On paper, 2022 has looked pretty bleak for Australian rugby.
With just three wins from seven Tests, the Wallabies have slipped to ninth in the World Rugby rankings – their lowest ever position – and are facing one of the toughest challenges this weekend when they travel to Eden Park.
They’ll then recoup to face Scotland, France, Italy, Ireland, and Wales on a blockbuster Spring tour where wins (excluding the Azzuri) will be at a premium.
Meanwhile, the Wallaroos have managed just one win from their seven outings – a 36-19 scramble against Fijiana in early May – and would be disappointed not to have accounted for Japan and USA ahead of their upcoming Rugby World Cup campaign.
Coach Jay Tregonning has set a quarter-final benchmark for his team but few are expecting the still-amateur Wallaroos to push for a top-four berth against professional outfits like the Red Roses and Black Ferns in New Zealand.
But from where I’m standing, there’s something stirring in the heart of our game.
And it feels fantastic.
With over 1 million viewers tuning into last week’s Bledisloe thriller and average home crowds in 2022 exceeding 44,000, we’re seeing more and more spectators return to the fold.
We’re seeing our world-class men’s and women’s sevens teams taking home silverware, renewed interest in clubland footy with Brisbane’s Hospital Cup in particularly rude health, and a growing community of content creators doing their part to spread the game online.
The likes of The Rugby Column, Rugby Bloke, Pick and Drive, and Green and Gold Rugby have been extremely active over the past few months and it’s bloody good to see and hear rugby news and views coming through on a daily basis.
People are talking about the rugby – and it’s not just punters here on The Roar or fan-run accounts.
Bernard Foley of the Wallabies (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)
Work colleagues are bailing me up to talk about the Bledisloe.
My old schoolmates who lean towards league have stopped hanging shit on union and started chatting Wallaby selections. Even my parents and siblings have shaken off decades of Wallaby-induced trauma and are cautiously tuning in to Channel Nine to catch our Aussie men and women in action.
We’re a little behind our Northern Hemisphere brothers and sisters but we’re seeing a renewed appetite for top-tier rugby in Australia. And with more eyeballs on our code heading into two world cups (plus the 2025 Lions tour and home RWC 2027/29 around the corner) it’s time for Rugby Australia and SANZAR to give them more to look at.
So let’s give it to them. More games, fairer draws, and a finals system that rewards those who finish on top.
Here are a few suggestions to get the ball rolling…
A 19-round regular season
Super Rugby Pacific is still young and far from any expansion talks but extending the regular season from 15 to 19 games would be an excellent start.
A 19-round Super Rugby Pacific would hand all teams nine home and away games (plus Super Round) and see each franchise play each other once over the first 11 rounds.
Teams would then play four more sides from each pool (Australia vs Fiji and New Zealand vs Moana) to ensure a relatively balanced draw.
I’m sure the sides would much prefer to play the Drua or Moana twice as opposed to Brumbies or Crusaders but you get that on the big jobs – and it’s a damn sight fairer than playing teams exclusively from your so-called pool.
I’d also proposed that Super Round’s location alternate between Australia, NZ and Fiji every year on the three-year cycle.
But already we’ve got four more rounds and a more balanced draw to lock in some eyeballs – how good.
The finals
Next up, I’m looking at finals.
Stuff the quarter-final system – it’s brilliant at a World Cup but it doesn’t reward teams for finishing up top and hardly seems fair to include the seventh and eighth-ranked sides in a 12-team comp.
So I’m proposing a top six. Call it Super Six.
The format would mirror the old McIntyre top-six system (see below) and ensures first and second are suitably rewarded with a double chance and two-week final incentive.
It achieves this reward without taking opportunities away from third and fourth to host up to two finals each (with fifth also a shot at hosting a semi).
Week 1 – elimination final A: third vs sixth, and elimination final B: fourth vs fifth
Week 2 – major semi-final: first vs second, and minor semi-final: winner of elimination final A vs winner of Elimination final B
Week 3 – preliminary final: loser of major semi-final vs winner of minor semi-final
Week 4 – grand final: winner of major semi-final vs winner of preliminary final
(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
Origin-style Test break
There’s a lot we can learn from our rival code, particularly when it comes to rep rugby, and one takeaway from the Thursday Bledisloe was audience numbers.
