It was another weekend of disappointing results across the board in Super Rugby Pacific.
It feels like an eternity since the Waratahs stunned the Crusaders, the Brumbies thumped the Canes, and a Reds B-side pushed the Chiefs all the way, all in one weekend.
Fans around Australia were ecstatic as they dared to dream that the Bledisloe may be coming home in the not-so-distant future.
Yet it seems to be another false dawn for Australian rugby, as Aussie sides have fallen in all but one game since. That was in Waikato where the Brumbies produced their performance since 2013.
Once more, teams are starting to plan for next year.
This slide in results is not due to a lack of effort or inability to play high-intensity footy, but rather a by-product of injuries in key positions, in key teams, who suffer in key moments as a result.
And while we can stand here all we like and claim systems should have enough depth to compensate for this loss in firepower, sometimes that just isn’t possible.
(Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)
Five Super Rugby sides just isn’t attainable for Australia. Our depth simply is not great enough to cover the loss of marquee players to our franchises.
Let’s use the Queensland Reds as an example.
Prior to the loss of James O’Connor in the lead-up to Super Round, the Reds looked like a genuine title threat.
They were playing high octane rugby and led the competition in line breaks, sat in the top three for tries and run metres, and had lost just one game from eight.
But in the loss of their playmaker, their form slipped.
Well, actually, the Reds entered free fall. They now sit seventh on the ladder after a 27-point thumping at Eden Park despite the return of O’Connor, and they face the prospect of a quarter-finals exit.
The Brumbies are starting to feel the pinch too. After losing Noah Lolesio and Rob Valetini just hours apart, the top-ranked Aussie side succumbed to the Crusaders.
While the scoreboard made it look like it was a tight contest, the Brumbies were never really in it.
Rod Iona had the performance you’d expect from a rookie ten in a game he struggled to get involved in, making sub-standard errors and lacking the vision Lolesio possesses, despite being eight years older.
The Waratahs lost Michael Hooper to a concussion, but his absence was one of leadership and experience, rather than the skill-set loss that the above cost their teams.
Every one of these players need to be replaceable at any given time. A team’s number two man must be equal to number one.
How do you do this?
Unfortunately, it may come down to cutting the number of Super Rugby sides down to four again.
This move could flood the remaining franchises with talent and lift depth and overall performances across the board. Sadly, the team that should be cut is all too obvious: the Rebels.
(Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)
Ever since joining the competition, the Rebels have struggled. They have struggled on and off the field, only ever making one finals series (a Super Rugby AU one at that) and failing to register a profit in nine of their 11 seasons.
Victoria is also notorious for having to buy talent rather than produce their own, with only four of the 15 starters in Round 13 growing up in Victoria, being there since before they were 15 years of age.
They are constantly paying to put up a team. This means they are not contributing enough to Australia’s pathways, rather giving the scraps from NSW and Queensland (who the Brumbies haven’t picked up) a second chance at a career.
You can’t blame the Rebels organisation for this though.
With AFL’s complete and utter domination of the state, rugby hardly gets a look in. This lack of interest transfers to attendances (average 5679 over last 12 months) and TV ratings (lowest average in Australia on 9GEM; Stan Sport figures unavailable) plummeting.
So yes, while it is ideal to have as many franchises as possible in Australia, winning is the priority and if a powerhouse like the Storm are still fighting for a place in the Melbourne sporting market, the one-time semi-finalists the Rebels have no chance of breaking the barriers in Victoria.
Besides, the problem will never be the Rebels’ performances, it is the unfairly high standards that are expected of them that will make them unsuccessful.
Now you ask: so what would Super Rugby sides look like with no Rebels in the mix?
Here’s what I have come up with. These lists show some of the key Rebels players split up into the four remaining sides.
Reds
Jordan Uelese, Matt Philip, Carter Gordon
Waratahs
Pone Fa’amausili, Michael Wells, Andrew Kellaway (fullback)
Western Force
Reece Hodge, Rob Leota, Brad Wilken
Brumbies
Matt To’omua, Stacey Ili, Richard Hardwick
Imagine if these sides could have these players competing for starting spots or providing power off the bench week in, week out. Depth would no longer be an issue.
As a results of Rugby Australia axing Melbourne, the organisation would save millions of dollars annually and see an improvement in performances at the highest level.
This money can be reinvested into grassroots and help us bring the game back to its glory days.
So while the decision is brutal and, frankly, less than ideal, four Super Rugby sides may just be better than five.
Springboks prop Frans Malherbe joined The Roar rugby experts Brett McKay and Harry Jones to talk about his unusual rugby origin story, what surprised him about the United Rugby Championship coming out of Super Rugby, and Rassie Erasmus’ call for a specialist scrum referee.
Tooly
Roar Rookie
Apart from Philip , Kelloway and perhaps Gordon they would make no difference. By being there they give more players a chance to learn.
Ulrich
Roar Rookie
The issue is partly depth but I think if you could clone a few Robertsons to be coaches then the performances would improve as well. The Waratahs have improved a lot since last season. Australia looks like a better team under Rennie and I expect they will get even better this year and next. A largely similar Bok team improved in 2 years under Rassie and Nienaber compared to Coetzee. The Bulls were the local whipping boys in SA until Jake steadied the ship. Look at what O’Gara has done with La’Rochelle. Structural changes can also improve all franchises and the national team. The best most recent example is Ireland. Finding so many quality coaches is the issue but then therein lies the solution as well. Get the coaching pathways top-notch and the envy of the world. It will take some cash perhaps and several years to bear fruit.
