The Wrap: Super Rugby's two-speed expansion so far provides multiple headaches

Only one and a half seasons after the addition of the Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua franchises into Super Rugby, it is already clear the initiative is providing multiple headaches.

More later on the bell-ringing physicality that knocked the composure and stuffing out of the Melbourne Rebels on Saturday afternoon. Firstly however, there is an obvious concern that some of what was hoped to have been achieved via the expansion will never be achieved, and that what may be achievable isn’t actually helpful for the competition.

Moana Pasifika currently anchor the ladder; in itself no crime for a second-year expansion team. After all, somebody has to finish last, and with an ounce of luck – maybe even half an ounce – they would have recorded wins over the Drua and Force and be in the middle of the dogfight for the last finals spot.

In reality, none of this makes a jot of difference. Moana Pasifika’s entry into Super Rugby has proven to be ill-timed, the franchise walking into a perfect storm, not of their own making, where multiple factors are inhibiting them and the competition.

For starters, despite some excellent rugby being played every weekend, Super Rugby is failing – as it has done for some seasons now – to hook fans and keep them engaged.

Moana Pasikia scores a try  (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

The reasons are many and have been well chewed over in this and other columns; general fatigue with Super Rugby; perceived and real issues around entertainment value, laws and stoppages; substandard marketing and promotion of rugby; competition from other sports and activities; the cost of attending stadiums, and so on.

All of the above applies to long-term fans as well as youngsters entering the sport.

This is also where the necessity of turning professional rugby into a TV game, to fund its existence, collides with the cost of paywalls that exclude some, and the breadth and accessibility of the coverage, that welds others to their sofas.

Underlying, there remains the impediment that, no matter how individual franchises identify and interact as autonomous clubs, they remain bit-pieces in a much bigger chess game; one where NZ Rugby and Rugby Australia sacrifice pawns in order to set themselves up for the end-game. In this case, success at Test level and, hopefully, World Cup victories.

That’s a tough pill for all franchises to swallow, let alone a fledgling entity still trying to figure out its identity.

When the Moana Pasifika franchise was green-lit, there was a danger that the Blues – who have struggled to maintain their supporter base in recent years – would be significantly impacted. As it happens, the Blues have retained those supporters, and with better results, even managed to entice some of them back to Eden Park for the marquee matches.

Coinciding, the New Zealand Warriors, comeback winners away against the Cronulla Sharks yesterday, playing out of the same stadium as Moana Pasifika, are resurgent in 2023.

Essentially, Moana Pasifika are Auckland’s ‘third wheel’. This in a city that houses a large Pasifika community, but one not flush with disposable income, in times where cost of living pressure is biting hard.

Support for Moana Pasifika is thus largely spiritual; which is not the same thing as money spending, bums on seats support.

For most fans, the player roster is largely anonymous; its genuine superstars are off-field. There are no bigger names in Auckland rugby than Bee Gee and the Ice-Man, but Sir Bryan Williams’ and Sir Michael Jones’ best playing days are decades behind them.

For the rest of this season, expect to see more of the same; Moana Pasifika competitive in some matches, maybe eking out a win or two, and fading out in others, shipping points in the process. 45-17 in this case, to the Highlanders.

In the bigger scheme of things, win or lose, what does it all mean? How does any of this make Super Rugby – that is, the competition itself, in the sense of how the French Top 14 and the English Premiership are world class rugby competitions – any better?

It doesn’t. This column isn’t a call to denigrate Moana Pasifika, or have them dismissed from Super Rugby. Far from it. There are substantial benefits with respect to rugby in the region repaying a long overdue debt to provide assistance and pathways for Pasifika players that more accurately reflects their culture, heritage and potential.

With more Samoan and Tongan players exposed to high-performance rugby, and having them play together in the process, those individuals and their respective national teams will benefit.

This was something identified recently by Drua CEO Mark Evans, when he appeared on The Roar Rugby Podcast; the flow on benefits for the Fijian national side, accruing from the Drua’s formation.

Selestino Ravutaumada of Fijian Drua  (Photo by Pita Simpson/Getty Images)

But here’s the rub. With leading administrators in New Zealand and Australia finally acknowledging the need for Super Rugby to be run more autonomously if it is to thrive into the future, their two expansion sides, supposed to have breathed fresh life into a tired competition, have tapped into the very same muddle.

Super Rugby works for the national unions because it is a fertile development ground from which to lever players into Test rugby. As long as that remains the primary driver it also remains the very thing that inhibits Super Rugby, preventing it from fulfilling its potential as an engaging, stand-alone competition, like the AFL and NRL competitions are.

By contrast with Moana Pasifika, a clear national identity is the hot button for the Drua’s successful introduction into Super Rugby. One team, one country. One rugby mad country as it happens.

