Super Round flop the latest copycat move chasing NRL's tail
The Super Round letdown is the latest gimmick borrowed from the NRL that has failed to take off for Super Rugby’s administrators in search of answers for a revival of the competition.
The idea in itself was a good one, albeit a secondhand one. The execution was terrible, hosting the event in Australia’s least interested rugby market on the same weekend as two bumper AFL games.
Queensland or New South Wales would have at least had genuine rugby supporter bases to draw on. Even staging the event in Perth would have at least built back some goodwill with the rugby supporters there after the Force debacle five years ago.
Melbourne was a flop, there is no way around it.
More telling was the turnout for NRL’s Anzac Day fixture on Monday between the Storm and Warriors at the exact same stadium that drew in as many fans in one game as the entire three days of the Super Round.
The NRL has seemingly come out of the pandemic stronger than ever while Super Rugby Pacific has become ever more irrelevant.
No wonder some of New Zealand’s best young All Blacks – Ardie Savea, Jordie Barrett, TJ Perenara and now Caleb Clarke – keep expressing an interest in trying their hand at rugby league. That would have been unheard of when Super Rugby first started more than 25 years ago.
The bright lights of the NRL are intriguing. In many ways it feels bigger. Australia has a host of new, magnificent stadiums to play in and the fan turn out has been consistent.
Those aforementioned players would play in a competition where the weekly fixtures actually matter, compared to Super Rugby Pacific’s political correctness where every team basically makes the playoffs. What exactly is the point of the regular season in Super Rugby Pacific?
The NRL as an entertainment product has taken the lead over the last decade, but the gulf is widening. The narratives build quickly to add suspense, theatre and pressure, all culminating in interest and fan engagement.
NRL coaches are put on the hot seat after just three losses. The Highlanders almost went winless in New Zealand and just became the first scalp for Aussie teams. If head coach Tony Brown was in the NRL, he would be fired. Or at least questions would be swirling.
Just ask Wests Tigers boss Michael Maguire, who, until a week ago, was under immense pressure to deliver a first-up win after five rounds of NRL action. Yet, there is not a peep anywhere about Brown’s job prospects.
Why does this matter? Because it would show that the results matter. There are real consequences at stake in the NRL, and other professional leagues for that matter, which make it interesting. The results matter to club owners and the fans demand that.
For Super Rugby Pacific, results seemingly don’t matter. Not when eight out of 12 teams make the playoffs. Not when you can lose nearly all your games and keep your job. Not when the competition’s talent pool is unequally distributed.
The only coaching change this year has been at the Western Force. Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, their billionaire owner, isn’t prepared to waste time being mediocre. He cares about his team enough to do something.
Rugby’s simpleton administrators in Australasia keep taking gimmicks from rugby league, such as goal line drop outs and 50-22s, and putting them into rugby union thinking it will improve the game without really understanding why the NRL is killing them hands down.
However, if you were to point at any of the rules that are hamstringing rugby, it’s not the absence of 50-22s, its the incessant refereeing and constant stoppages slowing the game down.
On balance, fans are enjoying the flow of the game in the NRL where the speed is high and skills are on show for longer periods.
But, really, the NRL is winning the because there are real consequences every week. There are narratives that are captivating. They have measures in place to create a competitive landscape where teams rise and fall relatively quickly where off-field recruitment matters. There is a reason to tune in every week throughout the season.
Super Rugby Pacific is already a done deal until the last three games of the season. There is no playoff race and nothing to talk about other than who might make the All Blacks or Wallabies.
For too long, the administrators of Super Rugby have made decisions that show they don’t care about the quality of the competition and have tried to hoodwink fans with changes that damage the integrity of the competition. What was a great competition in Super 12 has become a Mickey Mouse operation over time.
The NRL has benefitted from stability while, at the same time, Super Rugby has undergone a vast number of iterations over the last decade.
Those iterations have seen convoluted conference systems that gave fans perverse and undeserved seedings, expansion teams with little chance of competing, and now the South African exodus which has eroded the history of the competition.
The NRL has always had the top eight – out of 16 teams – and you either make the cut or don’t. If you don’t, there are severe consequences. Every week matters in the race to make it to the pointy end of the season. Every week matters for players and coaches looking to keep their jobs.
The NRL is the be all and end all of rugby league in Australia. There is one goal which every player aspires to every year: winning the Premiership, and – for those who play for Queensland or New South Wales – winning State of Origin.
For rugby players, is the goal for the year winning Super Rugby Pacific? Making the All Blacks? Winning the Bledisloe Cup? Winning the Rugby Championship or the World Cup in the fourth year of a cycle?
There are so many competing priorities and Super Rugby is often lumped at the bottom of that list.
In New Zealand, rugby is losing ground fast as a professional sporting code that younger fans care about. Millennials see right through the nonsense dished up by the lemon that is Super Rugby Pacific.
They simply turn to the NRL, the NBA, the NFL and the Premier League to get their weekly sporting entertainment. Professional leagues with equitable player movement to promote competition and real consequences. Drama, theatre, stories and meaning. The intensity around the competitions is just so more interesting.
Even the players themselves are drawn to follow these sporting leagues, more so than watching the rest of their own code play. How many Kiwi players would bother to tune in live to Aussie derbies on their own accord?
The Crusaders and Blues clash was the pinnacle of Super Rugby Pacific. It was a great spectacle, a meaningful fixture and a brilliant game, reminiscent of the Super Rugby of old.
That kind of mesmerising fixture happens at least once a week in the NRL. It took nine rounds in Super Rugby Pacific.
Super Rugby fans now have to wait for the playoffs for any meaningful games with any consequences. That’s a long time to wait.
Comments on RugbyPass
Jordie is looking at 16 games maximum if Leinster reach both the URC and champions cup finals. Thats not guaranteed. Some of those home URC fixtures will be cakewalks as well for Leinster and there is not much doing during the 6 nations in Feb and March so he can probably get a decent rest then. He will have to really put in it for maybe 7 or 8 games max. It should be a good move for both.
13 Go to commentsThe game was a quarter final, not a semi final. Barrett will be here for 6 months, he is no one's replacement at 13. That mantle will most likely ultimately go to Jamie Osborne, though Garry Ringrose has at least 4 more years in him. The long term problem position (in the next 3 years) for Leinster is tighthead prop, though there are a couple of prospects at schools level.
21 Go to commentsSo much for all that hype surrounding the ‘revival’ of Aussie rugby. The Blues were without the likes of regular starters Perofeta, Sullivan, Christie etc… This was a capitulation of the highest order by Australia’s finest. Joe Schmidt definitely has his work cut out for him.
2 Go to commentsYes they can ignore Sotutu. Like Akira Ioane plays OK at Super level but gets lost in tests. Too many chances too many failures.
2 Go to commentsA wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
13 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
13 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
5 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
25 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
5 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
38 Go to comments