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The ostensibly incessant expansion of Super Rugby has reached a tipping point.
Recently, it was reported that Singapore and Japan, among others, had emerged as frontrunners to host a new Super Rugby franchise.
As SANZAR yet again seek to expand the competition, the notion of an Asian outfit has seemingly curried favour alongside South Africa’s Southern Kings and a potential Argentine club, taking the projected Super Rugby competition to 18 teams.
SANZAR has been quick to emphasise the benefits of an Asian franchise, stating that it may serve to stem the mass exodus of Pacific Island players to Europe with the lure of Super Rugby glory.
So, I shall endeavor to put this as delicately as possible. This is the most idiotic, financially-driven scheme rugby has ever seen.
Never before has a rugby organisation been so expansive, so doggedly invested in the extension of its empire that it compromises the very nature of the competition it strives to promote.
For God’s sake, when will SANZAR ever learn? This ingrained mentality of premature expansion has already crippled Super Rugby, yet they continue to expand for all the wrong reasons.
Is it to improve quality? Definitely not. Is it inclusive? Perhaps. Is it financially driven? Almost certainly.
We may praise the development of recent franchises, but the undeniable truth is that competition has weakened significantly over the past seven years.
Yes, the Western Force have turned heads this year. Yes, the Lions and Cheetahs play an entertaining, attacking brand of rugby. Yes, the Rebels have caused some upsets. But we must face the facts.
Until this year, the Western Force have been cellar dwellers, fielding a mixed bag of disillusioned troublemakers and home state discards. The Lions, Cheetahs, and Kings for that matter, while undeniably entertaining, have the defensive capacities of wet tissue paper, and the Rebels simply do not yet have the talent to compete in Super Rugby.
Now, imagine the consequences should SANZAR further expand to accommodate the Southern Kings, an Argentine outfit and an Asian franchise. The competition, already stretched thin, would threaten to snap.
Extended travel commitments across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, poor broadcast quality and international viewing times and a even wider range of player transfers would render both these teams and the competition itself useless.
At best, we would see one of these three teams escape the bottom three places on the ladder. At worst, a diabolical collapse of overall competition quality.
Allow me to present my humble alternative.
Southern hemisphere rugby requires stability. That in itself is painfully obvious. So, why not reach for a tried and tested method? Why not return to the round robin format of yesteryear?
Let us return to a simple round robin season, in which each team plays each other once before a series of knockout finals to determine a victor.
Away with the conference system. Away with the constant argument of not playing the hardest teams or having an easy region. Let’s just cut the nonsense and return to the elusive act of sense.
‘What about travel and unfair timetables?’, I hear people cry. Please enlighten me. What is fair about having an Argentine team fly across the Pacific for every away game?
‘What about opportunities for foreign teams and minority countries?’ What on earth is opportunistic about getting walloped each game by Super franchises littered with All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks?
Countries such as Argentina, Japan and the Pacific benefit far more from competitions such as the Pacific Nations Cup, in which they have the opportunity to play as an international outfit more regularly at a fairly even level.
The Pacific Nations Cup would serve Los Pumas far better than the Rugby Championship. Imagine a PNC in which Japan, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, USA, Canada and Argentina played six games each.
Yes, I understand the reasoning behind SANZAR’s expansive temperament, but it’s simply not compatible with contemporary Super Rugby.
While the development and inclusion of new franchises is important for the development of rugby, it must not serve to sacrifice the quality of the world rugby’s best domestic tournament.
Issues of finance and profitability should not take precedence over the game itself, yet to the untrained eye that’s exactly what’s happening right now.
But then again, what would I know?
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.