The Drua share the same adolescent issues; unable to be truly competitive week-in week-out, they have already become adept at picking their moment. Compare the total absence of defensive intensity last week in their mauling at the hands of the Highlanders, with the swarming, brutal assault on the Rebels’ midfield runners.

There are enough ‘on’ weeks to make them valid finals contenders, and with a home match-day environment like no other, they are doing more than their share of the heavy lifting for a weighed-down competition.

The Rebels’ game plan was exactly as it should have been; keep the Drua in their own half, make first-up tackles, limit the Drua’s post-contact metres and shut down their off-loading game.

Their execution however, was horrible. Carter Gordon, Reece Hodge and Andrew Kellaway all kicked the ball dead-in-goal, costing copious metres and possession; while a rattled defensive line struggled to maintain line-speed and too often lost connection, exposing defenders to one-on-one tackles that weren’t being made.

Conceding a 12-0 deficit after only four minutes, the Rebels actually won the rest of the match 28-26, but too much damage had already been done. Ahead by 31-7 before the half-hour, and with a set-piece providing a stronger platform than most might have expected, the Drua were never going to be overrun.

Carter Gordon of the Rebels kicks (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

After a week of the Reds, Super Rugby’s most penalised side, talking about the need to improve their discipline, Seru Uru gave up three penalties in quick succession in the first half.

That wasn’t the reason the Reds lost 25-12 to the Crusaders, just an indicator of how all, not just some, of the pieces have to fall in place if the elite teams are to be beaten.

On the positive side, Jordan Petaia looked as assured as any player on the park, and it was no surprise to hear Eddie Jones, late yesterday, after the announcement of his 33-man Wallabies squad, speak positively about his back-three options.

The Crusaders were down on manpower, which fed into an uncharacteristically fragile lineout. But, being the Crusaders, they still had the necessary personnel and class to win comfortably enough.

In wet and slippery Hamilton, the Chiefs made winning rugby look deceptively simple; seize on your chances when they present themselves (thanks Eroni Narawa), and defend stoutly for the rest of the time.

The Blues had ample opportunity to do the same, dominating the second half, but they lacked the necessary patience and execution. The most egregious error came from their most experienced player; Beauden Barrett playing ‘Russian Roulette’ with the dead-ball line instead of planting the ball down for a try when he had the opportunity.

Perhaps that’s the kind of thing that players do when they lack confidence in their own goal-kicking, but with a final score of 20-13, the impact on the outcome was obvious.

Six wins from six represents the Chiefs’ best ever start to a Super Rugby season and, aside from Sam Cane having to break the news to his wife that he’ll be unavailable for marital duties for a spell, they look to be in a very good place.

Much was made during the week of the so-called 13 fans who represented the sum total of faithful Waratahs fans now prepared to trek down the Hume to watch their side take on the Brumbies.

Whatever the actual number, they were rewarded with an outstanding match, full of positive intent and no little skill; an 11-try shootout won at the death by the home side, 40-36.

After a disjointed attacking effort against the Chiefs, the Waratahs put in a far more cohesive and convincing effort, with the midfield and back three of both sides contributing mightily to the entertainment.

What would have pleased Jones was the way Mark Nawaqanitawase responded immediately after being steamrollered by James Slipper to concede a try.

No sooking, no hiding in his shell, just ‘give me the ball and I’ll make amends’; which he did, spectacularly, chasing and fielding his own kick for a try which kept the Waratahs in front, into the final quarter.

But despite the visitors being massive contributors to the match, there was always a sense that the Brumbies had them within arm’s reach; like how a Tour de France peleton allows the breakaway to linger a few minutes in front, all day, before cruelly reeling them in, in the final couple of kilometres.

Having being put to a stern test, the Brumbies’ composure and finish proved as reliable as Alan Ala’alatoa’s customary post-match message; “you just gotta be really proud of the boys!”

Not only did Eddie Jones dominate the weekend with the naming of his Wallabies squad, Jones also put Rugby Australia staff on notice, and the business model of some rugby journalists at risk, with respect to his desire to crack down on leaking.

More pointedly, it was his comments about the Western Force – “what value do they bring?” – that really stung.

Almost certainly, Jones’ comments would have been intended as a challenge, but the manner of delivery will not have endeared him to those in the west. As it happened, the Force ran the Hurricanes to 45-42 yesterday, albeit this being less about the Force being a real chance of winning, and more about their customary ability to scrap hard for the whole match, to earn themselves two late tries and a well-deserved bonus point.

Jones also referenced the number of Force players ineligible for the Wallabies, therein bringing us around Super Rugby’s vicious circle once more.

Do the Force, or any Australian franchise for that matter, exist for the purpose of providing more talent for the Wallabies? Or should they operate as a strong, independent franchise, doing whatever it is they need to do to advance themselves, within a thriving Super Rugby competition, that is once again the envy of the rugby world?

Ideally, the answer would be both. I’m not sure that twenty-eight years of Super Rugby history says that this is possible.