For that reason alone, I’d trial two of the three mid-year internationals on a Wednesday night (similar to Origin) and have the touring series spread between Round 10 and 13 of Super Rugby Pacific (see table below).
Not only would we see whether a mid-week crowd has long-term viability, but we would also empower fringe Super Rugby players to step up and fill the void of international reps.
It also generates additional hype for The Rugby Championship later in the year and plenty of media attention around Wallabies camp and movements while the Super Rugby cogs keep turning, which leads me nicely into…
Super W crossover
In an ideal world, I’d have every Super W game running the same day, in the same venue as an SRP fixture.
Whether it’s scheduled before or after the men, I’m not fussed. Mix it up – it’s still two for the price of one and puts the girls in the same space and rarefied air. They belong on the big stage.
The Super W comp would align with the first ten rounds of SRP before a two-week finals series culminating in a grand final opening for the Wallabies’ second mid-year Test during a Super bye Round.
Put the boys in the arvo and give the girls primetime with a full crowd from the Test. God knows they deserve it.
Other international ideas
I’d love to see World Rugby lock in Pacific Four as an annual event for women’s rugby plus an O’Reilly Cup series aligned with the Bledisloe.
I’d also encourage RA to take an extended squad on Spring tours and combine the Test and Australia A fixtures into a seven-game tour with four Tests and three mid-week fixtures.
I tried laying out a Super fixture below encompassing mid-year touring Tests but it’s bloody difficult so props to the people who actually do this for a living.
Have a peek and give me your thoughts in the comments – thanks for sticking around.
Harry Wilson of Australia (Photo by Steve Christo – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
R1: Mar 4-5 (incl Super W)
R2: Mar 11-12 (incl Super W)
R3: Mar 18-19 (incl Super W)
R4: Mar 24-25 (incl Super W)
R5: Apr 1-2 (incl Super W)
R6: Apr 8-9 (incl Super W)
R7: Apr 15-16 (incl Super W)
R8: Apr 22-23 (incl Super W)
R9: Apr 29-30 (incl Super W) * Wallabies form camp
R10: May 6-7 (incl Super W)
May 10 – Wallabies Test (Wednesday Night)
R11: May 13-14 (+ Super W QF)
Super bye – May 20-21 – Wallabies Test + Super W grand final, Wallaroos form camp
R12: May 27-28
May 31 – Wallabies Test (Wednesday Night) and international camp breaks
R13: June 3-4 (+PAC 4 R1)
R14: June 10-11 (+ PAC 4 R2)
R15: June 17-18 ( + PAC 4 R3)
R16: June 24-25 (+ PAC 4 R4)
R17: Jul 1-2
R18: Jul 8-9
R19: Jul 15-16
EFs
SFs
QF
Final
Lachie Mark
Roar Rookie
Thanks Rugger - like your ideas especially around SRP W! Main reason for floating 19 rounds rather than 22 was financial - would be keen to see whether domestic rugby can draw crowds for long enough before expanding the schedule by that much. Also I liked the idea of ensuring everyone gets even H& plus Super Round. But I sure don't envy the people actually making this schedule - tough work!
Malotru
Roar Rookie
Insightful comment Guest.
Lachie Mark
Roar Rookie
We might have our wires crossed Doc - I certainly wasn't pushing for expansion (re more clubs) but I'm definitely keen to have more games played (19 up from 15). As for crowds, 44k was the average for Wallabies not super rugby so that might be the misunderstanding I'm sorry to hear you think Super Rugby is a borefest - I'm pretty positive about the comp's future but believe Aus team in particular need to be playing more games against better teams to improve. Just my two bobs though
adam smith
Roar Rookie
The two match “series” is ridiculous. Can’t believe our respective unions couldn’t agree to a third game…
Guess
Roar Rookie
They won't do this cause they get more money with two games
Working Class Rugger
Roar Guru
Agree with pretty much everything in your proposed schedule but I have a question. Why not just make it a 22 round season? That way everyone plays everyone twice. Meaning the finals would be in late August. From there we could look to include Japan in the RC taking it to 5 permanent members and work with World Rugby to implement a 6th 'qualifier' spot that would be the prize for winning their proposed Asia-Pacific/Americas Championship concept which will feature the PIs and the top Americas teams. Run the RC as a single round of 5 games. Again with focus on mid week Tests. Keep the November window as is. I like the idea of introducing a longer Super W season. But what would be awesome if it could be made work is a SRP W. Even if it was a shorter season that SRP. Similar with some kind of reserves set up.
