'I loved having South Africa in the competition': Foster on South Africa's Super Rugby exit
In Ian Foster’s “ideal world”, the All Blacks head coach would love to have South African franchises competing in Super Rugby.
That’s the verdict he delivered while speaking on The Breakdown after being asked whether New Zealand teams are missing their former South African rivals following their departure to Europe’s United Rugby Championship.
South Africa’s four Super Rugby franchises – the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers – left the competition after the global outbreak of Covid-19 two years ago, playing against each other internally before joining the United Rugby Championship, formerly known as the Pro14, ahead of its current season.
At the time, the South African Rugby Union [SARU] blamed their clubs’ move to Europe on New Zealand Rugby’s [NZR’s] “unilateral” decision to continue on with Super Rugby in a domestic format in the form of Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Rugby Australia [RA] followed suit, creating its own Super Rugby AU competition, before the two unions combined to create Super Rugby Trans-Tasman last year, which has now evolved into Super Rugby Pacific this season.
The decision by NZR and RA to forge ahead with Super Rugby on their own stemmed from uncertainty over how the competition would operate in its old format in the midst of border closures and travel restrictions at the height of the pandemic.
However, SARU considered it a slight to not be considered for any future Super Rugby competition, which resulted in the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers replacing the Cheetahs and Southern Kings as the South African representatives in Europe.
“Our members are excited about the prospect of closer alignment with PRO Rugby Championship and seeking a Northern Hemisphere future, but we would not have been taking this decision but for actions elsewhere,” SARU chief executive Jurie Roux said two years ago.
That hasn’t stopped Foster from sounding his appreciation for South Africa’s former Super Rugby outfits, telling The Breakdown that those teams provided Kiwi sides with a “different style” to what they were used to.
Foster added that, without any South African presence in Super Rugby Pacific, NZR must find new ways in which to expose its teams and players against their South African peers.
“I could say something and it’ll probably give a few headlines, but, at the end of the day, it’s been well-documented why South Africa aren’t in it at the moment,” Foster told The Breakdown.
“The travel would have been impossible the last two or three years, and before that, a lot of the South African top players were leaving and playing in Europe, which sort of weakened their teams.
“In an ideal world, I loved having South Africa in the competition. They brought a different style, and now we’ve just got to find other ways to grow our experience of playing them.”
The axing of South Africa from Super Rugby coincided with the unceremonious exit of the Jaguares and Sunwolves from the competition, leaving it without its sole Argentine and Japanese representatives.
Since then, New Zealand’s Super Rugby players have had limited game time against foreign teams and players, having mostly played against each other in Super Rugby Aotearoa in 2020 and 2021.
Last year’s Super Rugby Trans-Tasman provided the New Zealand sides – the Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders – with the chance to play teams from Australia – the Brumbies, Reds, Waratahs, Force and Rebels.
All 10 of those teams have met each other – as well as Super Rugby Pacific newcomers Moana Pasifika and the Fijian Drua – again this year.
However, while expanding on the purpose of Super Rugby Pacific, Foster said that New Zealand’s leading teams and players need to build experience in facing foreign opposition in a top-level club competition.
“Your players need to play, and we want a high-quality, international-type competition where we can test ourselves against players from within and also in other countries,” he told The Breakdown.
“It’s changed around a lot, Super Rugby, over many, many years. When rugby went professional and it [Super Rugby] started, everyone thought it’d be the downfall of New Zealand rugby because we wouldn’t be able to deal in the professional era.
“But we’ve shown that we’ve got some great franchises there at the moment, all doing a lot of work in terms of the development, linking with the provincial unions, and the system.
“Whilst we critique it hard, we talk about its weaknesses, it’s also got a massive degree of strength to it, and it has helped support an All Black team that has consistently been able to perform at the top echelon.
“We just want to keep having a tough, even competition and, where possible, have as many games against other countries’ players as well.”
Ongoing whispers about a potential merger competition between Super Rugby Pacific and Japan’s League One, as well persistent rumours of a Club World Championship, may be the answers to Foster’s calls for more cross-border matches at club level.
Neither one of those concepts have come to fruition, though, meaning Foster and NZR’s top brass of players will have to make do with Super Rugby Pacific for the foreseeable future.
Comments on RugbyPass
Bar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
35 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
35 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
35 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
35 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
35 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
35 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
35 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
18 Go to comments