The ARU’s decision to open up Wallaby eligibility to European-based players is a slippery slope. A better alternative would be for SANZAR as a whole to open up eligibility within Super Rugby as it expands.
While the new seven-year and 60 caps criteria will not have a big effect initially, it is easy to see this changing in time. Already people (such as The Roar’s Andrew Logan) are calling for the threshold of time or games to be reduced.
While such a policy may benefit the Wallabies, it might also mark the beginning of the end for world-class provincial or club rugby in Australia.
Introducing policies that diminish the quality of Super Rugby players will decrease fan interest and thus the viability of the franchises. Eventually Super Rugby could fall over and if that happens there would be no choice but to open the flood gates.
Australian rugby would be left with a Wallabies side made up almost entirely of overseas-based players, and a fledgling national championship that would be a feeder competition for international clubs.
The only truly world-class rugby played in Australia every year would be half a dozen Wallabies games.
Some would say that this is inevitable but I don’t believe that to be true. At the very least this was not the time to start raising the white flag to European rugby.
With SANZAR on the verge of a big increase in broadcast revenue and international expansion, not all hope is lost of competing financially with European clubs over the long term.
The goal of SANZAR (and the players as well) should be to turn Super Rugby into a globally popular competition that blows the Top 14 and Aviva Premiership out of the water on and off the field. It’s much harder to do this when the ARU are effectively devaluing Super Rugby as the SARU have already done.
The unions need to relinquish some of their control over Super Rugby to attract more private investment and then use freed-up funds to better promote the competition and expand quicker into Asia and possibly America.
It’s a high-risk strategy, but it’s better than conceding supremacy to European club rugby.
Instead of allowing Test players to leave for clubs in Europe and remain eligible for Test selection, an alternative is to create more opportunity for experienced players to move around within Super Rugby.
It’d be better to see experienced Wallabies playing for Super Rugby teams in Japan than for clubs in France. Players would be able to experience living and playing in a new country without truly being lost to Australian rugby, as they would still be playing in our competition.
It should be the same policy throughout Super Rugby, with experienced Wallabies, Springboks, All Blacks and Pumas popping up in teams in every conference as marquee players. An added bonus is that there would be greater interest in foreign-based teams in each market.
In the short term the ARU and SANZAR should not be afraid to lose some players to Europe. But allowing them to remain eligible for Test teams will give these competitions even more glamour and prestige.
Wallabies, All Blacks and Springboks players should all be playing Super Rugby.
Owen McCaffrey
Roar Guru
Super Rugby which includes Argentinian and Asian/Japanese Teams will definitely add revenues and be sustainable. 6-8 teams per country. Personally I'd be pushing for 8 so that more local games and a few with local countries and then an extended finals series with conference winners. What's not to like? If you allow players to play for any country's teams they will lose their national flavor so I don't support that idea. I like Australian teams having Auzzie players.
Squirrel
Roar Rookie
Mark Ella was right, when will the Force or rebels win the tourney. NEVER. Why have them in it.
AndyS
Guest
For every player that stays a bit longer, there will be at least one other that might as well leave as the player in his way continues to be in his way even after he leaves. As many games as Pocock has, I wonder how many he would have had if they had been able to keep selecting Smith from overseas? Most thought Gregan hung on a bit long, but how long might it have been if leaving didn't cost him his Wallabies spot? Genia might well still be some distance from qualifying and could have already been gone for two years.
Eddard
Roar Guru
Some that are young leave for a year or two and return. Others wait til they are older and no longer certain selections. Certainly more than 7 seasons. As soon as you have current test stars playing in Europe it adds prestige to those competitions at the expense of super rugby. Once you start compromising it's a very slippery slope.
Not Bothered
Guest
No they wont. You do realise these players are all leaving now BEFORE theyve met the criteria. So the criteria is designed as an incentive to keep them here longer than they are staying now right, that thats the whole idea of it. Stay in Aus until youve met the criteria instead of leaving much earlier like Genia, Horwill, Douglas, Ioane, Kimlin, Cooper, Barnes, Betham, White and 90% of the ones that have left have done. Im not sure what you are missing but its to keep players here longer because they are leaving much earlier than the criteria requires.
AndyS
Guest
...and particularly interesting that nearly 70% are forwards on that basis, rather than the backs that the new policy seems to be focused on...
