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International

The 123-year-old historical clash NZR can revive during Super Rugby's suspension

By Alex McLeod

15 Mar 2020

(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

With Super Rugby now suspended for the foreseeable future due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, alternative solutions are being explored in a bid to fill the rugby void.

Strict travel restrictions implemented by the New Zealand and Australian governments means people travelling into Australasia will be required to self-isolate for 14 days, which eliminates the prospect of Super Rugby taking place for at least the next fortnight.

Realistically, though, given the rapidly developing nature of COVID-19, the competition is likely to be suspended for much longer than that.

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That has led SANZAAR chief executive Andy Marinos to concede that if Super Rugby hasn’t resumed by the end of April, then the tournament will have to be called off.

“If it [suspension] goes four, five weeks then it’s going to be almost impossible because we don’t have the schedule to do anything further,” he told Newshub.

In the absence of regular competition fixtures, there has been talk in both New Zealand and Australia of in-bound clashes against other franchises from the same conference.

New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association boss Rob Nichol has revealed to Stuff that New Zealand Rugby and SANZAAR have been working on Super Rugby alternative models “for weeks” prior to the competition’s suspension.

One of the options on the table was a ‘derby only’ format if and when Super Rugby continues, something of which Brumbies head coach Dan McKellar is eager to pursue in Australia.

“We just want to play footy,” McKellar said following his side’s 47-14 victory over the Waratahs on Sunday.

“We were supposed to be going to Auckland and that’s not happening and then we’ve got the Reds, Melbourne and we play the Tahs again.

“If we can get the conference games; it’s a conference system so play your conference games and then see where things are at and then hopefully we can have a genuine finals series and the best play the best.”

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However, such a model is dependent on Super Rugby coming back to fruition by the end of April, which is no certainty if Marinos’ comments are anything to go by.

Practice matches may be held between conference rivals in the meantime, but if there is no competition to return to, these clashes would be merely exhibition fixtures.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing in terms of upholding fan engagement and keeping players match-fit and prepared to return to action.

But, if exhibition matches are what franchises must resort to, then why not resurrect the ultimate exhibition match – from a New Zealand perspective – in the form of the North Island vs South Island derby.

Despite its prominence in New Zealand rugby history after having been played 80 times over 123 years, the inter-island rivalry is one that has been severely neglected since it stopped being held annually after 1986.

Since then, the clash has only been played twice, with the last of those matches coming eight years ago in a fundraising effort for the financially embattled Otago Rugby Football Union.

To no avail, Kiwi rugby tragics have longed for this classic and formerly highly-anticipated fixture to return to the yearly rugby calendar.

The evolution of professionalism in rugby has resulted in a saturation of matches at all levels from early February to late November, leaving no room for a contest that was once considered a marquee event that evoked a sense of rivalry and tribalism on both sides of the Cook Strait that hasn’t been seen in New Zealand sport, let alone rugby, for decades.

However, as the spread of coronavirus ensures that there will be no meaningful Super Rugby matches over the coming weeks (and potentially months), there can’t be many better opportunities to reintegrate the North Island vs South Island clash into the Kiwi rugby landscape.

Even if the rivalry resumes as a one-off spectacle, the incorporation of the fixture with New Zealand’s star players all available for selection would be a treasured and much-welcomed return of a former gem of the national game.