New Zealand Super Rugby teams are leading the way with their structure off the field and their intensity on it.
That’s the summation of Hurricanes assistant coach John Plumtree as one of the most lop-sided regular seasons in the championship’s history rolls towards its final weekend.
Four New Zealand teams are guaranteed to qualify for the quarter-finals while the fifth, the Blues, have lost only six of their 14 games.
The Kiwi sides have won 49 games in total compared to 28 from the five Australian outfits and 41 from the six South African outfits. The newly formed Jaguares and Sunwolves have won four between them.
Well-travelled coach Plumtree says New Zealand Rugby has got everything right off the park, which also explains the world champion All Blacks’ dominance at Test level.
“It’s probably to do with the depth and systems that we’ve got in place here now,” Plumtree said.
“There just seems to be a gravy train of talent coming through here and it’s structured in a way that the players can perform at a high level.
“And it’s got something to do with coaches and management around the country that are well organised.”
Plumtree spent six years coaching in South Africa and had a stint as assistant coach of Ireland.
He said the professional structure was encouraging an improved standard from a deep pool of Kiwi players.
He said games against other New Zealand teams were more difficult because of what appeared to be superior fitness and mental application over 80 minutes.
“Certainly the intensity of the last 20 minutes of any encounter against the New Zealand sides, you have to be in the hunt right the way through to get a win.
“You know the ante is going to upped at some point in a game.”
Plumtree was wary of getting too carried away about New Zealand’s dominance.
South Africa’s Lions are set to top the overall table and he said playing knockout rugby in places like Johannesburg, Cape Town (Stormers) or Canberra (Brumbies) would represent an enormous challenge.
The competition structure means only one New Zealand team can host a quarter-final, leaving the other three to travel to face opponents who – in at least two games – will have finished below them on the table.
HiKa
Roar Rookie
That's to ensure you don't have one third of your TV market having no interest in the back end of the season. The structure was driven by money. Get this clear - super rugby isn't about fairness or showcasing the best rugby skills; it is about TV viewership and money, first, second and last.
PeterK
Roar Guru
no the previous conference system was far more balanced than the current one.
Mark
Guest
And the system was explicitly demanded by SA and Aus to ensure they had teams in the Finals
Charging Rhino
Roar Guru
Hey Pete & Paul, I agree with you that home quarter final berths should be decided on log points and not who wins their conference, ie 1-4 get the home quarters where 1 plays 8, 2 play 7 etc. But to suggest that it was concocted so the NZ teams wouldn't hog the top of the table is ridiculous. 4 out of 5 NZ teams ARE in the playoffs. This wasn't possible with the 2011-2015 version, so in that sense it's fairer than its predecessor and has been created in order to allow more teams from one conference to make the playoffs (and the Aus/NZ conference's don't play each other all twice so the good NZ teams this yeardon't cancel the other out). But on the flip side it's not possible for 4 teams from SA to make the playoffs, even if they were the 4 best teams in the competition, only 3 can ever get through out of 8! And for 15 years when it was a round robin and all the teams played each other once, the 5 NZ teams didn't hog the top of the table so I don't know what you're on about there?? I actually reckon my team the Sharks could possibly be higher in the table if they were in the NZ or Aus conference this year as they've been given a hiding twice by the Lions, whereas they would've won more games against NZ opposition judging by how close all their games were, and would've won most against Aus opposition. Unfair from many different sides and viewpoints, but still fairer than the previous version of 2010-2015.
pete and paul
Roar Rookie
that is why the CONFERENCE structure sucks...it was only done so NZ wouldn't hog the top of the table and have all the finals played here...what a succour to SA and AUS...SANZAAR need to get their act together and have the SR decided on merit...