How Super Rugby Aotearoa's new golden point rule could backfire
It’s been three long months but Super Rugby finally returns to TV screens this weekend and it sounds like fans will also be rushing along to stadiums to witness the first sports played in front of a live audience since the world was put into lockdown due to coronavirus.
The Super Rugby Aotearoa competition will see New Zealand’s five franchises butt heads over 10 weeks in what’s effectively a supersized finals series.
Since three rounds of knockout matches were introduced to Super Rugby in 2016, New Zealand have contributed four of the eight finalists every year. This season’s NZ-only competition, brought on due to the global pandemic, trims away the fat and allows fans to really get their money’s worth – there are no dud games, no dead rubbers, no matches that a rugby loving audience won’t be licking their teeth at.
There are also precautions in place so that there are fewer draws – but who knows whether the new golden point changes will even be required.
The new law means that an extra 10 minutes will be played at the end of the regular 80 if two sides are square on points. However, in the 24-and-a-half-years of Super Rugby’s history, we’ve witnessed just seven draws between the New Zealand sides – fewer than one in every three seasons.
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On the rare chance that we do see two teams come out level after 80 minutes of action in Super Rugby Aotearoa, is the new golden point method actually the fairest way to determine a winner?
In the NRL, an extra 10 minutes is played at the end of any drawn match to try and separate the competing teams, which is effectively the same rule that the Aotearoa competition will adopt – but there are a few key differences between league and union that arguably make the golden point rule ill-suited for the fifteen man code.
In league, the team that receives the kick-off is normally able to gobble up some easy metres from the first five phases before punting the ball down the field. In contrast, the team that receives the first kick-off in union has no such luxury.
If we do see the golden point rule in action during Super Rugby, the first kick-off receiver is going to have a torrid time making sure they’re able to send the ball back without putting themselves under too much immediate pressure.
The other major difference between the two codes which compounds the kick-off problem is that penalties are considerably more plentiful in union. In 2020, NRL teams are conceding between 3.3 and 7.8 penalties a game. In the seven rounds of Super Rugby that were played prior to the shutdown, however, teams were conceding between 7.3 and 11.3 penalties per match.
While most league matches decided during golden point time come down to an exciting drop goal attempt that lands on target, you can bet your bottom dollar that Super Rugby sides will try and earn penalties to give themselves a considerably easier means to muster up some points.
In league, it’s far more difficult to force penalties – you only have the ball for six phases and it’s fairly straightforward for a defending team to not step out of line during those six plays of the ball. It’s a completely different story in union and the first kick-off receiver during that 10-minute period of golden time is going to find themselves under the pump.
RugbyX drew criticism during its inaugural tournament for the unfair tie-breaker rule that saw the team that started with possession for the sudden-death portion of the match-winning every single contest. Let’s hope Super Rugby Aotearoa doesn’t head down the same path.
There’s nothing more exciting than watching a period of sudden death where both sides have a fair shot of stealing victory but there’s nothing worse than tuning in to the dying stages of a contest, knowing who’s likely to take out victory simply due to the unfair initial set-up.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments