The most important international rugby tournaments do not take more than seven Test matches to complete.
The Rugby World Cup requires seven matches to win, the Rugby Championship requires six matches for completion and the Six Nations requires five matches.
The goal as I understand it was for Super Rugby to provide two things. Firstly, a platform for professionalism and secondly a tournament for South Africa, New Zealand and Australia’s rugby players to prepare for Test match rugby.
What has become of Super Rugby is a multi-time zoned, five continent, high-cost, travel-weary tournament that has effectively negated the importance of domestic development in these countries.
The Currie Cup and Mitre 10 Cup are seen as nothing else but grassroots low-profile tournaments being rushed into a time slot leftover after Super Rugby and Test rugby have taken their slices out of a 52-week season.
To add to the uninspiring expansions and restructures over the past decade Super Rugby has lost its fans, popularity is at an all-time low and interest has dwindled.
Sure, the impressive performances of the New Zealand franchises may very well have played a big role in the popularity falling away like glaciers in a global warming documentary.
It seems to me that the interdependence between the participating nations of Super Rugby has grown like a fungus in an overgrown forest with no one wise or energetic enough to control their enthusiasm and desire to grow the competition without considering what is best for southern hemisphere rugby.
Seldom do organisations get the opportunity to simply just take a breather and ponder over what has happened during preceding years and then take stock of what worked and what didn’t.
This is the time for honesty and reflection.
Less is more, and too much of a good thing becomes repetitive and monotonous. Most importantly, familiarity breeds contempt.
Let’s face some truths; Super Rugby has not stopped the exodus of our players to the clubs of milk and honey, considering that the New Zealand rugby union, SRugby AU and Rugby AU regularly have players on various “sabbaticals” tells you that the Super Rugby season is too demanding and too long.
You don’t need 18 weeks of competition at Super Rugby level to prepare for international duty. Many rugby supporters feel the time zones are not beneficial to them watching games that are played outside their “prime time viewing” slots.
The supposed increase of revenue with more teams have proportionately increased cost and player fatigue.
What is the solution, you ask?
Well in my very humble opinion, it must be kept simple.
Focusing on regenerating domestic competitions in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina should be priority one.
Whether each nation has four, six or 14 teams does not matter, as long as it creates a platform where talent can be nurtured, identified and harvested.
Super Rugby needs to be super. I don’t give two hoots about “yeah but we have enough talent for five franchises” or “we need more games because it brings in more revenue”
Firstly, if SANZAAR really wants to use Super Rugby as a preparation tool for Test rugby then the Francises should be liquidated and a new drafting format put in place to select the top players from domestic rugby tournaments.
I will use South Africa as an example.
Six teams (Sharks, Lions, Western Province, Bulls, Eastern Province, Cheetahs) to compete in a double round-robin, with semi-finals and a final (total of 12 weeks)
(Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
Then a draft whereby three teams are selected (three squads of 31 players) to compete in a single round-robin tournament versus three Australian squads and three New Zealand squads in an eight-week tournament.
That, in my view, will be the highest quality provincial/club competition in the world. Eight weeks of high-intensity almost Test rugby-quality play.
That will provide each nation with their 93 best players prepared and ready for Test rugby without the fatigue and muscle attrition.
The Rugby Championship should consider growing to eight teams though. Consider this. The Pacific Nations cup annually pits what most would consider as the next-best teams in the southern hemisphere against each other. If SANZAAR was considering to expand the Rugby Championship, who would they approach first?
Japan is the obvious answer. If you brought Japan in the tournament would have to play a double round-robin, which would mean eight weeks plus byes making it at least a ten-week tournament. If you make it a single round-robin the tournament would be too short.
However, if you add Fiji, Tonga and Samoa as well, expanding to eight teams, you could forever change the basis of rugby in the southern hemisphere.
To reduce travel cost, bye weeks and so on, the southern hemisphere championship is now hosted by a country. In an eight-year cycle there are two World Cup years, in those years you don’t play the southern hemisphere championship, you have warm-up Test series between the eight nations.
On a rotational basis Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and South Africa host the tournament, the sixth hosting in the cycle goes to Fiji, Tonga and Samoa as a collective sharing the hosting rights.
Revenue sharing can be discussed on what would be deemed fair and equitable to all parties.
My thoughts on the southern hemisphere championship is not cast in stone, however, wouldn’t it be something if we could secure a financial future for those talented lot in the Pacific?
Glider
Guest
agree that Super Rugby had become so tedious with meaningless games. Rugby League is the same, play everyone four times or something stupid. may as well just get straight to the finals for the real deal .... meanwhile back at the ARU Ranch - the board and executive still hand wringing and nothing really concrete for a re-start, reform of teams or any dates. Another abject failure in preparation and adaptability.
Danny McGowan
Roar Rookie
Hell Jacko, Manawatu are part of Canes as is Hawkes bay!!
