As Super Rugby 2021 concludes, and with the Wallabies squad due to be announced today, I wondered what those not selected for higher duties do for the rest of the year.
They will be welcomed back to clubland no doubt but as we have found out in the last five weeks, this is not producing players good enough to match our Kiwi cousins.
The ARC and NRC have previously attempted to bridge this gap but were never embraced by the public.
Fortunately, we have a readymade product that can fill this gap: Super Rugby AU.
Media reports seem to be confirming that Super Rugby 2022 will take the form of a ten to 12-team round robin competition with the ten Australian and New Zealand provincial franchises, and the likely inclusion of Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika.
Despite the popularity of Super Rugby AU, for both commercial and high-performance reason this should be the format going forward.
Although the Trans-Tasman results were disappointing, the only way for Australian teams to improve is to play the best.
And this year’s competition should be viewed for what it was – a one-off exhibition tournament. Considering what is happening in other parts of the world, we were lucky it even went ahead and similarly lucky that all game were played (albeit with some alterations in location!).
Plus, the rugby was entertaining, even if the results disappointing.
But if the new Super Rugby concludes in June, it is a long time before the teams reconvene for pre-season.
Australia, therefore, clearly needs a third-tier competition but previous versions, although very enjoyable rugby, never really gained traction.
You could write endlessly on the reasons behind this, but we now have a proven domestic competition that could be run in the July-September window as an alternative. Super Rugby AU should be run as a standalone competition following the conclusion of the main Super Rugby tournament.
Taniela Tupou. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Super Rugby AU proved to be very popular and engaging, even if the matches themselves did not always make for great viewing.
But games were close, the results unpredictable and the element of history and parochialism brought meaning to the contests. This can succeed where the NRC failed, as first and foremost the fans will be engaged.
For commercial reasons, it is also an easy sell to broadcasters and sponsors, as we have two years now of proven success. It would be harder for the power players in Shute Shield to argue against this added buying power.
Plus, with five teams instead of eight in the NRC, there would be fewer players lost by clubs.
The big downside is obviously the provinces will be without their Test players. This will certainly detract from the quality and commercial viability.
But with the provincial history behind the clubs and the existing rivalries, games would still be very marketable.
The main benefit, though, is more opportunity for wider squad members and academy players to be exposed to higher quality matches. You may even see some fringe Wallabies released for games, depending on scheduling.
Super Rugby AU could also work in synergy with Test matches.
A Test match on Saturday night? How about New South Wales versus Queensland on Friday night?
Test match at 7:30 in Melbourne? Let’s open with Rebels versus Force as the curtain raiser.
Bledisloe Cup match in New Zealand with a 5:30 kick off? Back it up with Brumbies versus Waratahs at 7:30 back at home.
Wallabies playing in South Africa at 3:00am? Well, here’s a game for both Friday and Saturday night in prime time.
Super Rugby AU had so many positives that it would be a shame for it to be lost.
This offers a neat solution to bridge the gap to provincial rugby that Australian players seem to be struggling with.
In the long term, Super Rugby AU as we saw this year is not sustainable as a five-team only competition.
But as a separate tournament to supplement a full Pacific Super Rugby, as well as Test matches, we could have the third tier tournament that is so clearly needed.
Guess
Roar Rookie
Nah I agree with you on bad management
Yep I 100% believe that playing better opposition improves any team. You seem to be equating RA falling down the rankings with playing better opposition but I equate the Wallabies dropping dramatically with bad RA management for 20 years plus and not decent plans for improving the lower tiers so they make a difference.
Little Royalty
Roar Rookie
My vote would be to use Global Rapid Rugby as the third tier (backed by Twiggy and any other interested businessmen). It brings something interesting and a little different.. a pink ball, a countdown clock and some tweaked rules which aren't so dissimilar that our players won't still get decent development. It should focus on fun given the general public are unlikely to recognise most of the players. In terms of the teams, I'd have all five Super Rugby AU teams involved minus their Wallabies, and keep the Samoan, Fijian and maybe Malaysian & Hong Kong teams that Twiggy had in there previously. Run it off the smell of an oily rag. An unrelated question - what happened to State of Union/Origin? I thought the broadcast agreement announced last year said there was going to be a NSW v QLD rugby union match.. games like this could potentially be good for player development/closing the gap with NZ?
Guess
Roar Rookie
Again you didn’t answer my question and want me to answer yours. Can you just directly say do you believe that playing the best makes you better? And there’s no limit. It always comes down to that question it seems. Where are the Wallabies ranked now, after playing NZ all those years? I predicted results of TT by the way they played sanzaar SR, not domestic comp. I didn’t see the reasons why they would suddenly play better. Many were actually optimistic that Australia will do better judging by srau, until round 2 or so.
gatesy
Roar Guru
Not a bad suggestion. Food for thought.
Guess you have a pov and I have another one. Go it alone and have a domestic only comp and strive to be the best Aus rugby can be in that scenario. If RA do that where do you believe the Wallabies will be ranked in 5 years time? 10 years? Will they rise to top 3 in the world under a domestic SRAU like we have seen this year or will they regress into a lower ranked team than they currently are? In the TT we all saw and predicted the results because we all saw what the SRAU was like. Will the SRAU be so much better next year and produce far better rugby players next year will it?
Hoges5
Roar Rookie
Absolutely - good pick up. I had thought that you would need cooperation from NZRU (not a given, ever) eligibility rules. IF you allowed either All Blacks or Wallabies to play in either comp, it would be attractive - otherwise limited point to the exercise. I agree
The Hen
Roar Rookie
A few realities lads. The third tier was never supported and never worked. Not tribal enough and clubland never supported it. On the other hand Rugby Au was a ratings success. What this means (ultimately) is money and funds to regenerate the game. The above point is more critical than any other because financial health means bringing players back, and there is lots of them in EU and JAP. I’ll refer the last two points by saying the NRC and rugby au are almost the same anyway and if it’s more financial to call it Rugby au then why not expand the country teams in and your done. A thriving national comp is alive and well, almost what the NRC was anyway. Don’t tinker with what works and for once, it has! (Rugby au). Club rugby is doing well. Money will eventually feed a national comp of sorts. But won’t happen until rugby au is a desirable product and driving financial investments and resources downward and upward. Sure play TT at the end of our national season but guys, peoples are turning off this format in droves. That way we are exposed to the NZ game. 2 cents !
mjseesred
Roar Rookie
Hi it's Scotty from marketing. I feel bad about the vaccine roll out but I have to agree let's go straight to TT tournament next year. My gut says it's the way forward. I have to say working with the states to find a general consensus is impossible. A national vaccine strategy, sorry it's rugby, an NRC will never work.
TJ-Go Force!
Roar Rookie
I like it. You can take the games to regional locations too and actually get rugby out of the major cities and into the hearts and minds of the bush. We need to grow the game nationally and you can definitely do that with this. I would go a step further and create a QLD Combined side picked out of the Brisbane/country comps, and NSW Combined side picked out of the Schute Shield/Country Leagues. 7 team comp, 3 games a weekend. Call it the NRC.. wait... :laughing:
Guess
Roar Rookie
I asked you a question, you didn’t answer :crying: I also knew that brums and reds would be in the finals and the tahs would suffer. I predicted reds winning after first round, but that’s beyond the point. I didn’t know how particular games would end. Same as everyone here. You can’t say you could predict outcomes of most games, unlike tt. That’s why the betting odds were way lower than for tt where everyone knew the result. I don’t get what are you trying to prove that TT is more interesting and less predictable than au?Seriously.. Or that it’s not hopeless? Do you believe that Aussies can improve and start winning?
JD Kiwi
Roar Rookie
Absolutely. Have some contact with us, but make sure you maximise the rest of your time.
Well you may think that but on here ( ROAR ) the results of the SRAU were all predicted before the comp even started. Reds/Brumbies to final. Rebels/ Force to fight for 3rd. Tahs may not win a game... The only thing that wasnt predicted was the Force beating the reds but then the reds had already qualified for a home final before they played the force so it became a dead rubber for the Reds but a crucial must win match for the Force.
Guess
Roar Rookie
It has nothing to do with finals.. You're either dishonest with yourself or thinking in hindsight. It was way less predictable than you make it sound. Few people knew the force could beat the reds and how the games between brums and reds would go and even rebels had two close games with reds and brums that went down the wire and people didn't know how the games between rebels and force would end. Heck even tahs had a chance of winning when no one expected it. Why do you think it was so popular? Because it was as predictable?
moondoggie
Roar Rookie
We are making a similar point I think but just with fewer teams. A 5 team domestic competition (I’m calling it SR AU in this example) vs an 8-10 team comp (NRC or equivalent). Yes ideally with the player base available NSW should field 3-4 teams in a national domestic comp. Basically I am trying to appease Shute shield power brokers by only taking a few of their top players haha!
AndyS
Guest
Soooo...the same philosophy as SR then? Start with three teams, then it'll be easy to grow from there once there are all these spare professional players coming from, umm, well, somewhere. If the competition you build is also the means of creating the players it needs, then by definition there will be no growth.
Busted Fullback
Roar Rookie
Thanks for the reply md. If the improvements made by the other franchises, particularly in the talent ID area, don’t have the NSWRU changing their attitude to NRC, then they will never get any better. I also understand that financing the NRC is a ( broke) RA responsibility, but to make money you have to spend money. Solve one problem and another raises its ugly head.
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
The way it's supposed to work, MD, is that (using NSW) the players in the Waratahs squad for Super Rugby whatever should be the best (talented or otherwise) in the state. The process to determine who those are starts at clubb and filters up to a middle tier using say Northern NSW, Southern NSW, Central NSW, Sydney and Metro NSW (non-Sydney urban) sides. The Tahs net has not been cast wide enough. Look at the All Blacks; they recruited two players from regional/rural Australia: Tawera Kerr-Barlow came from Darwin (born and bred, I believe) and Steve Devine (Aussie as) came from Boggabri in northern country NSW! So there is talent out there; it has to be identified and coached so that when players come together in the Waratahs, they are the best of the best.
Guess
Roar Rookie
Cause they’re already big :silly: NZ are like Brazilians used to be in football. They spent more time with a ball in unstructured environment, rather than deliberate training, starting very early in life, that’s why they had that smooth style :happy:
Micko
Roar Rookie
I think they do! :happy: Most baulk when they hear there's going to be no interaction except for the bledisloe.