In the second part of this two-article series I propose a Super Rugby model that deals with the issues raised in my first article.
As outlined in the first article, this model is based on the following assumptions: that all SANZAAR members and Japan wish to participate, that South Africa wishes to retain all six teams, that Australia will retain all five teams and that Culling or merging teams is not the answer.
I originally came up with this format when Super 18 was splitting up. However, this will still apply to a Super Rugby competition in 2022 if the current and unsure rugby landscape is only a 2021 anomaly.
Some ground rules first: the proposed Super 14 for 2021 would have each team playing 13 regular-season games, with the original SANZAAR teams playing four to five games overseas and Argentina playing between six and seven abroad. This should be the target amount of regular-season games and travel should be less than or equal to this number.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
In its current format Super Rugby has 16 regular-season games and up to three finals games. Because of this, teams are limited to 19 games.
The season starts with two international competitions each comprising nine teams that play each other once. Of each team’s eight regular-season games, four are home and four are away, with the top four going to the finals for potentially two more games, making a potential total of ten games.
The competitions themselves would Super Rugby consisting of the Japanese national team, the Jaguares, the top three South African teams, the top two Australian teams and the top two New Zealand teams from the previous year’s domestic competitions. The bottom three teams from the original SANZAAR nations will compete for the SANZAAR Shield (we can find a better name later).
The competitions will run parallel. A week after the final the domestic seasons will commence for the southern hemisphere teams to decide the national champions and who will play in the following season’s Super Rugby and SANZAAR Shield competitions. Japan will have their off-season, as they would have completed the Top League and competed in Super Rugby wo will need time off before the July internationals.
The Japanese nation team was chosen for its quality and to ease tension between the JRU and Top League club owners. The Japanese defeated both Scotland and Ireland in last year’s World Cup and would be one of the favourites for this competition.
The Top League clubs didn’t want their players risking injury for the Sunwolves and felt their presence would relegate a growing Top League to a lower status. But this competition is half the length, so the risk of injury is reduced, and they are still the primary competition behind the national team.
Also, the Japanese have struggled to get a regular quality competition up and running, so they should relish playing against teams like the Brumbies, Jaguares, Hurricanes, Sharks and Crusaders, who could beat most national teams. They will also have the opportunity trial new combinations for upcoming Test matches. They can choose to call the team the Sunwolves if they like, but the practice should be the same.
Starting with the international season in the southern hemisphere may seem backwards, but it is important for many reasons. Scheduling is easier when teams know where they have to travel before the season starts.
For the fans, Super Rugby starts the season strongly, with wall-to-wall quality games to decide the champions. More importantly, fans of teams in the second division get to see what their team has been doing in the off-season. There’ll be a feeling of hope.
The previous conference system left some fans feeling cheated, but there was nothing that could be done. Fans of these teams can channel that emotion and support a team with the hunger to prove they belong among the best by winning the SANZAAR Shield.
(Photo by Teaukura Moetaua/Getty Images)
In the domestic season they can earn their spot in Super Rugby. Teams at the lower end of the season can develop their sides while suffering fewer beltings.
The domestic season will be different in each country as they each have different requirements. South Africa has six teams – if they all play each other once with the top two going to the finals, that would be five regular-season matches and one final for a total of 13 regular-season games and three finals games, the same as Super 14.
However I think the best option would be to include the Jaguares in this competition. This would bring the total up to 14 regular-season games and three finals matches, with regular-season travel being three to four overseas games for South African teams, the least amount of travel since Super 12.
The Jaguares would play seven games at home and seven away, in line with both current and Super 14 levels of travel.
Aotearoa is often criticised for resting players for their welfare during Super Rugby. It would make sense for them to play a short competition. If they play each other once domestically and have the top two go to the final and the next year’s Super Rugby, that would result in 12 regular-season and three finals matches and three to four overseas games. If this format proved too short, the occasional north-south match could be played, but these should be kept to a minimum.
Australia requires more content to compete with rival football codes and to create a sporting narrative. The Australian teams should play each other twice, with the top two teams going to the final and the following year’s Super Rugby competition. This results in 16 regular-season matches and three finals matches, which is the same as the 2019 Super Rugby model and right on the limit.
Following this format requires the Australian teams to play only three to four overseas games, the least they’ve ever had to travel.
