Aus away in the TN/RC They've won 3 matches in NZ since 1996 - except they've lost 17. They're slightly better in Australia, 4 wins, 1 draw and 15 losses. They've also had a couple of losses to Aus outside of the tournament. So while they may not be complete walkovers, the likes of Scotland, Ireland & Wales would still be a significant step down from what they've faced in the TN & RC.