Exit from Super Rugby?

[WorkingClassRugger]

Utterly ridiculous set up. Pushing the Aus and NZ conferences to 6 teams with inclusion of two Asian team or an Asian team and an Argentine team or something along those lines would have been a better compromise than this set up.

 

[TahDan]

I'm not sure I like the idea of cutting the number of local derbies, and obviously the Australian teams aren't too fond of it either...

It's a bad idea... I think that Pulver should push to keep all the local derbies at the expense of games against South African teams.

It'd be win-win: they can have their new politically necessary team and a random Argentinian team and some other random side, and our teams can then cut their travel time by playing more against our conference and the kiwis.

 

[Braveheart81]

I'm not sure I like the idea of cutting the number of local derbies, and obviously the Australian teams aren't too fond of it either...

Are they really the drawcards that the Aussie franchises think they are?

The Brumbies don't seem to draw that much of an extra crowd when the Tahs or Reds come to Canberra.

The Tahs do get more people to their two 'blockbuster' games at ANZ Stadium, but it is because they're local derbies or because they against recently successful teams? Would playing the Crusaders or Chiefs at ANZ produce a similar crowd?

Certainly the home crowds from the Tahs perspective at least aren't any better against the Rebels and Force than they are against any other side.

 

[TahDan]

Are they really the drawcards that the Aussie franchises think they are?

The Brumbies don't seem to draw that much of an extra crowd when the Tahs or Reds come to Canberra.

The Tahs do get more people to their two 'blockbuster' games at ANZ Stadium, but it is because they're local derbies or because they against recently successful teams? Would playing the Crusaders or Chiefs at ANZ produce a similar crowd?

Certainly the home crowds from the Tahs perspective at least aren't any better against the Rebels and Force than they are against any other side.

I think you're likely right. And from memory games against big kiwi teams get good crowds for the Tahs. I've always made a point of seeing us play teams like the Blues and the Crusaders and now the chiefs, because they represent a bit of litmus test.

 

[Slim 293]

The Brumbies don't seem to draw that much of an extra crowd when the Tahs or Reds come to Canberra.

Those two teams are their biggest crowd pullers..........

 

[Braveheart81]

Those two teams are their biggest crowd pullers....

By how much though?

This year at least it hasn't seemed to be that much higher than their other crowds (particularly if you discount the game on the weekend where it had rained torrentially for days).

 

[Bardon]

How will the knock-out stages go with 4 conferences? Surely you can't have automatic qualification for conference winners if SA has two conferences with only 4 teams in each.

At least further down the line it leaves the possibility that if the 4 team conferences expand to 5 each you could have a knock-out stage of 8 teams comprising the top 2 in each conference. Then conference winners would have home advantage.

But knowing Super Rugby if it did expand to 20 teams they would probably change it to 5 or 6 conferences with double points if you happen to win on the night of a full moon.

 

[Braveheart81]

How will the knock-out stages go with 4 conferences? Surely you can't have automatic qualification for conference winners if SA has two conferences with only 4 teams in each.

At least further down the line it leaves the possibility that if the 4 team conferences expand to 5 each you could have a knock-out stage of 8 teams comprising the top 2 in each conference. Then conference winners would have home advantage.

But knowing Super Rugby if it did expand to 20 teams they would probably change it to 5 or 6 conferences with double points if you happen to win on the night of a full moon.

I believe this format idea comes from the movie BASEketball.

Dan Patrick: With the first nine months of the Baseketball postseason out of the way, the playoff picture is starting to emerge.
Kenny Mayne: So, with last night's victory over Boston, next week the Milwaukee Beers must beat Indianapolis in order to advance to Charlotte. That's in an effort to reduce their magic number to three.
Dan Patrick: Right, and then the Beers can advance to the National Eastern Division North to play Tampa.
Kenny Mayne: So, if the Beers beat Detroit and Denver beats Atlanta in the American Southwestern Division East Northern, then Milwaukee goes to the Denslow Cup, unless Baltimore can upset Buffalo and Charlotte ties Toronto, then Oakland would play LA and Pittsburgh in a blind choice round robin. And if no clear winner emerges from all of this, a two-man sack race will be held on consecutive Sundays until a champion can be crowned.

