Super Rugby as we know it is likely a thing of the past
RUPA president Damien Fitzpatrick has called on SANZAAR to think outside the square to save Super Rugby – and says the competition as we know it is likely a thing of the past.
“I can tell you one thing: if the airports are not going to open, it’s going to be difficult to run that comp,” Fitzpatrick said matter-of-factly about Super Rugby’s future.
With Australia’s 192 professional players having finally settled on an average 60 per cent pay cut until September, following almost a month of discussions with Rugby Australia, the focus has shifted to the future structure of Super Rugby.
Fitzpatrick says the sobering reality of empty stands in rugby-mad Pretoria is proof that the current format has lost its appeal and that the entire tournament needs an overhaul.
“You know there’s a problem with your product if you go to South Africa on a Saturday afternoon at Loftus and they can’t seem to put bums on seats,” he said.
“SANZAAR is probably having a really strong look at how the competition can engage fans.”
Even with Japan’s Sunwolves being extinct from next year, Fitzpatrick doubts a 14-team competition involving four from Australia, five from New Zealand, four from South Africa and Argentina’s Jaguares is sustainable.
“I think the situation has shown that right now anything is possible. I don’t exactly know what is able to be changed and what’s not able to be changed,” the NSW Waratahs hooker said when asked if he believed the 2021 format remained set in stone.
“Everything would be on the table, not just from Australia but I’m sure all the SANZAAR partners are looking at ways to get the best result and best product out there for the fans.”
With RA boss Raelene Castle flagging a July-August resumption, when borders could well be still closed, a domestic competition seems the most likely way forward this year.
While the hefty pay cuts were “tough to stomach”, Fitzpatrick said when RA finally opened up their books to RUPA the players quickly realised they needed to take a financial sacrifice to save the game in Australia.
“The fact is we’re in a business where right now we’re not on the field and we know the major revenue driver for professional sport is broadcast and when you’re not fulfilling that contract, you know that that revenue is going to come to a pretty screeching halt,” Fitzpatrick said.
“We would have loved to have known that the company you work for has huge amounts of cash reserves – but that wasn’t the case and we knew that.
“The reason we were sitting at the table was because everyone was fully aware that there needed to be some sort of restructure that incorporated the costs and alleviation of the game to enable us a fighting chance to stay alive.”
– AAP
Comments on RugbyPass
To 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.
30 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
30 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
30 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.
30 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. 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.
30 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.
30 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.
1 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.
30 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.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
17 Go to comments