Uriah Heep
Roar Rookie
Auckland and Wellington are both the names of provinces and the main city/town in those provinces. Nelson is another example. I can't think of any others. In the rugby sense the name is all about the province - the city/town name doesn't come into it. There'd be some scratchy 6 fingered banjo players from rural Canterbury who'd take umbrage to a townie name for the Cru.
Qwasimodo
Roar Rookie
Love it. I think the Pacific Nations would accept a share of gate receipts rather than hosting. Much better money for them. I also think the original Super 12 ratio of 5 NZ, 4 SA, 3 AUS would work in a representative draft with a round robin comp. Otherwise completely agree
Melburnian
Roar Pro
Agreed. The international travel and time zones kill SR. Though don't lose sight of the fact if hypothetically if the Brumbies fly to Perth to play the Force that's a 4 hour flight plus transit time. If Exeter Chiefs take a coach to an away game at Sale Sharks, that's 4 hours on the M5 & M6. It might only be an hour to Paris by air but the transit time etc. is still a PITA. I like CVVs idea for a consolidated competition to overcome much of the travel. Either way something has to change and to my mind SR is a dead duck.
Melburnian
Roar Pro
Some truth in what you say. I believe Exeter Chiefs ground has capacity of only 10,000, but bear in mind when some of the big fixtures get moved to Twickenham, they draw 60,000+ for a regular season game.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Thanks for the effort ChrisG, but that looks anything but impressive (or spontaneous). Maybe I am a harsh judge, but I am used to a lot more passion and people when titles and big wins are celebrated.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Yes, I guess Sheek what I was referring to is the establishment of an actual franchise based pro comp, but I guess that's a pipe dream as the kiwis don't want free movement of kiwi players. If the original 3 SR nations loosened restrictions of national selection to SR nations from the start, then a franchise comp with recruiting could've been achieved, and Argentinians would've been playing here already without the need to establish the Jaguares with the already heavy travel burden extended further.
Micko
Roar Rookie
What I'm referring to is a proper pro comp. If they don't want to start from scratch then they're better off scrapping the current model of Super Rugby and just go to a champion's league format as proposed, where everyone plays domestically and promote their top two.
sheek
Roar Guru
Micko, That’s correct. We can bring the PIs over here, not sure about the Argies, because removing players from there only weakens them further. But the PIs are a special case. We should be able to accommodate say 10 players per province (I despise the word franchise). They should be able to play for Oz provinces without having to forego their nationality & heritage. I don’t want PIs playing for the Wallabies because that’s the only way they get good money & play a decent test schedule. Let’s give the PIs the same opportunity so they can play for their own Island nation as their first choice, & not for someone else as a poor second choice, although financially better.
JD Kiwi
Roar Rookie
Good idea Micko. The logical place for them is South Africa, but if they don't want them they will be an excellent addition to any other conference if based in that country. They might be too strong for the Aussie conference though.
Understand your point of view, but disagree with it. Super rugby will regain its viewers if the competition is shorter, less teams, higher quality. Regardless of what happens with test matches.
AndyS
Guest
Obviously, but I think you are just making Gary's point for him when he said "The competitions that thrive are those that are not preparing for something else higher up the chain". That has become the Tests, and they are the cash cows because they are now little more than the highest level of rugby comp. There is nothing really special about them any more, and people talk about adding or deleting teams from the RC (for instance) on the basis of what might make the most money, not what will produce the most compelling matches. They've lost that aura of being the 'ultimate', and simply become what might be the most marketable. I think it is a reasonable question whether, if there were no Test matches or indeed if they went back to test series as occasional special events, would the viewers come back to SR as the highest standard of rugby they can regularly watch with Tests once again being bonus money...? Because what is happening at the moment seems to be heading in the direction of a permanent Test team, separate from all the other rugby being played.
Micko
Roar Rookie
If they set up a franchise/club system with free movement of players and thus the ability to get a couple of foreign recruits in, then it would've been interesting, and maintained interest. The whole SR thing is stale now.
Andy, Tests are the cash cows in professional rugby, looking at match attendances, they are significantly higher than any other platform of rugby. I do however believe WR is missing a trick by not bringing back three test series. For me the ultimate next to RWC.
AndyS
Guest
But I think Gary does have a point in that, to all intents and purposes, Tests are treated just like yet another competition. They aren't something special, they are just 'super' SR and played every year. So as a result no-one watches SR, for the same reason even less watch provincial rugby, and less again watch a club match.
Hi Nicholas, thanks mate :stoked:
Micko
Roar Rookie
So maybe the issue Sheek was to have a franchise system and allow a certain amount of imports? Get the Argentinians over here, rather than have this huge geographical competition. Also a "local" avenue for those pacific islanders who've unfairly been locked out of a pro sports comp in a sport they love.
Nicholas Bishop
Expert
I don't know if this is really blabbering Corne, but if it you do blabber an awful lot of good common sense!
Have to disagree Gary. In rugby everything prepares for the ultimate which is test rugby. Super Rugby has always prepared players for the next level, why do you think NZRU wants to play South African teams? It is stated as fact they believe it is a necessity.