Penalty count stacking up against the powers that be as Southern Hemisphere rugby takes a tumble
What a confidence-building week that was for rugby.
There we were thinking SANZAAR could disband at any minute, that South Africa’s referees were back to cheating again and rugby in New Zealand was going down the gurgler.
Fear not fans. “Handy” Andy Marinos and the gang at SANZAAR reckon it’s all a figment of someone’s imagination.
Continue reading below…
Yes, South Africa aren’t leaving SANZAAR and, in fact, reports that the organisation has no future beyond 2025 are simply fanciful.
“It’s nothing more than media speculation and I think someone’s just trying to stoke a bit of fire,’’ Marinos said in Sydney last week.
Marinos and his ilk can cite 2025 until they’re blue in the face. The facts are that the member SANZAAR unions – South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina – have agreements in place until 2025 and then all bets are off.
The game across the globe is struggling and, at the risk of having to mention this every week, being propped up in the Southern Hemisphere by South African television network SuperSport.
If SA Rugby and SuperSport decide that they’ll get more bang for their Springboks’ buck in Europe, then the whole thing falls over. Again, Marinos can cling to 2025 all he likes, but it could be a rather different rugby world by then.
But Marinos wasn’t done there. No, not by a long chalk.
New Zealand fans of a certain vintage will remember referee Gert Bezuidenhout and the towelling he gave the touring All Blacks in 1976. Seems old habits die hard, if the widely-reported numbers run by Green and Gold Rugby are anything to go by.
Super Rugby ‘home town refs’ penalty awarded differential since 2017:
Australia (+16)
New Zealand (-15)
South Africa (+159)
Argentina (+19)Yes, that’s right, +159 pic.twitter.com/DkIg8cTAvx
— Green and Gold Rugby (@GAGR) February 16, 2020
Other outfits have since done their own analysis of those figures, without disproving the theory that South African referees favour their own teams to a startling degree.
Marinos countered by suggesting the numbers had been manipulated by unhappy Australians and that SANZAAR would respond with their own statistics in time.
“I just don’t understand where, after 10 years of meritocracy, suddenly now neutrality becomes an issue,’’ said Marinos.
Maybe news gets to Marinos more slowly than the rest of us. Just last year, for example, much was made of the performances of Egon Seconds and Rasta Rasivhenge in games in South Africa between local sides and the visiting Highlanders, Waratahs and Rebels.
The combined penalty count against those touring sides was 46-3, in case Marinos hasn’t heard yet or had forgotten.
Why mention this stuff? Because rugby is battling right now. Anyone involved with the community game or who turns on their television to watch Super Rugby or who reads about another All Black playing golf in Queenstown for the week knows things have to change.
And yet the game’s leaders, in this case the boss of SANZAAR, insist it’s in rude health and that anyone who suggests otherwise is a muckraker with an agenda.
At least New Zealand Rugby (NZR) have been prepared to admit the game faces issues. It’s just that nothing out of head office last Friday indicated they have any viable solutions.
Apparently NZR are going to lose some money. No bull. They announced a $30 million deficit for the next five years at last April’s Annual General Meeting. It’s not a newsflash.
I won’t bore you with the findings of NZR’s independent report but, to summarise, they want to find more junior players, keep them longer, hopefully contract them straight to Super Rugby franchises, make more money and try not to spend quite so much.
Wow, what a blueprint that is. You can imagine other businesses and sports organisations lining up around the block to hear how NZR came up with that.
Here’s something not in the press release. Unions around the country have been offered the opportunity to make all adult rugby, below premier level, 10 a-side with uncontested scrums.
That’s already the case up to under-11 level in age-group rugby, with under 12 and 13 to follow next year.
Ten a-side rugby with golden oldies scrums? The secondary schools that can afford it will still have first XV programmes, but the rest of the country will play 10s, if they’re bothering to play rugby at all.
Good luck creating All Blacks out of a pathway like that.
But then luck is a big part of the NZR strategy. They’re crossing their fingers a private equity firm, such as CVC Capital Partners, will come to their rescue and stump up the $30 million they’re short of.
That’s another reason why Marinos’ show of confidence was so misplaced. Never mind SA Rugby jumping ship, NZR will go anywhere and play anyone so long as CVC, or whoever, are paying them enough money.
But, hey, who are we to talk. Marinos and company have clearly got everything under control.
Six Nations won’t rule out paywalled broadcasts:
Comments on RugbyPass
Je 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!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 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.
25 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.
25 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 commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments