The exiled England star Antoine Dupont is relieved not to be facing

Yes, Kirifi is good. Yes, he offers things that Blackadder or Jacobsen don’t offer (they are not real sevens; six and a half at best). But what does he offer that A Savea or Peter Lakai don’t offer? A Savea and Peter Lakai can cover all three loose roles and can be used as ‘sometimes’ jumpers.

Kirifi is probably worth a shot, just to see if he ‘grows another leg’ when he get a Black jersey. Some do. But he’s an outside chance to be the starting 7 on a regular basis. Peter Lakai would be the best 7 to invest in, he just 22 Kirifi is 28.

Agree, for RWC 2027 Sititi might be the best option for 7. He could be like Michael Jones. Sititi is a good ‘secondary’ option in the lineout too.

The format is arguably worse now. I can see the Canes slumping to a point were the return of key components, like their starting midfield, is now going to happen too late for them due to the reduced playoff spots. So we don’t get the perfect jeopardy like what we got with the Crusaders last year, were deservedly (despite showing they easily had a top 4 team when fit) they missed out because they were even more pathetic than that early team deserved. A couple more bonus points with some better leadership, on and off field, would have given the Crusaders a deserving. As reported last year have we not seen a more perfect finals run in.

Objectively easier finals qualification is better suited to shorter competitions, and we know SR is the “sprint” version amongst it’s rugby equivalents. The Top 14 is probably the worst competition in this respect, with it’s length with a double round robin should have a football styled champion. The Premiership, with it’s smaller base but also double round robin, was pretty much perfectly suited to it’s smaller 4 team playoff. Super Rugby, with it’s much shorter season (smaller amount of games, and most importantly over a much shorter period, would be able suited to a 6 team play off series if it had a comparative round robin. It doesn’t. Playing a bunch of random extra games, within your own division, requires you to expand the qualification reach. Super Rugby was another perfectly balanced competition.

If you want to look subjectively, sure, there are a lot of cool facets of tighter qualification, they just aren’t sensible applicable to SR so you have to be a realist.

I’m pretty sure you yourself have authored articles showing you need to be in the top four come finals time to win Super Rugby.

Competition parity this year just seems to be part luck, but we’ll take it.

The closer parity is simply more about circumstance, I agree. The Lions tour has just as much to do with the consistency and early standards in Australian players performances, and random factors balancing the NZ sides. The predictable improvement of the “Pacific Powers” another key factor, but with the case of extra support like NZR help raise their profile, as in the “Ardie” factor, possibly able to happen a year sooner than it has.

Still, as I have highlighted on previous articles, I wouldn’t be surprised if these results were nearly as predictable as they were last year, and that it was just the fixture ‘creation’ by new management that has artificially created a bit more hype and unrealistic perception on the competitions ‘parity’, in these early stages.

Super Rugby Pacific has done the right thing and got rid of most TMO interventions that have plagued the game over the last few years and impacted one World Cup final.

I wouldn’t have minded if they just put their own spin on WR’s structure. While you don’t go on to describe what the two situations are that remain, one that I think could still have been of value keeping is for the ability for the TMO to rule live.

The fact that several of the WC’s TMO officials were overly zealous in their ability to over rule the onfield decision does not mean there wouldn’t have been value in a good southern hemisphere run contingent from simply adding value and support to the game ref. Take the case last weekend as the perfect example. While I don’t believe it would have been of any real benefit for the Highlanders to have had advantage at the death (the same sequence would have still played out), looking in isolation one can clearly tell that was a live situation where the ref said he was obstructed from making a call, and if the current rules would have allowed, the TMO, like us on TV, could easily have told him to play advantage for the infringement. In another situation that type of officiating could have made all the difference to the quality and accuracy of the outcome. Views of the comp would be a lot different if it was clearly as case that the Highlanders were robbed of a deserved victory.

All told, the game is obviously much better off for what changes have been made with officiating, though this is not really isolated to SR. SR is just the only comp to have start with these.

If you want back in, put your hands up for some real competition, don’t ask for handouts. No conference systems.

