The weekend is nearly upon us. Friday’s Rugby News has some final comments on the Super Rugby before the knockouts, ‘official’ comments from the Pro 12, more talk of a Pacific Islands Super Rugby team, and Cheika keen for the match up against a boiled egg.
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Super Rugby Goss
Yep, it’s time for the knockout finals. And, it may indeed be the case that, should Brumbies fail to pull off an upset tonight, it could be the last of Australian Super Rugby that we see this year. Will all due respect, maybe that isn’t actually a bad thing. But hey, if my Brumbies prove me wrong, I’ll happily take it.
But we start the latest goss over in the Republic. Former Lions, Force, USA coach, and current Bulls director of Rugby John Mitchell made a bold prediction, believing the Lions can finally overcome their hoodoo and win the competition for the first time ever.
Nine of the twelve foundation Super Rugby clubs that started in 1996 have won the trophy, with the last three being the Stormers, Lions and Sharks. All three are in the quarter finals this year, however it’s important to remember that neither the Sharks or the Lions have played a Kiwi side.
Regardless, Mitchell threw his support behind the Lions, who topped the competition table all up for the first time ever. He believes that the emotional attachment that the Lions have to their current coaching set-up can carry them all the way to this year’s title, as according to his interview with SuperSport.
He pointed out that with coach Johan Ackermann heading to Gloucester at the conclusion of the Super Rugby campaign, the Lions will have more than the normal motivation to win the tournament, and that will be something that may catch the Kiwi sides off guard.
“They’ve presented themselves with a great opportunity by finishing top of the log. I’m not sure if the other teams understand the emotional motivation with Ackers leaving after this tournament and the fact that they fell short last year at the last hurdle,” Mitchell said.
“They will be highly motivated and have a huge amount of desire. If they can keep their composure and focus on their processes and not get too emotionally committed to the outcome, I think they will finish off well.”
The Kiwis may gawk at this. It’s fair to say that it really is a case of being time for the Lions to show their hand. If they don’t get it now under an established coach and established team they probably won’t get it for a few years afterwards.
Finally, back to Canberra. While many are not favouring the Brumbies, Sam Carter has come out and said that the team has been out to silence doubters all year, and that many had predicted the Brumbies would fall apart this year.
“That’s why we came down to Canberra – for the opportunity to be the underdogs with a point to prove,” Carter said to Yahoo News.
I find the comments Carter made really interesting, especially when compared with what the Hurricanes lads said yesterday. The Canes boys talk about how their season is worth nothing if they lose tomorrow, and that they aren’t taking the Brums lightly because of it. Yet, the Brumbies boys still sound like they have a point to prove. Make of it what you will.
It’s going to be colder than a witch’s tit on Friday night, with an overnight low of minus-six degrees forecast. Why oh why didn’t Canberra build an indoor stadium?!
But there is expectation of a good crowd, following the news that Christian Lealiifano will be playing.
“He’s the heart and soul of the team,” Carter said.
I know I’m supposed to be doing the news here, but go you Brumbies!
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Celts ‘Officially’ Keen
There has been a bucket load of talk about the Kings and the Cheetahs joining the lads at the Pro 12, but there hadn’t been anything officially confirmed from the Pro 12 since the announcement of the teams being cut from Super Rugby.
Until now. And, unsurprisingly, they’re keen as a bean.
Celtic Rugby has confirmed they have held positive talks with the South African Rugby Union regarding the inclusion of the two Super Rugby franchises.
It couldn’t have come at a better time for the Pro 12. Many have been regarding the competition for years as being much weaker than the likes of the English Premiership and French Top 14, whose clubs carrying more financial clout and have performing more consistently.
The Pro 12 represents Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian rugby union, and with the two Italian teams regularly at the bottom of the table, it isn’t a surprise to many that the Pro 12 is viewed in a lower regard.
The inclusion of the South African sides will see a step up in competitiveness, and, for many, a growth in prestige for the competition. Add in the fact there will be new teams, and with that will come much-needed revenue that, for Celtic Rugby, will help bridge the gap to wealthier leagues.
“Advanced and positive discussions are taking place with the South African Rugby Union regarding the introduction of two teams into an expanded Pro 12 Championship,” a Celtic Rugby spokesman said to Rugby.com.au.
“Given the proximity of the 2017/18 season start, a final decision on this potential expansion will be confirmed as soon as practical.”
SANZAAR are yet to officially confirm which franchises will lose their status. That’s probably because they’ve realised that while the South African rugby franchises would be more compliant (especially when given they were presented with the proposal of playing in a new competition), the Aussies are proving much harder to shift.