Doctordbx
Roar Rookie
I feel like this article slipped in from an alternate dimension. Super Rugby average home crowds in 2022 exceeding 44,000?? Where was this? Sadly, frustratingly, and worryingly, the only water cooler discussion I've encountered in my work and greater social circles about Rugby Australia is where to bury the corpse. I'd like to be positive, but with the huge and growing divide between grass roots and true professional Rugby, the complete borefest of Super Rugby which we need less of, not more, and the current Wallabies who can't even manage to win half their games... there's not a lot to be positive about. Expansion talk is nuts. We need to retreat, hunker down, fill that gap between grassroots and whatever Super Rugby should be and stop trying to pretend we're the elite sport we no longer are.
Reframe
Roar Rookie
Interesting indeed. The crux of the matter however is the powers that be at RA understanding the need to make changes. I actually watched the Hospital Cup purely because it was rugby and on TV. What a novelty outside of SR. It was good to watch. If RA does not make a valid case for mainstream television rights then whatever changes proposed will not increase visibility on the sporting demographic. I am not at all trying to be negative, just raising the issue that what you and others propose is at an outside the RA boardroom consensus. It would be good if they perhaps started paying attention. Great ideas though, well done.
Brett Allen
Guest
Lipstick on a pig
Riggers
Roar Rookie
Great article Lachie, I would also go one step further and have a Super Rugby AU knockout over a few weeks depending on where they finish in Super Rugby comp. For example if the standings were like this year. brumbies Reds Tahs Force Rebels Week one Force v Rebels (loser knocked out) Reds Tahs Loser plays winner of Force/Rebels Week Two (if it went to script) Rebels v Tahs (loser knocked out) Brumbies v Reds Week three Tahs v Reds - Brumbies straight into finals Week Four and Aus champion is crowned. There is simply not enough super rugby for players to gain experience and we have to play over the international rugby period to create depth, no doubt about it
Bobby
Roar Rookie
The Bled format is rubbish. It should be 1 match, winner takes the Cup. It is too slanted in favour of the holder. If a 3 match series the winner has to win 2. A 2 match series the non holder has to win both. Not poddible but unlikely.
TheRugbyColumn
Roar Rookie
Love these ideas! I think it would be great to have some form of series between AUS and NZ (hopefully competitive) in the middle of a Super Rugby season. It would be tough to make it the Bledisloe Cup though because they’d still have to play each other twice in the Rugby Championship. But cool if it could work out.
TiredOldGit
Roar Rookie
Super rugby’s traditions and state political nonsense is what is hurting the wallabies. They have blinkers on when it comes to pathways and development, and the result isn’t good enough. I would be creating a city based IPL style tournament that has the best of Australia and some international draw cards come in. Try and time it when not much else is on. Put if on free to air TV and strike a global TV deal much like the IPL. I would set up teams in the standard rugby places but then look at where talent in league and AFL are overflowing and set up clubs with lots of scouts promoting a second chance at pro sport life for those that may miss out on NRL etc. I would then have super rugby as a state based tournament that is basically a trial for the wallabies. Increasing the pool of top talent for competition for spots at more levels would create the pressure needed to create good rugby players. Players are walking into super rugby teams from school and clubs and then suddenly people are talking about them for the wallabies.
JC
Roar Rookie
Thanks, Lachie. We certainly need to make more of Super Rugby. I do see some issues with your proposal, though. Scheduling Test matches during the Super Rugby season would significantly disadvantage teams like the Brumbies, which provide a lot of players to the Test squad. With up to 15 players away from a squad of 40 and a few injuries, how would they even put a competitive team together? And which northern Test teams would be able to tour in May when the French Top 14, URC and English Premiership plus the European Cup are all approaching their pointy end?