As the 2016 Super Rugby season approaches it is time to be reminded about what some of the changes in the competition are going to be.
The introduction of Los Jaguares and the Sunwolves will be historic for rugby in Argentina and Japan but it requires a scheduling accommodation that is awkward. Love them or loathe them, the changes that SANZAAR have made (note the extra A for Argentina) will take some getting used to.
And they made some other changes too.
Structurally it’s pretty straight-forward. Instead of three five-team conferences there is now an eight-team South African Group, and a ten-team Australasian Group. Each Group has two Conferences.
Africa 1 comprises the Bulls, Cheetahs and Stormers plus Japan’s new entrant the Sunwolves. Africa 2 comprises the Lions and Sharks, the re-born Kings, and Argentina’s new entrant, the Jaguares. The Australian and New Zealand conferences are unchanged.
Things got messy in devising a 15-round draw for each team that was equitable .
Firstly, and most obviously, half the teams will have an extra home game. Given the high winning percentage enjoyed by home teams down the years this could be significant at season’s end.
Less obviously, but probably more importantly, is that the draw profile for each Group is different because the Group numbers are different.
In the South African Group every team will play every other team in their Conference home and away (six matches); every team in the other African conference home or away (four matches); and every team in one of the Australasian conferences home or away (five matches).
In total, ten matches v South African Group opposition and five v Australasian opposition.
The Kings are back – but they didn’t have many such celebrations in 2013
In the Australasian Group each team will play two teams from their own Conference home and away, and the other two teams home or away (six matches). They will also play every team in the other Australasian conference home or away (five matches); and every team in one of the African conferences home or away (four matches).
In total, eleven matches v Australasian opposition and four v South African Group opposition.
In the 2016 and 2018 seasons the Conference crossovers are Africa 1 v Australia and Africa 2 v New Zealand. This will alternate in 2017 and 2019, meaning that over the four-year cycle everyone gets to play everyone in their own Conference and each of the other Conferences the same number of times, and the same number of home games as away ones.
The finals
The four Conference winners will qualify for a home quarter-final, with seedings determined by where they finished relative to each other on the overall points table. The next-highest ranked South African Group side and three next-highest ranked Australasian sides will also qualify for the quarter-finals, again seeded by where they finished relative to each other.
It is therefore possible (and some would say likely) that a Conference winner will not be in the actual top four overall, but this was the case last year in the the three-Conference model also. The 2015 South African Conference winners, the Stormers, finished seventh overall and would not have qualified for the finals, but for the Conference winner provision.
The Finals series is a straight knockout with the higher-ranked team always enjoying home advantage. If 8th should knock 1st out in the quarters they would still play their semi-final at the home of the highest-ranked team left.
Lions v Chiefs 2010 – one of 18 tries scored in a poor game of rugby
Change to try-scoring bonus point
The automatic, win or lose, four-try bonus point has been scrapped (apparently with scant consultation, if Todd Blackadder and Davie Rennie are to be believed). A bonus point will now be awarded for scoring three more tries than your opponent does.
Some people favour this. Six years ago two teams scored nine tries each in a Super 14 match in which the defence was horrible, yet the loser got two bonus points.
The Top 14 has proven since 2007 that teams will protect that three-try margin to the end of the game; so the system rewards 80-minute defence. At the same time it encourages getting four tries ahead to give a cushion of one try.
Together with the variation whereby a team awarded a penalty after the siren has gone can take the lineout option (apparently multiple times if further defensive penalties are incurred), until they score or lose possession, it could make for some exciting finishes.
There are other law variations around the scrum and maul, as well as general play. Check out Xaviera’s excellent blog article on them.
