Where rugby went wrong

I don't know about you oaks but trying to keep track of when the games are on and who is playing is starting to become a real head scratcher for me. Not to mention trying to find a channel to watch as the European Cup, I don't even know how to watch it. 

Personally, I think rugby has gotten it totally wrong and I blame the European clubs for that, but also the amateur rugby administrators. Rugby normally use to be a winter sport and players could pick up a summer sport. 

Remember Jeff Wilson, All Black winger that also played cricket for NZ. When last have we seen a dual sportsman. 

Fast forward to 1996 and rugby became professional. The Southern Hemisphere had their heads screwed on right. It was a 3 month Super rugby, followed by test rugby and Currie Cup / NPC to fill the gaps. Fans would still get to see the international play in the last 4 games of the provincial season and watch the best players in the country play in the finals. Before they set off to Europe for one last push over 3 to 4 weeks. Around 4 December, the players were able to kick back and enjoy the beach. Remembering reading and hearing from friends how the camps bay life savers beat the springboks players in touch rugby on the beach. 

Now it is rugby 365 days of the year and just so many matches, some of these games are watered down and have no meaning. 

For me the fundamental problem was the UK and French clubs wanted to emulate Football. Seeing what professionalism did for the sport and how much could be made. Fans would stream in every weekend for 9 months and they would have 25 games at home, filling the stadiums, selling march and a sweet tv deal. It was all going to be making top money. 

Yet, in 2023 we saw 3 UK clubs go under. Wasp, Wocertershire and London Irish. Wasp and Irish use to be Prem champs and now they no longer exist. The wage bill got too high and with so many support staff. It was only a matter of time. Then thrown in private money and club owners and the whole thing doesn't look so rosy. 

Down under things aren't looking that much better. Rugby league has overtaken rugby in both the islands and Australia. Not to mention NZ players also getting pulled over to the ditch to make their money, following the in the footsteps of money bill Williams. 

Super went tits up when they wanted more games, same as before, more teams and more games. Means more so called tv revenue. 

They wanted to copy the NFL, but in all honesty teams only play for 5 months with only 11 games at home. Yet, those stadiums are packed and make loads of money. 

The difference is the fan base. Stadiums are not that big in comparison, on average they about 45 000 seater stadiums in the US. College Football teams have bigger stadiums which can seat over 100 000 people. 

The winner, American football. Fans get to enjoy both college football and the NFL. They have made a great success. Players are minted. The NFL looked after the fan. 

Unfortunately rugby has not and we continue to go into a death spiral. 

Worst of all, we have the European cup to boot. Not that it is a bad comp, just a very bad calendar. 

I would love to see rugby being played for 5 months. Leave 3 months for test rugby and promote under age rugby in the build up to the season starting. 

Our administrators tried to emulate the NFL but got greedy. 

Good post Corn, I agree we have far too many meaningless games, too many overlapping competitions and not enough games one cares about. The old Super 12 was brilliant, almost every game was competitive

Yeah, I'm saying we should go back to super rugby. All I am saying surely teams should realise that they can make the same amount of money with less games and having a shorter season. 

The problem is catering towards those transient fans that may be interested in the game, but never become real fans. Look after you fans. 

Rugby is a complicated sport and you only get into from age group or through a family member. My wives dad was a big football fan until she started to play rugby as a kid. He really got involved and now is hooked on rugby, been going for many years. 

That is why you can have rugby through out the year,  but don't expect one team to play for 9 months like they do in Football. Rugby is a physical sport and requires a lot of people. If you played in a 5 month window then your risk becomes less and you can have less players in your squad. 

I don't know why SA still clinging on to the Currie Cup. If they want to then they should just make the Currie Cup an age group comp with the allowance of having a certain amount of veterans in the team. The same what they do for the Olympic football. All of your players have to be under 21 except for 3 players. 

That way our juniors gets a proper platform but also get to play with some veterans. 

Players get a proper off season and our rugby doesn't get diluted