wigeye
Guest
R u s t n e v e r s l e e p s
BeastieBoy
Roar Rookie
Another Example of Rugby's contraction and Death in Australia. Why would we expect anything more under this Deal Handed Leadership we cant remove for the past 20 years. Soon they will sell our Game to Private Equity and then we are Done. It ain't coming back. World Cups will do nothing to help. It will be a great event sure. That's it. Is there anything at ALL that can be done? Well maybe. It's a long term rebuild but.. we need a Australian Rugby Tragic with heaps of money to burn. Set up the Australian Domestic Rugby Union and free it from Rugby Australia. It will run the game outside of the National and Super Rugby sides. It will remove the RA Tax on kids playing the game. It will establish new playing rules that make it exciting to play and to watch. It will promote the Sydney and Brisbane competitions as the showpieces, introducing some outside stars. From that success (hopefully) the rest of Rugby will get the message and get on board.
piru
Roar Rookie
And this is just as it relates to players We're forever moaning about bad referees and coaches, a proper NRC would be a place for them to hone their crafts as well
BigRob
Roar Rookie
Have any of you listened to this podcast from the Australian? It is very insightful and explains why we are in the current situation … https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-breakdown/id1554973779
BigRob
Roar Rookie
I'm a Rebels fan so am a bit biased but is reducing the number of teams REALLY going to help? The ARU/RA focused on Super Rugby and International rugby and didn't develop the next generation of players which is why we have a lack of depth. We need players to play and reducing the number of teams doesn't help that. So here's my thoughts on what we could do: 1. Have something like the ARC/NRC for players to develop, grow and learn before they come up to Super Rugby. 2. Try and reduce the drain of players to RL (a lot of NRL players started out in RU). 3. Engage and invest in the grass roots like AFL did. The more players the greater the likelihood of finding and developing future Wallabies. 4. Educate players to make better decisions. I can't count the number of times I've pulled what little hair I have left when the Rebels didn't close out games by making poor strategic choices. This is something that needs to be thought through BEFORE you step on the field. 5. Better coaches. Look at the number of Aussie coaches working abroad! 6. Improved fitness and player welfare. Using the Rebels as an example again, at the start of almost every season we have a greatly reduced team because of injuries. We can't win if the players aren't fit. 7. Better engagement between RU and the clubs to help with the above and to ensure that players are developed for their most suitable positions and in the positions most needed by the Wallabies. 8. Focus on support play. All the NZ teams in particular are very good at this. It keeps the ball alive, stretches defenses and leads to tries.
The Ferret
Roar Rookie
I could not agree any more with this comment. We can’t have nice things because of Sydney clubs. I believe if it was Brisbane clubs who were against The NRC, the NSW rugby and RA would just steam roll through and give the old to bad so sad.
Dean
Roar Rookie
I don't know if he does or doesn't. I'm a huge QC fan and was devastated when he was ousted and playing Club Rugby. However, if Thorn does/did lack player management skills, he is certainly incredible capable of learning and adapting a different style or approach. If we look at Thorn's playing career, we have to admit that the man is incredibly coachable with an outstanding work ethic. His ability to accept guidance/criticism, learn from it, get better and employ a higher/different skill level at an incredibly competitive level, does not point to a character trait that is beyond learning off of the field.
Joshua Butler
Guest
Getting rid of a viable tier between Super Rugby and club rugby is going to be the worst mistake that the so-called Rugby AU has made (big mistake to get rid of the National Rugby Championship and it's second division NRC II for smaller states/regions, if rugby is to survive here long-term it needs a FULLY NATIONAL prescence, not just NSW/Qld/ACT)
jeznez
Roar Guru
Makes any attempt to go back later incredibly hard though. How many WA fans are gone from cutting Force? To me the solution is simple, stop playing Super. I know most don’t agree with me though.
TheRugbyColumn
Roar Rookie
Just think we can get more involved if we win. Then when participation rates are up, we can expand back to Vic. Melbourne’s market is just so tough at the moment.
Redbeard
Roar Rookie
Thorn lacks player management skills. Always has, always will!
piru
Roar Rookie
This is the thing isn't it? We can't have an NRC because the clubs in NSW won't agree to it. As a result we have a limited number of positions to blood new players at a level above club level. The solution - not to force one through, or come up with a hybrid system - no just destroy pro rugby in another state to keep these certain clubs happy. They offer nothing to advance the game beyond status quo, but the entire nation bends over backwards to accommodate them It's madness
Doctordbx
Roar Rookie
If there was an Olympic medal for sunk cost fallacy we Australians would fill the podium. Just read the comments. Many still think this continued failure will succeed if we just give it more time and keep pouring money into it. "This time will be different" and "it will come good and day now" is often repeated as the competition limps along into the inevitable darkness. We just had a super round with embarrassing small crowds during perfect weather in Melbourne. The league just had their magic round in the middle of the wettest weekend in May in living memory and filled Suncorp stadium 3 times over. Never mind... Any day now.
Doctordbx
Roar Rookie
Well if participation is the goal we're definitely succeeding. Everyone should get a medal.
Redbeard
Roar Rookie
We need a professional 2nd and possibly even 3rd grade tier competition in Oz capable of retaining and training those players as reserves/ replacements for the SR firsts. Australian players currently appear not have 5he fitness, skills, nor team combinations to make them competitive. That group once called the ARU has failed Rugby in Oz for years
Gavan De'Athe
Guest
Chuck the whole Super rugby thing in the bin and focus on NRC only
jeznez
Roar Guru
Congrats on the first article but no thanks. What's the next move if we keep struggling? Cut again, and again? Sure if we only had teams in NSW and Qld we'd probably be pretty strong but is that really what is best for Australian rugby? You say, the priority is winning. I strongly disagree. For me the priority is participation and pathways. Vic is now producing quality players like Uelese, Fa'amausili, Hosea, Leota, Valetini and Samu - why on earth would you throw that away?
piru
Roar Rookie
Absolutely Masher, well said