Welcome to another biassed report. It must be hard because I’m biassed both through being a Kiwi and a referee so two good reasons to hate me before you meet me. Let’s enjoy the news and remember once you read this after 12:00 the week is closer to finishing than starting.
Wallabies to be paid more for a win than a loss
The ongoing COVID saga has seen RA invest in a new deal for the Wallabies and a talking point is the breakdown of payments where they get paid more for a win than a loss. They also get a bonus for winning a competition. The new collective agreement has a number of points including:
- $7,500 per games they win
- $5,000 per games they lose
- $12,000 if they win the Bledisloe Cup
- $12,000 if they win the Rugby Championship.
Harrison, the RUPA Chief Executive rejects the argument that players are driven by money and would put more effort in to secure a bigger pay check. “The problem……people try and confuse that a win bonus will try and provoke a better performance, that’s counter productive to the argument that people try and present that they only play for money, and they don’t”
Harrison went on to explain that “There are too many variables in the decision point of a game (team selections, injury, weather, circumstances, refereeing, all sorts) for the players to influence the results, other than their performance alone….”
Both RA and RUPA were clear that this is a “One-off” recognising that the business needs more time to to work through an unstable period.
One good bonus is that the Wallaroos will get to pocket about $30K each for a lengthy test campaign in 2022.
It’s an interesting conundrum and I have been guilty in the past of reflecting that the Wallabies don’t seem to have any consequences for poor performances, but looking back I feel most of that was due to the selection and lack of progress under Cheka rather than purely the money. I do tend to agree that the players don’t play just for the money and I’m not sure that this will have any effect other than save RA some money as I think it’s a big ask to think they will win either the Bledisloe or the RC. In fact going by past years, next year is a more likely time for them to pick up the RC bonus.
Super Rugby Starts this weekend
So after all the hype (though perhaps more marketing could have gone down well) and the trials where results have no meaning it all begins for 2022. I don’t know about you all but I am super excited for this season to begin.
Covid has already had an impact with the game between the Blues and Pasifika called off due to a number of Pasifika players testing positive for the disease. This won’t be the end of the disruptions and it’ll be interesting to see how the points are allocated from a game being called off. TBH for some of the weaker teams it may work in their favour if the points are shared.
So the no-show Friday for NZ will still see the Waratahs v Drua .
Saturday sees:
- Chiefs v Highlanders
- Crusaders v Hurricanes
- Reds v Rebels
- Force v Brumbies
In some ways I’m looking forward to the Super Au and Super Aotearoa as it appears to be for the first few rounds as both countries look at how they might manage covid.
At this stage the first cross Tasman match isn’t due to be played until 22 April when everyone goes to Melbourne for a party combined mini tournament. I’m still looking at going down as it’ll be an awesome weekend.
This is the best time of the year for everyone. Every team is unbeaten, and more importantly, your team has as exactly the same chance of winning as my team. Trial form is both giving a good indication and completely meaningless and while everyone tries to pick an overall winner, no-one has any certainty. (Borrowed from Brett on the other blog site)
Personally I think the Brumbies and Reds will still be the strongest teams in Australia, although look to the Drua for some upsets. Likewise the Crusaders are probably leading contenders in NZ. I do think the 2 – 4 places in NZ are lot more up for grabs this year. I just hope my Hurricanes get through.
BRING IT ON!
“I was happy with the decision” Harry Wilson reflects on Wallabies omission
Reds No 8 Harry Wilson believes the “mutual” decision to miss the Wallabies end-of-year spring tour will have him primed for another breakout year in 2022. Wilson started the opening two games against France but was seemingly jumped by Rob Valetini in the pecking order as the season progressed. With Pete Samu providing a cover for all three back row positions Wilson found himself in a start or nothing position.
Wilson saw the opportunity as a chance to work on the improvements asked of him by the Wallaby staff, including his power, speed off the mark, agility and footwork. “It wasn’t as if I was devastated at getting cut and not going on the spring tour” he explained. “I saw it as an opportunity to improve as a footballer and have a nice time at home to get refreshed and enjoy getting ready for this season”
While the trials didn’t give any wins and were covid disrupted they were a couple of good hit outs and he believes the Reds are ready for the season.
I must admit I was a bit surprised when he got cut as he did put in some good games. I hope he has worked on his shortfalls and that we see him competing well this year.
Captain’s Challenge Scrapped for Super Rugby Pacific
The captain’s challenge, having provide highly contentious during its trial last year, has been scrapped and will not be part of the new competition that gets underway this weekend. However, the Red Card replacement will be used again thanks to a dispensation from World Rugby.
In a media briefing NZ Rugby Referee manger Bryce Lawrence also revealed that Australia had embraced the “Golden point” rule. In the past Australia has been more in favour of the “Golden Try” rule but the feeling is that this prolongs the game and uses all of the 10 minutes with potentially not getting an outcome. The concern was teams playing negatively to negate a try rather than play positive to get one.
Other global laws such as the 50/22 kicks and goal line drop out remain and are also moving into club rugby this year. I got a brief on that this weekend at the Annual Game Management workshop here in Sydney and it’s something we have to play with as well.
Personally I think they’ve got it right. I was never a fan of the Captain’s challenge and I think it was pretty stuffed up at times Jordie Barrett certainly got it wrong at least once so not having it is something he’ll be happy with.
While I’m not 100% behind the RC replacement rule I do agree that in a lot of cases the RC is not fully intentional and so it makes sense. The eye gouging foul play seems to have gone from rugby now and so maybe it is something that will work.
