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Here's how an ex-Wallaby believes Pacific Island countries could creatively join Super Rugby revamp

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Wallabies great Tim Horan has called for Pacific Island nations to be part of a new-look Super Rugby model, with their teams based out of cities in Australia and New Zealand. The SANZAAR competition looks set to undergo a major revamp from next year, with New Zealand Rugby having announced a wholesale review into every aspect following the outbreak of Covid-19.

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International travel has been an exorbitant feature of the competition and with many flight paths currently closed off by the coronavirus crisis, there is widespread speculation the teams from South Africa and Argentina will be omitted from an Asia-Pacific model of Super Rugby.

Horan suggested teams from those continents could play in their own conference and potentially meet the best Asia-Pacific teams in a playoff series. The dual World Cup winner told The Breakdown on New Zealand’s Sky TV that Japan would ideally remain involved and eventually the United States should be welcomed.

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RugbyPass brings you Tim Horan’s appearance on The Lockdown, the Sky NZ rugby programme

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RugbyPass brings you Tim Horan’s appearance on The Lockdown, the Sky NZ rugby programme

He also said the Pacific Island teams should finally be given a regular role in a prominent rugby competition, although he accepted they couldn’t be based in their home countries for financial reasons.

“We’ve got to keep supporting them. Whether we potentially have one of them in next year… can you base Tonga in Auckland? Can you base maybe Samoa on the Gold Coast for a period of time? The financial model has to stack up going forward because the broadcast revenue is not going to be there as much as it used to be.”

Horan added it would be important to retain close ties with South Africa and Argentina at Test level. Meanwhile, the man leading New Zealand’s review, lawyer and Blues chairman Don Mackinnon, said a more localised Super competition will be strongly considered, along with the introduction of the Pacific Islands.

He told Newshub the reopening of trans-Tasman travel may prove to be the core element of any competition revamp. “It could be possibly with or without Australia, depending on the (travel) bubble that is being talked about,” Mackinnon said. “A whole lot of issues flow from that, but that’s probably the most obvious immediate change we need to consider.”

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– AAP 

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J
JW 17 minutes ago
Three former All Blacks assess the playing style adopted against France

Yep Wilson at least does a lot of such research but I think it’s only when it revolves around the All Blacks etc, like he go and find out why Ireland whipped our butt etc, and come back with a view we need to imrpove and do x y z like such and such is.


But none of them are individuals that are a) any sort of quality coach/analyst of the game (NPC the highest), or b) seem to consume stupids amount of rugby for the love of it like people in a similar profession in other top leagues. Johnson is probably the only one I would say comes close to that but is a pure fan, I don’t think he has any pro knowledge.


To be fair to them, the best in say soccer or american football would get paid a hundred times what these guys do, but it’s so hard in those markets that all panelists have to be students of the game just to get a shot. And in the case of Beaver, he is like the Ian Smith of cricket, he’s a knowledgable gu, enough to lead people down the wrong track (they would believe him), but they’re both very obvious in their more parochial opinions that you know to take what Beavers saying with a grain of salt. Wilson, Marshall, and even Mils go off like they think theyre the bees knees,


Admittedly things are changing globably, i’ve glimpsed enough football shows to know the Britsih media are happy, and the fans too soaking it up, getting the most high profile ex players on a show as the best way to increase ratings.

12 Go to comments
J
JW 39 minutes ago
Beauden Barrett weighs in on controversial yellow card

It’s an interesting question because a normal diberate knock on is just a penalty offense, an normal infringement like any other, so that’s deemed where the was not a reasonable chance to catch the ball.


But it’s a ruling that can also be upgraded to a foul, and by association, a yellow card, when it’s it was also deliberately trying to deny the ball to another player. For instance, that is why they are just given penalties up the field, because the player has just made a bad decision (one where he had no reasonable chance) and he doesn’t really care if the pass had gone to hand for his opponents or not (he was just thinking about being a hero etc).


So the way the refs have been asked to apply the law is to basically just determine whether there was an overlap (and not to try and guess what the player was actually thinking) or not, as to whether it’s a penalty or a YC.


This is the part Barrett doesn’t like, he’s essentially saying “but I had no idea whether they were likely to score or not (whether there was an unmarked man), so how can you tell me I was deliberately trying to prevent it going to someone, it could have been a blind pass to no one”.


It’s WR trying to make it clear cut for fans and refs, if at the players expense.

But yes, also you must think it entirely possible given both were foul plays that they could both go to the bench. Much the same as we see regularly when even though the play scores a try, they have started sending the player off still.


And while I agree Narawa didn’t knock it on, I think the ball did go forward, just off the shoulder. As his hands were up in the air, above the ball, basically like a basketball hope over his right shoulder, I guess you’re right in that if it did make contact with his hands it would have had to be deflected backwards onto his shoulder etc. Looking at the replay, Le Garrec clearly lost control of the ball forward too, but because Barrett was deemed to have committed a deliberate act, that overrides the knockon from 9.


I just don’t understand how they can consider it a deliberate attempt to block a pass when he actually lost the ball forward!

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