Playing the domestic season second puts more importance on the results as it decides where they play next year as well as ending the domestic season with genuine national champions. This should result in some positivity among the fans and local media leading into the Test season.
Hopefully this structure will provide the teams and fans with what they’ve been wanting: the best elite competition in the world and the toughest development competition, both requiring teams to travel and play other teams with players of Test experience, and finishing off the domestic season with meaningful domestic championships.
I understand the rugby landscape is unsettled at the moment, but I wanted to show what could be achieved with what we have and with some cooperation in 2022.
KCR
Roar Rookie
It's best to get your own house in order before sorting out others I guess. Australia and NZ are probably doing the best job that they can. And they look to as ready as possible for an uncertain future. I do still believe that Super Rugby is the best preparation for establishing a dominant international presence. If South Africa's involvement in Europe is temporary and the Jaguares can return to full strength and both want to return to super rugby then that would be great. However If the future is more regionally focused in the Asia Pacific then there are really good possibilities there. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. As a fan I just want to see the best rugby locally, and I think that Australia and NZ have done well this year and I hope that they can take advantage of what they have built and learned this year.
itsgoodtobelucky
Roar Rookie
Yeah sad but true, thats why i went back to 5 too and put a PI in with them :) Some (heated) discussion on ARN website about Jaguares possibly entering SLAR alongside Ceibos for 2021. Will see Still nothing official about PRO16 other than rumours of a trial comp from Feb-May. getting late in the day to arrange international match schedules now though. At least Aus/NZ are done hey? :D
KCR
Roar Rookie
Actually even though though the math works, the difference in standard with 7 Aussie teams might be too much. Back to the drawing board.
KCR
Roar Rookie
The NZ model is a good one, but it doesn’t work for every country, Australia and South Africa have unique geography and history that drive their decision making. Australia’s geography of large cities separated by long distances lends itself better to city based club competitions. Even though I think that the NRC was the best elite talent developing system, it had to work within the existing culture. From my limited understanding South Africa’s rugby history makes it difficult for them to separate provincial identity from super rugby the way that NZ did. Currie Cup has over 100 years of history and when RSA was locked out of international sport it was the only rugby. This has lead to generations of fans developing strong emotional ties to their Currie cup team, making it difficult to support a different super rugby team or accept that the Currie cup could be relegated to being a development system. I don’t know if the attitude has changed with younger supporters, however it was not long ago that Currie Cup games outdrew super rugby. Both Australia and South Africa need to find and refine their best development systems. The situation in Argentina is heart breaking, they have gone from Super Rugby Finalists to letting players know that it is ok to sign for other clubs. However it’s not all bad, their young talent is strong and whether the Jaguares end up in a reformed super rugby or SLAR there is a future there. This article was always optimistic, and truth be told SANZAAR should have implemented these kind of changes instead of going to long 15 or 18 team seasons. But shortening the length of SR was never going to happen back then, so they doubled down on bad ideas. If South Africa and Argentina wanted to return to Super Rugby short international seasons to accompany domestic seasons would definitely be the way to go. Also a quick thought given the news about NRC and the Pacific a quick rejig of my format would look like this: Groups – Aotearoa: Fiji Drua, Moana Pacifika, Blues, Hurricanes, Highlanders, Crusaders, Chiefs. NRC: Brumbies, Force, Rebels, NSW Country, SYD City, BNE City, QLD Country Unlocked: Kings, Lions, Sharks, Cheetahs, Bulls, Stormers, Jaguares. All play once, each team plays 6 games + 1 final Super Rugby Championship: Jaguares, top 3 unlocked, top 3 NRC, top 3 Aotearoa and Japan Challenge cup: the remaining 11 teams. All play once and top 4 finals, each team plays 10 games + 2 finals This would bring the total to 16 regular season games and possibly 3 finals per team, which is the same as the 15 team super model. The fans are happy as developing squads have a good season, strength vs strength is retained and local derbies are retained. Networks are happy as this provides the same amount of content as Super 15. Travel is about the same for everyone and for the Aussies if there is a State of Origin the Reds and Waratahs would feel special NRC is retained and the clubs can have a national competition for development. Cheers.