Actually, here’s a good question for all you readers: if a Aussie Super Rugby team was given the option to play in the Japanese league (and not threatened with complete closure, like the Rebels and Force are), do you think the Super Rugby fiasco would be sorted by now? And, in your opinion, would presenting a Japanese license to the cut Aussie Super Rugby franchise be a viable option in your opinion?
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Pacific SR Team back on agenda – again
With Super Rugby soon to be out of the way, rugby focus will soon be directed towards the Rugby Championship, club rugby finals and the NRC. But, with the inclusion of the Fiji Warriors in the NRC this year, this has once again raised the prospect of a Super Rugby team in the Pacific Islands. Jamie Pandaram and Iain Payten at The Daily Telegraph gave their opinions on it, particularly in light of all the recent events in South Africa.
The Warriors will be set to play their first match of the season against Brisbane City at Ballymore on September 2nd. While the rest of the NRC fixture list is still to be scheduled, it has been pointed out the many may have their eyes on the Warriors first home game.
“With uncertainty surrounding the future format of Super Rugby, momentum seems to be gaining for the Pacific Islands to finally have a team in the tournament by 2021,” Pandaram and Payten wrote.
“For that to eventuate, there needs to be evidence that island nations can successfully sustain competitive teams and host matches at quality stadiums over the next three years.”
“Fiji is being given the opportunity to do just that by joining the NRC.”
It should be remembered that the two Super Rugby matches were played in the islands this year (one in Fiji and another in Samoa) to mixed success (though one must consider the rubbish crowd figures were due to the fact that the ticket prices were absurd).
“The 18-team Super Rugby format is clearly not working, with television audiences and live attendees falling rapidly, leading SANZAAR to agree to cut the competition back to 15 teams from 2018,” Pandaram and Payten wrote.
“South Africa has already cut their two mandated teams, the Cheetahs and Southern Kings, who are set to join the northern hemisphere’s Pro12 competition.
“This is seen as a test in the waters by SARU to see if it would be viable for them to move full-time to a northern hemisphere tournament.
“If the South Africans are genuinely exploring the possibility of leaving the southern hemisphere competition by the time the broadcast deal expires in 2020, the whole SANZAAR organisation would be broken up.
“A Pacific Island team would be able to harness the massive support of Super Rugby throughout Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.”
Again, more hearsay. It really comes down to the “if” when it comes to the SA teams maybe wanting to jump ship from Super Rugby. Guess we won’t know properly until 2020.
The article did point out that popularity in the NRC rose noticably last season (from an admittedly small base), but remember, with initiatives like the Pacific Islands round and other events organised around NRC matches, those proved pivotal in drawing interest, and (more importantly) a crowd of rugby hungry supporters.
If any people who were at the Western Sydney Rams – NSW Country Eagles game at Concord Oval during the Pacific Island round last year remember, the decent crowd that came through the gates to watch that game and the Samoa-Fiji game following it that day showed there may be a sign of better things to come for the NRC. If the Fiji Warriors perform well this year, it may also lead to that Pacific Island Rugby team?
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Cheika keen to lock horns with Jones the Jock
Well, we started this week talking about how part time radio presenter and full time boiled egg Alan Jones wanted to have attention brought to him by coaching the BaaBaas. Seems a good place to end it too. Because it turns out Michael Cheika actually is keen for it to happen too.
Cheika’s training squad has turned plenty of heads over the last few days. But this one was pretty surprising. Considering Jones has been spewing like a volcano about the dire state of Aussie rugby all year, it seems somewhat bizarre that Cheika sees Jones coaching the BaaBaas as good fun. But then again, Jones hasn’t really been criticising him.
“He’s spoken so highly of by a lot of the players that he coached and he’s been a big help to me, a big supporter of mine – I’m not sure why,” Cheika said to The West Australian.
“But since day one, since I came back with the Waratahs, he’s always been helping me out with stuff.
“With Alan in the box (on) the other side, it should be good fun.
“He’ll get the tracksuit back out, he’ll be getting the driving mauls up the tram tracks and away you go.”
(Please don’t get the tracksuit back out by the way Alan. Too many bad visual images come to mind there. Don’t give him any ideas.)
But I digress. Turns out Cheika has never been shy or slow about consulting previous occupants of his post.
“I’m always speaking to former Australian coaches, when I was at the Tahs and then here,” Cheika said.
“Just little things, how to to deal with different situations, managing upwards and downwards, and experience.
“There’s something about having people who have had different experiences that you can learn from.
“Him (Alan Jones) and Bob Dwyer and John Connolly, I’ve spoken with in the lead-up to the World Cup, with Rod Macqueen maybe not as much.
“Eddie (Jones) from before he started coaching England, so I think that’s invaluable to me to be able to tap into those guys.”
Interesting that he hasn’t spoken to Rod Macqueen as much. I recall, isn’t Macqueen Australia’s most successful coach of the professional era?
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