With Super Rugby kicking off for another year, the shortcomings of this competition are plain to see. SANZAAR are meeting to discuss the format next week, and it’s clearly time for a change.
Nick Wasiliev covered this issue in his excellent series of article pre-season – here, here and here. I’d encourage everyone to have a read. Though as you will see my suggested solutions are very different to his.
The current format quite simply cannot stand. Super Rugby occupies roughly half the season, and has a very important role to play in Australian rugby. At the moment it’s sending us down the tubes, for a variety of reasons.
There’s been so much focus on the Wallabies and on the issues at grassroots level that the clusterfuck that is Super Rugby has been more or less overlooked by the broader rugby public. Both on the field and off it’s a basket case, and it’s time to make a change.
Rugby comes first
Last week SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos did a few interviews, spruiking the success of Super Rugby. In this article he cites three metrics where numbers have improved – tries, points and TV ratings.
But honestly, dear reader, ask yourself this: is the standard of Super Rugby better than it was ten years ago? Maybe from a few Kiwi teams, but from an Australian perspective (barring a few outlier seasons like the Tahs in 2014 and Reds in 2011) I’d say things have remained about the same, or in some cases gone backwards.
The early appeal of Super Rugby was that it really was super. You were seeing the very best players in the world each week, honing their craft in the world’s most competitive competition. Each team had an identity, a style, and players you knew – King Carlos at the Blues, Merts for the Crusaders, Anton Oliver at the Highlanders, big Jonah and Cully at the Hurricanes. You knew who they were, and where they came from.
Now? You barely know the Aussies, let alone anyone else.
Quite simply the competition now has an oversupply of teams. The Sunwolves are an abject failure, and appear to be in for another long year in 2017. The Kings aren’t much better. The Force and Rebels have never looked like coming close to winning the title, even for a second.
I’m a die-hard fan, and I can’t tell you who plays for the Sunwolves. Or the Kings. Or even some of the Kiwi teams, to be honest, let alone the Saffas. I’ve become disconnected from Super Rugby, outside the Tahs, Reds and maybe the Brumbies. If I can’t keep up, how can the general fan survive?
SANZAAR have put commercial concerns first for too long, and are now paying the price. Super Rugby is a fucking shambles. It’s time to get back to what made it great- the best players, the best comp, the best teams.
Nick’s solution was to add teams, and change the conference make-up. I’m going very much the other way.
Cutting the numbers
Japan may bring big TV numbers, but the Sunwolves have to go. They are simply not good enough.
The Kings need to make way as well. Not good enough, you gotta go. We’re building the best competition in the world here, and we haven’t got room for passengers.
The Jaguars can stay. Argentina are a key SANZAAR partner and the Jags have shown enough for me that they can stay.
Which brings me to the Australian Conference. I’m sorry guys, but we need to cut a team.
The object of Super Rugby should be to have every team with a genuine chance of winning the competition. The Rebels and Force have never had this chance, and they never will. Once again both teams are facing down the barrel of a finish in the double digits.
Yes both have unearthed some nice players, and shown glimpses of what they are capable of over the past five years. But I’m sorry, that’s not enough to get a seat at the Super Rugby table.
Who to cut? I’m honestly not sure. Given the ownership structure and geographic location you’d suggest Melbourne is more likely to stay, but it’s a very crowded market. You get the feeling we’ve got a better chance at making real inroads in Perth, even with the obstacles it faces.
I am sympathetic to supporters of both sides, but at the end of the day SANZAAR aren’t a charity. If we want to get Super Rugby back to being the best competition in the world, we need to make tough decisions.
I understand the arguments against cutting a team, but the more I watch the Force and Rebels the more I am convinced the current situation isn’t working. Yes it’s nice to have full-time opportunities for 30 more players, but what use is that if you’re getting the shit kicked out of you season after season? Combine the Rebels and Force and you might have a half decent side with a chance of actually winning something.
And that should be the ARU’s goal – to get back to winning at all levels. More competition for Super spots will be good for the Wallabies too, as playing and coaching talent is more concentrated. We’d lose more players overseas, for sure, but that happens at the moment anyway.
Despite all of the expansion, the bulk of our rugby talent is still housed in Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra. The bulk of our fans are in Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra. Our successful teams? Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra. Melbourne and Perth are useful outposts, but the more I look at it the more I think the ARU can only afford one such outpost.
You’d lose fans in Melbourne or Perth, but a stronger competition with more meaningful games would attract more fans in the surviving cities, and better attract the eyeballs of the broader sporting public. It’s a trade-off, but one that in my opinion will work in the longer term.
It’s a messy situation for the ARU no matter what they do. I don’t think there’s an easy answer. But the more I look at the Force and Rebels (and the less the rugby public watch their games) I can only see one viable outcome.
Back to the Future
So with one Australian team gone, plus the Kings and Sunwolves, we’re down to 15 teams. So we can go back to a round robin! We could keep the conference system (to ensure each country is represented in the finals) or go back to good old fashioned dog-eat-dog. I’d favour the former, especially given the speed at which the NZ teams are moving ahead of the rest.
Next thing is bringing back regional names for teams. The Auckland Blues, the Canterbury Crusaders, the Otago Highlanders, Free State Cheetahs etc. We need to know who these teams are, and where they come from.
Too often rugby fans in Australia pre-occupy themselves with the feats of the past. But here is one case where it’s entirely justified. Super Rugby was at its peak in the early 2000s, and much of that was due to its structure.
SANZAAR have veered too far from what made Super Rugby the best competition in the world. They need to get back to basics, and that means making tough decisions and putting the rugby first. It may hit the overall bottom line in the short-term, but ultimately will turn around a competition that is fast approaching its used-by date.
Will they do this? I doubt it. The competition is hopelessly compromised, run by four different bodies with four very different objectives. I’d love the ARU to go it alone with the NZRU but realistically that’s not going to happen.
So we’ll probably just get more of the same. How good is rugby!?!?!?