itsgoodtobelucky
Roar Rookie
Haha yeah the squeezed time for logistics and the national final were in my head too. I went for shortest overall comp time in the end, to fit into the overall global calendar timings i had. Pragmatic decision could be starting a week earlier for those 2 upsides though :) Drua or Latui in SR, either one just as long as PI gets 2 teams, and i shared 1 each for NZ/AU comps for fairness/practicality. NZ SR/NPC/Club system looks pretty settled otherwise. Aus SR teams are too, but tiers below look to be where issues arise. I don't know about NRC yes/no for next season, but it seems like SS/QP have either too long a season, or not enough. At the moment though they are neither THE Aussie rugby comp because ... NRC, nor are they the development step because they go for 20+ wks while NRC is only 8. RA probably has to either drop NRC and make clubs the be-all and end-all of Aus rugby below SR, or make club season shorter and give NRC a bigger stage. For SA comp, continuation of Jaguares looks less likely each week sadly, though i don't think 6th team from SA is a better option for SR. Neither financially, nor player quality or fair playing field (NZ/AU also 5 teams). Funding from SARU is finite and rugby economy is only so big. What works well, as far as i see, about NZ franchise model, is - good geographic/demographic spread, only BOP/HB or Tasman have good population but no team, and - accepted movement of players from provinces to franchises, so North Harbour player might play for Canes or Highlanders in SR, or Tasman player might play for Chiefs - while aligned, the SR teams are separate from NPC teams from the same city, Blues/Auckland, or Highlanders/Otago, Canes/Wellington etc In SA, there is far less separation if any at all, which means Currie Cup teams basically ARE SR teams, there is less chance for good 'B' section Currie Cup players to play SR unless they move and play for that Currie Cup team. This is reinforced systemically, almost all focus/investment from SARU goes on big 4/5, R70mil salary caps for top teams vs R7mil for bottom teams. Compare to NZ where all 14 NPC teams have $1.2m cap and 5 SR franchises $4.6m each. I reckon best for SA would be to separate the SR teams from provincial set-ups, and even up the salary cap in Currie Cup so that historic 'feeder' unions like Falcons, Griquas, Boland, Border, etc get the chance to retain players and compete more fairly. Flipside of this is Sharks/Stormers/Bulls etc have less chance to compete with Euro teams poaching their best players .... swings and round-abouts! Long-term though, SA rugby economy and all SH in fact, needs as much competition as it can create, otherwise Europe will keep on absorbing.
KCR
Roar Rookie
Hey itsgoodtobelucky, I understood the concept well enough but watched your YT as well for added context, I was glad I did. It can be difficult to extract one area of information from a larger concept and present it on its own. There are a lot of comparisons between your proposed super rugby and mine. There are 2 reasons why I did not include the pacific Islands, the first is that I originally came up with this concept prior to the Super 18 splitting up. The second is that potential Pacific super options were really only beginning to take shape. And considering how teams like the Latui and Kagifa Samoa performed against the Western Force, I was concerned about how many points the Sharks, Brumbies, Hurricanes and Crusaders would score against them. I now think that they have to begin somewhere in order to retain their best talent. If I were writing this format again I would probably put both in Aotearoa and give NZ an extra spot in Super Rugby, However at that point I would probably look at reformatting the entire process. If I could be so bold as to suggest two changes to your format, swapping the Latui for the Drua and expanding by one week to allow for domestic finals. Changing the Latui for the Drua sounds silly, however the reason for this change is based on marketing and history. The NRC looks to be finished in Australia, it was not mentioned in the latest T.V. deal and looks to be replaced by a National Club Championship and a concept similar to rugby leagues state of origin. This means that the Drua, Fijis first professional rugby team and former NRC champion will be without a home. I just think that their name and jersey carries more historic weight. There are two reasons I would add a finals season. The first is logistics I imagine that it would be extremely difficult to organise three weekends of International travel and accommodation for the squad and support staff on a few days notice of where you have to travel to. Having a finals week would allow the international draw to be released and plans to be made. It would still be challenging but manageable. The second reason is that it would add something for fans and promotors. The only way the top teams will meet again is in the finals, if this doesn’t happen at least they got to have a match to see who the best in the country is. And if they do meet again then it is a promotor’s dream match, redemption vs true champion the story writes itself. You have clearly done a lot more research into RSA rugby than I have, how likely is it that the Kings are gone as they looked to be gone when they were called the Spears and went bankrupt. Would there be an opportunity for teams like the Kings, Griquas, Pampas or even the Valke to be involved in a sort of lower tier competition with hope of being promoted to SR SA? I only ask because RSA original plan to have 6 super rugby teams and have promotion and relegation could have been interesting if there was a league to be promoted from. Thank you very much for commenting I enjoyed reading and watching your work, and lets keep the ideas going. Cheers.