We are currently in a conference system Ben, I’m afraid you’re beating the wrong drum there and you own subjective (and flawed) opinions are coming through quite clearly. As spitballed on the article a few days ago, it’s hard to see a true league table where it is either a full round robin or double round robin happen, there is still going to be some amount of divisional derby matchs going on to fill out the season.

Conferences are also the only way forward, so get on board. I would love for SARU to be able to add a couple of regional sides in Super Rugby, using the countries burgeoning playerbase. It might be far easier, and more advantageous, for SA to add to SR than say try to enlarge the URC, or go it on their own with a professional scene. They could leave their clubs to themselves and take control of running a highveld team out of Cheetahs country, and a lowveld team wherever they would like a new attempt at a ‘Kings’ team. I can’t see the clubs ever rejoining SR.

Not surprised the article is well off the mark Ben.

One thing they could do to further improve the ‘jeopardy’ though is to have a separate world club table where each seasons finalists are awarding ranking points going towards selecting who takes part in the biennial (right?) world champs the Champions Cup is hosting in the future. I’d normally expect the government to simply send whoever the most recent finalists are but I reckon creating a way to have those instead be judged by contribution since the last edition (however frequent this idea might turn out) could be a winner this new management will work out and capitalize on. It would also help add to that jeopardy if say ranking points were only allocated to the top 6 of an 8 team finals format.

Wanting to be treated the same way as Ireland is now regarded as arrogance.

While Ringrose came back from his ban sooner with a game he would have never played for Ireland.

And with Dupont and Barassi getting respectively 9 months and 1 month out, but with no citing, while players doing the same thing as Beirne got banned in France.

Ramos and Mauvaka has a very poor reaction, Galthié reprimanded them for that (in yesterday’s interview), but Ben White with no HIA got to carry on his game.

But if Jelonch does some theatrics he is despicable, but Ben White got attacked.

Yes, France should’ve lost to Scotland and Italy last year.

And to NZ in 2007.

Guys, as long as you’re able to admit at least one thing on France being disadvantaged, and starting with a narrative of the big bad Galthié who simply wants to have more equality and stop getting screwed like France has been many times in way bigger occasions.

Mauvaka got suspended, Ben White is all fine.

You got it. Atonio got also suspended in 2023 aftermath.

While Beirne, Porter, Nash and Henshaw are out of the commission’s sight although 2 players got seriously injured.

Equality feels like oppression.

In New Zealand the 2 has become almost a second 7: Mealamu, Hore, Coles, Taylor, Anuma, Ekland etc.

Kirifi would be a menace, at 2, with 20 minutes to go. Lots of running meters, turnovers and tackles. Most probably too late to transfer now though. Kirfi is still a very good 7, gives 100% and wouldn’t let the All Blacks down. He seems like a nice guy and someone who is respected too.

As much as rugby is a game, it’s also a job - at the professional level. Lots of people do jobs they don’t like, as that is what is best for their work teams.

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Though again it's not just a problem for Ulster Schools but it's likely a problem for Munster schools as well. And I wonder if it's actually an increasing problem within Leinster, with more and more players coming from fewer and fewer schools.

This ever decreasing pool of talent, in my opinion, is a very real threat to the long-term health and success of rugby in Ireland.

The only thing to add is that 2 non-Belfast teams made it to the Ulster Schools Cup final this year (Wallace and RS Armagh) which may be a sign that rugby in Ulster is starting to broaden its reach once again, which may be a sign of renewal.

It is the antithesis of the general idea of what subs are supposed to provide, bringing impact into the game.

A lot of his subs were very young, so along with making sure you’ve got the finally flurry out of your starter, there could be some merit to the idea. It was just done so late so often that it felt like Razor is paying zero attention to how difficult it is for sub to bring that immediate impact, and as we saw with Aumua, how being on the field for 20-25 minutes was needed before you could really settle in and play your best.

I feel the French are like that too (because theyre no names to me), but sure, it’s a lot different if its RG Snyman you’re bring on.

Also in relation to your quote, I also don’t think he appreciates the influence of numbers, either in total, or more importantly in my mind, in conjunction together. I can’t remember once where the entire front row might have come on together, as a more attune unit with each other (not that NZ has developed the same consistency in selection with SA has benefitted from).