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Opinion
And so, another Super Rugby comes to an end. The Crusaders once again prove to be the best team in the Southern Hemisphere with an emphatic win over the Chief in Hamilton on Saturday.
While there are many highs and positives to take from this season of Super Rugby Pacific, there are still glaring issues plaguing the competition.
Super Rugby has a marketing problem. Attendances dwindled throughout the season and although viewership numbers are up in New Zealand, it might prove to be a fluke in this a World Cup year.
The cliché of Aussie teams not being able to compete with their Kiwi counterparts was reinforced this season once again, as only one Aussie team had a winning season and made it to the knockout stages of the competition.
The crowds in Fiji did however prove that there is still an appetite in the pacific for rugby union but is still overshadowed by the growing presence of rugby league.
Even the most optimistic, most enthusiastic supporters of Super Rugby cannot help but feel that there is something missing from the once great competition.
Now look, I do not regard myself an expert in the running of a sports league, but I do believe there are certain aspects that Rugby New Zealand and Rugby Australia can implement to improve the overall marketability and enjoyment of Super Rugby Pacific.
These suggestions are easy implementable and although it might not fix the deeper structural problems with Super Rugby, it will be a step in the right direction for the competition.
For the love of Pete, fix the playoff structure for the 2024 season. In no other league in the world do 67% of its teams qualify for the knockout stages of a competition.
Not even mentioning that the Reds, Dura, and Waratahs didn’t win 50% of their games, and still qualified for the finals! It devalues the competition a great deal and seems more like a money grab than anything else.
I recommend letting four teams qualify for the finals, like the old days of Super Rugby. Alternatively, Super Rugby could implement a structure like the Top 14, with five or six teams qualifying for the finals and the first and/or second rank teams having a rest weekend.
This structure will allow for a more competitive final’s series with teams having to work to qualify for the final.
Super Rugby has always played around with its structure and fixture requirements. The current structure is that all teams play each other once and then play three other teams for “derby” matches.
This becomes a lot more complex to keep track of and you will always find people complain about the teams they have to face in a season compared to other teams in the competition. To fix this, I suggest a two-part structure to the season.
The first part will be domestic games and the second part trans-Tasman games. Aussie teams (and the Fijian Drua) will play each other twice and the same for New Zealand teams (and Moana Pasifica).
Then they will play each other once, for a total of 16 games during the season. This “domestic first” structure will allow for fans to really get into the season before they must face the other side of the pond during the magic round.
You could even look at a “State of Origin series” in the middle off the season for New Zealand’s North and South islands, to break up the season even more.
A split season will allow for more fan engagement to take place, instead of a monotone season starting and ending in the same fashion.
Scott Barrett holds the Super Rugby Pacific trophy (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
Recently reports have emerged of a potential draft for Super Rugby. The idea behind this is to allow for young and up incoming players to play for other teams outside of their catchment area or even outside their country, to experience another lifestyle and rugby structure.
I can see the enticement for such a system to be put in place, but I do believe it will do more harm than good.
Firstly, unlike the NFL, Super Rugby teams and Unions are responsible for the development of their own players. Imagine spending countless hours, dollars, and time in a prospective rugby player, just to have him plucked away to another team or to another country?
Rugby doesn’t have a transfer fee agreement in place like football has. What will be the incentive to still develop these players?
Secondly, sending an 18-year-old to a different country has never seemed like a good idea for me. Young talent needs to be developed close to home, to maximise development in an area that is familiar to them.
And lastly, the legality issue of a draft system in Australia should have put this idea to bed before it saw the light of day.
Now the question becomes, if not a draft, then what?
I believe that Super Rugby should become a free movement area for anyone that plays in the competition, without impacting eligibility for a country.
This way, young prospects can still develop in their country and older more established players can move around a bit more.
A few years ago, James O’Conner was linked with the Chiefs and Jordie Barrett enticed the idea of playing in Australia.
I also believe that more All-Black players would rather sign for Australian sides instead of moving overseas, for the economic and lifestyle benefits.
Some Aussies might even move to New Zealand to learn from their systems and world class coaches. Aussie teams get to sign world class players and New Zealand rugby can depose some of their All Blacks from their books, creating more opportunities for their never-ending pipeline of talent coming through. It’s a win-win situation for both unions.
I do believe that the two pacific sides do however need to be treated differently. Their purpose has always been to develop players for the pacific nations. If you allow the free movement of all players in the competition, what prevents them from signing Aussies and Kiwis at the expense of pacific talent?
The limit on the amount of foreign talent that they might sign should still be implemented, together with a new rule that they get exclusive signing rights on players developed in the pacific.
The movement of talent will improve all the teams’ prospects in the competition while also allowing for the development of players in different systems.
(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Tribalism has always been a big phenomenon in rugby. Whether it’s the Irish provinces tacking each other, the North-South derby between the Bulls and Stormers, or the Aussie derby of Queensland facing New South Wales, tribal feelings are evident in all of these.
Then why, oh why, do Super Rugby give us these dull, uninspiring “derbies” based on the historic ones we’ve come to love?
Why not just go back to the regional names given to teams in the early years of Super Rugby? Controversial, I know, but its time to start treating Super Rugby teams, like sport teams again. Give me the tribal atmosphere of the Auckland Blues taking on the Canterbury Crusaders.
I want to see the blood fest that will be the Wellington Hurricanes against the Waikato Chiefs. And who can forget about the mighty Otago Highlanders?
Regional names give a special kind of connection for fans to a team. By bringing it back, I can guarantee a better rugby product all around.
Better fan engagement and match day experience.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
I think we can all agree that to attract more people to stadiums, more should be done to engage with fans and make it worth their while to attend live games. It doesn’t matter how good the on-field product is, if the of field amenities are sub-par.
There needs to be a competition wide change in the match day experience for all games. I’m talking affordable prices for gameday tickets, entertainment for the whole family, good food and drinks available and other enticements to bring supporters back to the stadiums. Only then will stadiums be filled at a consistent rate during the season.
These are just some suggestions to fix the marketability of the competition. Most of them do not require a lot of money or time to fix and can be implemented before the next season begins.
There are still a lot of things that can be changed or improved to make Super Rugby a competition worthy of our time, investment and of its name, but if these are implemented, I can see a massive rise in the popularity of rugby in the pacific.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.