Johnno
Guest
melbourneterrace, agreed SR can't match the passion if Euro rugby domestic comps, comps that are built on history and true value in the club winning a comp, it's not a trial for national team honours, it's priorities are geared towards club success not a mickey-mouse trial comp for the national team.
RobC
Roar Guru
Eddard, good comment Im unsure if it will kill SR. I reckon NZ and SA will do just nicely. What it may 'kill' is Aussie current SR structure. Or rather a franchise or two. Something along the lines of what Mark Ella mentioned.
Higgik
Guest
SANZAR should start by allowing any player from AUS, NZ, SA, ARG or PI to play for any team in Super Rugby as a 'local' player, while also beginning to get private investment in each team. At the same time have a salary cap and run the competition along similar lines to the NFL so each team gets a fair share of the total revenues. This would increase revenues for a team and keep some of the better players. If players want to play across hemispheres, then they must be protected from over playing; maybe a combined season is the next step.
Harry Jones
Expert
Rory Arnold played a season of Currie Cup in SA and it did wonders for his mongrelitude.
Lt. Colombo
Guest
Rugby Union is the sick man of Australian sport.
tc
Guest
Mike Was there actually anything constructive in your comment, or were you just defending your insecurities regarding your chosen sport.
Johnno
Guest
Sailosi exactly wev'e been going on for ages banging on about it, SR doesn't know what it stands for and is all over the place with no definitions whatsover, it's a toxic comp with no core spine, it can close down like that and no one would care or fight for it,unlike Euro clubs whose fans actually care about there club which has a core framework and spine.
Johnno
Guest
Owen There are no exceptions in OZ, just NZ. Generally speaking in NZ with PI players, is if they can't find a kiwi good enough for the position they allow a PI player to be contracted, but only if there's proof a kiwi player can't be found good enough for SR. NZRU puts kiwi players first, that's a non-negotiable they have, they look at SR as developing future AB'S not an EPL free for all comp neglecting the national team.
AndyS
Guest
Don't think Australia has any great history of resting players, and injuries are a fact of life. If a player gets injured so often as to matter, he's probably not someone the Wallabies want to be banking on anyway so if he left anyway...meh. Not sure anyone is as injury prone as Palu, and he's made the list.
Johnno
Guest
Andy S I agree but then again the SR argument opens a can of worms too, for the ARU. The player will plead he was rotated to be fresh for wallabies games, so had to miss SR games, and also if he was injured for long periods under contract, both SR games and Wallaby Tests open up cans of worms, it's all delaying the end result the "Elephant in the room" there's more money in Europe/Japan for rugby than in Australia.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Don't get me wrong Brett from a development prospective it'd be amazing, but if these guys valued their development they wouldn't be leaving in the first place...
Owen McCaffrey
Roar Guru
I disagree with posters who want Super Rugby teams to be a free for all with players from anywhere. NH teams are not like that. French and English teams have caps and quotas on foreign players. Super Rugby teams currently allow a small number of players from SANZAR countries to play in eachoothers' teams but the teams should generally represent the nations they are in. That gives Super Rugby it's flavor. Exceptions are made for Pacific Island players already and in future for Argentinians.
AndyS
Guest
TBH, I think having opened the door the ARU are now living the old joke - they've established what sort of girl they are, now they're just haggling over price. Because that is now going to become the only topic...whatever criteria they set, there will be endless calls from all directions to change it. Even then, I reckon they've already made exactly the same mistake they always make in focusing on the Wallabies. The more I think about it, it is the wrong criteria, unnecessarily complicated and too easy to argue with. A much simpler and easily managed criteria would be 100 Super rugby caps, nothing else. Do that and you've done your duty by Australian rugby and deserve the flexibility. By my reckoning that would now make the eligible list a quite reasonable: 142 George Smith 140 Stephen Moore 135 Benn Robinson 130 Adam Ashley-Cooper 126 Tatafu Polota-Nau 123 Greg Holmes 115 Saia Faingaa 113 Matt Hodgson 112 Wycliff Palu 111 Drew Mitchell 109 James Horwill 108 Ben Alexander 108 Kurtley Beale 108 Will Genia 104 Matt Giteau 102 Mark Chisholm 102 Quade Cooper 102 Scott Higginbotham 102 Stephen Hoiles
tc
Guest
Rocco75 You might be right mate but I do do my research. Just consider this, if the NRFL gets of the ground next year it will be the first time ever rugby union will be professional on all continents (less Antarctica).