 

[Bardon]

Asia in SA's pool? Did Bill do geography?

Well to be fair most of Asia is in the NH so having them in the SH club competition would indicate that Bill isn't the only SANZAR union official who was out smoking behind the bike sheds during geography classes. But you won't get too many NH unions complaining about it.

On a practical sense I agree with you completely an Asia team would sit much better in either the NZ or AUS conference.

 

[rugbysmartarse]

to make this even better, there is a rumour that SA will be guaranteed a finalist. So we may have a semi and final in each conference, with the 2 conference winners to play off as overall champ

 

[Slim 293]

By how much though?

This year at least it hasn't seemed to be that much higher than their other crowds (particularly if you discount the game on the weekend where it had rained torrentially for days).

The difference is fairly significant.........

The Tahs generally draw at least 20,000 and the Reds probably a few thousand less.........

Unfortunately this year there were conflicting events in Canberra which reduced both crowds.......

The only other team that would draw similar numbers would be the Crusaders..........

This year the Chiefs match got a good showing but they're the champions and there was a fair bit of build up around ANZAC Day........

 

[Sully]

Just goes to show what you get when you form a committee to figure the best way to do something.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[Blue]

 

[Badger]

to make this even better, there is a rumour that SA will be guaranteed a finalist. So we may have a semi and final in each conference, with the 2 conference winners to play off as overall champ

They are pretty much guaranteed if it is set up with two conferences with Aus/NZ in the west and the Sth African teams in the east. That is unless the Arg/other teams win the conference which is highly unlikely.

It also would be impossible to see two Aus or NZ teams in the final or an Aus vs NZ team in the final.

What a "meh" compromise.

 

[Braveheart81]

What a "meh" compromise.

It's terrible.

The compromise between Australia's wishes and South Africa's is a complete clusterfuck and it risks creating a competition that is worse for every party than just granting all the wishes of one proponent.

 

[Bardon]

You can't please everyone so they've gone for the tried and trusted don't please anyone approach.

 

[rugbysmartarse]

Yeah, I can't see how the SA conference will provide much good rugby. Sharks v bulls or stormers will be good, but the remainder is shaping up to be pretty average (whos getting up at 3am for pampas v Tokyo?)

So we have an overall dilution of quality product which I can't see is good for the comp, it's fans, it frankly south African rugby

 

[Dan54]

The one thing that would of amazed me would of been if they came up with a format that most on here liked, simply because of whatever decision Sanzar made, there would be a large number of posters who,although they don't really have a better plan, would of had a better plan!!!

 

[Omar Comin']

The only thing I like is playing all the NZ teams. But this is going to be the frankenstein monster of sporting competitions. Uneven pools is particularly dumb.

The Asian and Argentinian teams are going to find it extraordinarily difficult given how much travel they'll have to do. They shouldn't be added to an inter-continental competition unless they could support their own pools of 4 or 5 teams. We should have just facilitated including more of their players in our teams.

If we had to stick with this it should have been 3 pools of 6 with Asia added to Australia and Argentina with NZ. At least that would have made sense.

5 more years of niche sporting status here we come! Good luck to SANZAR trying to negotiate a substantially bigger TV deal while shortening the competition and making it more confusing.

 

[Melbourne Terrace]

This is a disaster for anyone but South Africa, way to make Super Rugby even more irrelevant to the Australian Public. Super Rugby is already struggling because people don't care enough to get excited about some plastic franchise from South Africa coming over, who is going to care about some Argentina or Japanese Franchise?

We had the chance to finally have something that resembled a national league (even if we got NZ in) and could have played the Saffers, Japan and the Americas in a Champions League arrangement but the Suits seam to think expanding to woop woop and playing a tournament halfway around the world is more important than fixing the issues at home.