Ex Supesport - Tony Johnston
An article surfaced in the Australian media late last week detailing a proposal by the Australian Players' Association that New Zealand and Australia break away from the current Super Rugby format, have their own Trans-Tasman, or Pacific Rim Championship, and only meet South African opposition in a play-off series featuring the best four teams from their respective competitions.
The proposal appeared to gain very little traction, and was certainly dismissed by the New Zealand Rugby Union, who reaffirmed their commitment to a competition that involves South Africa.
There have for years been grumbles from players from all three nations about the long-haul travel.
But last year after the All Blacks' epic win at Ellis Park, senior All Blacks met and agreed that exposure to South Africa was vitally important to the progression of New Zealand rugby, and that challenges like the one they faced in Johannesburg were the sort they need on a regular basis. This was conveyed into discussions over the future of the Alliance.
Added to the strong financial considerations, and the need for a meaningful international flavoured product to take to the broadcasters, there is no doubt where New Zealand stands on this issue.
And while there has from time to time been talk of going off to Europe, I sincerely believe that Sanzar is still the best place for South Africa to be.
It is a competition involving three powerful and progressive rugby nations. The rugby is played in conditions, both weather and pitch, that are certainly more conducive to a quality spectacle.
And I am certain that while it might be an at times unholy alliance, it has been a key factor in the almost continual dominance of the world rankings by its member nations over the past 10 years.
The embryonic form of Super Rugby pre-1995 would have to be considered a contributing factor in South Africa getting quickly up to speed after years of isolation, and so for all the gripes about travel, refereeing and so on, I still think there are more positives than negatives.
The tyranny of distance is certainly a down side, and this has always been harder on the South African teams than the others. Bringing in a 6th South African team might be seen as some sort of way to even things up a bit, but it is unlikely to improve the overall quality of the competition.
The time difference is another. Friday night games in New Zealand and Australia are kicking off as the majority of South African fans are heading to work on a Friday morning, while fans on this side of the world would watch a lot more games from South Africa, were they played in the evening rather than the afternoon, which is the middle of the night our time.
And of course there are the ongoing issues with refereeing, some very real, some imagined. There have been meaningful efforts to centralise the process of law application and interpretation, but there have been times over the years when we’ve wondered if there are three different sets of laws being applied.(YOU BET THERE HAVE AND WHO HAS BEEN GETTING THE SHORT END IS NOT IN QUESTION!!!!!!!!)
So Sanzar has its issues, but really, what is the alternative?
There might have been one for South Africa in Europe, but the recent resolution of the Heineken Cup crisis has surely closed that door for the foreseeable future, and I’m not convinced it was a door that was ever opened very wide anyway. No one I spoke to in rugby circles in Europe of the UK last year seemed to think so.
For a number of reasons I could never see how it would work anyway, especially given the differing seasons, but it’s a moot point now, it’s not going to happen….at least not for a good while yet.
Likewise a Pacific Rim tournament involving New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific Islands, Japan and maybe North America certainly has some appeal, and would open new markets and bring something fresh, but it would not be as strong without South Africa.
So Sanzar will stay intact for at least another five years.
The challenge is to get the best out of it, keep fine tuning it so that it keeps the fan interest, and continues to produce high quality rugby and world class players
The clock is ticking on this one, they have until June 30th to sort out a product to take to the broadcasters, and we can just hope that the priority is quality, not just an increase in quantity.
If having a sixth SA team helping to equalise the travelling issue is not to be sneezed at. Also one more objective SA ref. Howe ver SA refs must turn the screws on the down under oaks until the penny drops that we demand a fair deal.
We must also of course get the Argies on board to do likewise and insist there are more Argie refs doing duty. Hence we water down the malevolent effect on the game of bent down under refs.
Beeno the strategist at work giving kbbs nightmares!!