itsgoodtobelucky
Roar Rookie
Hey KCR, yeah a lot of what youre thinking i agree with, esp what SR comp was as S12/S14 and should be, strength vs strength and not for player development or substitute for national comp, and that anything going forward should be a 2-tier comp, like the European Cup is, that includes all top players from member countries and therefore more supporters, meaning better on-field quality and better narrative, and more commercial feasibility. Biggest issue with the format you suggest though is no Pacific Islands. For me, part of the reason their playing pool is so decimated by Euro/Top/MLR leagues is they have no rugby economy locally. 2 options they have are either give up national team and commit for NZ/Aus to get a SR place, or go to Europe. There absolutely needs to be a place in SR for PI teams to resolve that issue. My thought was to keep SRA/SRAU but add Moana Pasifika to SRA and Fiji Latui from GRR to SRAU, for 6 teams each. Then take the 5 SA SR teams (Kings are history, bankrupt) and add Jaguares for 6 teams there. Then run 3 SR 'national' comps as single round-robins to determine 1-6 placings for qualification into a 2-tier SR 'international' comp, #1-3 into a championship, #4-6 into a challenge/shield/whatever. All teams play 3 home and 3 away against the other 6 sides, so only 3 matches outside their own country. From each tier, the top 4 sides qualify for SF and then F, so there are FOUR semi-finals and TWO finals. National SR - 5 wks ..... International SR - 7 wks ..... SF+Fs - 2 wks Total comp is 14 wks mid-Feb to mid-May Local rivalries still get focus (SRA/SRAU etc) Mid-table teams (and their fans) don't lose interest halfway through, as they can still qualify for finals Players travel less, and travel is more equal than old format where NZ teams get only 2-3 games outside NZ, AU/SA 4-5 outside own country, Jags 8 outside of Arg Wider playing pool, Pacific Islands, driving local rugby economy there with home games Bigger commercial potential, 3 single-country comps, 2 international playoff series, 2 sets of finals, each need sponsoring/broadcasting/etc I did a yt explanation of this, you'll have to excuse the presentation, but if you search Rugby Global Calendar under my username you'll find one for CLUBS - SH/Asia. Would be great to hear what you think As you say, lets keep the ideas/discussion going! Cheers
KCR
Roar Rookie
Thank you busted fullback, that is very kind of you to say. However I don't think that it was guts, more like a gutful of SANZAARs in fighting that prompted this article. I also like Ray L's proposed format and I hope that showed in my response. As a Kiwi in Australia I like that I would get to see every NZ team live. With this article I wanted to show how cooperation and communication could result in more parties getting what they want and retaining the benefits of Super Rugby. However I am getting flashbacks to my single days of crying into a pint and my friends telling me to let her go and move on. If we have to move on then I agree that an Asia Pacific future looks like the brightest future and I have some notes on how I would go about planning that, but that sounds like a future article to me. I also think that discussion creates results, and the more discussion the better the results. A lot of big companies would pay for market research that we on the roar offer for free. Thanks once again for taking the time to read my article and comment, cheers.
KCR
Roar Rookie
Yeah I definitely agree, I think that I missed Andy's point completely. I am not the brightest crayon in the box sometimes. His point was teams would qualify and bulk up their squads in the off season. However you are correct in that a simple fix would be to have contracts start and end in July. Cheers.
Busted Fullback
Roar Rookie
G'day and thanks KCR, the more ideas thrown around, the more discussion we have and hopefully we arrive at the best possible solution. Like Ray L, I'm a bit of a Pacific Super Rugby person who would like to include places like Korea, Japan as you mentioned, HK(/China) and the PI's by utilising the links already forged by GRR. Put those countries in, in place of SA and ARG, if they choose to go elsewhere and your system still works for me. Thanks again for the time, thought and guts to submit.
Busted Fullback
Roar Rookie
G'day Ray L. 2022 too far away to start planning? And yet there it is, Pacific Super Rugby. You've taken the first steps in planning. I, too, have suggested PSR, though not under that name, so I'm with you there. I'm sure you've heard the saying, "Failing to plan is planning to fail." remember also that other entities, sponsors, media outlets (Pay and FTA) need to know what is on the horizon and an horizon of 18 months, isn't that far away, whatever the competition may look like.
