Johannesburg – The sooner Sanzar change the format of Super Rugby the better.
There was nothing wrong with the Super 12 or the Super 14 – in fact, there’s not all that much wrong with 15 teams vying for the title of champion provincial team of the southern hemisphere. But the length of the competition is too long and more ludicrous is the fact Super Rugby has to be interrupted for Test matches.
This year is unique in that the Australian teams played two extra games before their three-week break – because of the British and Irish Lions tour – as opposed to the South Africans and New Zealanders who were “resting” at the same time, but it is still silly to halt a competition so close to the end of the round-robin matches for the sake of Test rugby.
Sanzar and whoever thinks up the new format – no matter the number of teams – hopefully they’ll ensure every-thing’s wrapped up and done with by the time the June Test matches take place.
Nobody (except those companies or individuals who’re raking in the big bucks) wins by having a three-week break. Those players who feature for their countries are asked to perform at an extremely high level for an additional three weeks, the national teams hardly have time to prepare properly and the coaches are asked to perform miracles.
On the flip side the provincial coaches and the players who don’t make the national team twiddle their thumbs, praying none of the national players pick up injuries. And, as we saw with the Cheetahs, there’s always the likelihood of the franchise teams losing momentum at a crucial stage of the season.
And then we have the fans. I can tell you now there was not nearly as much interest in what was going down in Super Rugby this weekend as there was in the last full round of action, before the international break.
Also, and let’s be honest here, there was only one game that mattered to rugby fans this last weekend – the Lions’ Test against the Wallabies ... it’s what most rugby fans were talking about in the days leading up to Saturday and I’d be surprised if the television audience for that game wasn’t more than any Super Rugby clash of the weekend.
I hear we could have 20 teams in Super Rugby when the competition is reworked in a few years time, possibly involving a team or two from Japan, but that’s not the issue. The format’s the problem; the competition drags on for far too long so whatever is decided by Sanzar hopefully we’ll see Super Rugby wrapping up before the June Test window. – The Star