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Northern Hemisphere correspondent Lee Calvert despairs at the gulf in quality between the weekend’s Super Rugby and European Champions Cup matches.
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Southern Hemisphere rugby is, usually, the best rugby on planet. There, I’ve said it.
Often, as a person from the Northern Hemisphere and an Englishman to boot this is not an easy thing to let pass your lips for myriad reasons; the main one being the pang of disloyalty that comes with saying it. After all the Kiwis know they’re the best and never stop bloody banging on about it, so why give them the satisfaction of saying it out loud? If us Northern Hemisphere fans don’t big up our game then who the hell is going to? The Aussies? They’re too busy trying to decipher Quade Cooper. Oh, and they hate us. And everyone else.
There are times when this truth is not quite so obvious. England have won a World Cup – did we mention that? – and the team in white do occasionally dish out a beating to even the All Blacks. But it has to be said that this is probably a bit like the story of the man who once kissed Beyoncé and never stopped talking about it, but if you asked Queen Bey she’d say “who?” Unless it was Gavin Henson, she’d remember that, alright.
However the gulf between the hemispheres has seldom been as apparent as this weekend, when you compare the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup – the premier competition on the topside of the world – with what Super Rugby was serving up. If Charles Dickens were around today he may have changed the subject of one of his famous novels and called it A Tale of Two Rugbies, and the famous opening paragraph would have gone something like:
“It was the best of handling, it was the worst of handling, it was the age of sound decisions, it was the age of wanging the ball and hoping, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch panicking and keeping it tight, it was the season of offloads, it was the season of knock-ons…”
Hurricanes vs Chiefs was a sumptuous feast for a rugby fan. It had speed, it had craft and it had forwards who looked comfortable on the ball. Trust me, that’s still a bit like seeing Halley’s comet up here: turns up every few decades, everyone stares incredulously, then it burns out to leave only things that don’t really move. Even the Sunwolves, who according to some media down south should be exiled to the third division of the Madagascan Lemurs-only League, played a brand of rugby only sporadically seen in Europe.
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Juxtapose this against Leicester vs Racing 92 the second match of the final elimination stage of the ERC Champions Cup. Leicester are a grand old side who have enjoyed great historical success and are undergoing something of a style renaissance under Aaron Mauger while Racing have so much money they will probably turn up in the Panama Papers at some point. Given all this, it is hard to fathom how the game ended up looking like 30 men with sausages for fingers attempting to unhook a bra. Every modicum of reasonable play was inevitably followed by a handling error, dreadful pass or terrible refereeing decision – I can only assume Nigel Owens fancied joining in with festival of maladroitness that was raging around him.
Towards the end, the mistakes were so inevitable it was like watching one of those documentaries about Tourette’s sufferers where no matter how well something is going for them, you know they will ruin it by bellowing a swear word at some point.
Of course, any competition can have a poor game in it, so is it reading too much into this game to suggest it is indicative of the whole hemisphere? Unfortunately not. Last year’s Rugby World Cup was mostly made wonderful by the non-European teams playing rugby that was both enjoyable to watch and effective; this has continued into the regular season. There has been drama in the North and there have been exciting games because of that, but Saracens being the best team tells you that their soul-splintering brand of ruthless efficiency is enough to overcome most of what comes their way.
This summer sees England visit Australia, Wales roll into NZ, a horribly out of form Ireland team face the Boks and Scotland take on Japan. If this weekend was anything to go by, it could be a cruel summer.
- Lee Calvert is editor of bloodandmud.com
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Comments on RugbyPass
Super rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
16 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
16 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
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