Busted Fullback
Roar Rookie
I’m sure someone could come up with clauses in the Competition Conditions that only allowed for the type of player movement that we currently see. Contracts don’t have to run along calendar years, they can run across seasons, and the organisers determine when the season begins and ends.
KCR
Roar Rookie
Next year's already sorted and time zones have always been a problem it's not recent, it is the price paid for taking on tough competition on their own turf. It is this conditioning that I felt was worth retaining. However your proposal is good for a trans Tasman competition. I was not so keen to throw away matches against the teams that took part in the last 3 finals. However if the South Africans stay in Europe and and the Jaguares move to SLAR then that is a worth while format to start from. Although the All Blacks will probably be rested for a third of it. Perhaps a super 12 with the Drua and a PI team out of Auckland every one plays once. Thanks for the format though it is neat and I think would be well received. I got a feeling the one from my article is a bit like a platypus difficult to describe but makes sense if seen. Cheers
Ray L
Roar Rookie
With so much uncertainty about how COVID-19 will play out, we should just focus on a competition structure for 2021 and forget about 2022 and beyond, as it might as well be an eternity away. If AUS and NZ can put their differences aside and with SA aligning with the North, the bleedingly obvious solution is to have a TT competition involving the existing 5 Super Rugby teams from each country - Super Rugby 2.0 if you like. They could play on a home and away basis with a 2 week finals series for the top 4 teams. No separate conferences and no Champions League. That would amount to a competition over 20 weeks, starting in say mid-February and finishing at the end of June prior to the International in-bound tours in July, assuming they still go ahead. That keeps all teams involved until the finals. It still leaves open the option of the 4 nation Southern Hemisphere RC continuing, if SA and ARG wish to participate, otherwise, a 3 match Bledisloe Cup series could replace it. It would be the equivalent of the NRL's State of Origin concept. I'm not a great fan of an Australian State of Union/Origin concept or whatever you want to call it. One of the major failings of Super Rugby in its recent incarnations has been the incompatible time zones spread across the globe and while the Conference system went some way to addressing that, it became too unwieldy. It was a big turn-off for Australian viewers in particular, where there is a much more competitive sporting environment with other football codes in compatible time zones. SA has recognised this and ARG should likewise look to their neighbours in North and South America as has been suggested. It's too early to plan for 2022 and beyond, but the possibility of expanding a TT Super Rugby competition in a post COVID-19 world to include teams from Japan and the PI should be explored. It should more aptly be named Pacific Super Rugby. I've always been a great believer in the KISS principle, so let's keep it that way.
KCR
Roar Rookie
Cheers as long as the talk sticks to rugby and fan engagement I'm happy, if goes too far into the board room or politics then I might have to use my stern voice.
KCR
Roar Rookie
I get your concern, you concerned that each country will only have two strong teams like Glasgow Rangers and Celtic in Scottish soccer. That wouldn't be the case here as no team is really that much wealthier than another and most of the money comes from playing test rugby. Players in super Rugby don't really move because a team offers more money, if they move it is usually to get more opportunities to play or personal reasons like being close to family. And if you are worried about one team dominating the comp, sorry to tell you that is already happening
KCR
Roar Rookie
That's definitely a good way of finding an overall champion. I guess I wanted to create a format that kept potential test players busy and conditioned to everything that comes along with travel no matter what team they played for as well as getting the most fan engagement throughout the season. I like the idea of having national champions before the start of test season. The whole two articles show that I wanted to recreate the best bits of all forms of super rugby. I understand that it seems strange not to have a single champion at the end of the season but I think that it is working well this time out of necessity. Cheers thanks for the comment.
AndyS
Guest
If a team buys the best players one year, they will win the domestic comp again the following year, get to play in the better international competition again, and be able to pick the best out of the next crop of players again. Rinse and repeat, endlessly.
KCR
Roar Rookie
Cheers mzilikazi, the first Bledisloe is looking really interesting. I think that will be fast, looking at the back rows and even the some of the fronts. I would normally say that the AB have the edge in backline and halves. However if the Wallabies go with white and loloseo in the halves the will play some real confidence. Whitelock and Tuipolotu will be a strong combination of both fit but the Brumbies and reds have had strong set piece so it should be close and quick. I am really looking forward to it but I think that NZ will take the first test.
great article...Shame its been a bit hijacked by other stories.....