Turn out the lights, the party’s over! The Investec Super Rugby season has come to an end for another year, and the Kiwi boys came out on top. Not going to lie, I’m pretty happy with that!
For those of you not in Super Rugby territory – which is anyone outside of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa – the Super Rugby series is currently played between 15 teams, 5 from each of the respective territories. New Zealand traditionally has been the dominant force in Super Rugby, winning 12 of the 18 seasons played to date. However over the last few seasons, New Zealand has seen its dominance challenged. 2010 for example, had an all-South African grand final…and personally I think this challenge is the best thing that could have happened to both New Zealand rugby, and global rugby. In fact, I’d like to see Super Rugby expanded further.
Generally the only time Rugby really hits the international stage is during the Rugby World Cup. Every 4 years the nations of the world come together to play the great game, only to get pummelled by either New Zealand, South Africa or Australia. Yes, or England, Julie, I can hear you silently fuming at me. But basically the Rugby super powers usually end up at the top of their respective ladders, and then things start to get fairly predictable.
I believe Super Rugby, or the concept of Super Rugby, could be expanded to provide more of a development league that would ultimately benefit the sport as a whole. The All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks all select their team members as a rule from the ranks of Super Rugby. These players have had the taste of an international series, and have genuine game time experience. Super Rugby if you like, is a feeder into the national teams, not so much a second division as it is a development series. If you prove yourself at this level you get to play on the main stage.
So why not take this to the next logical step? As I mentioned in a previous article, Samoa, Argentina, Tonga and Fiji have great rugby squads of their own. Japan is a strong, passionate nation behind their team, and even Korea has a national side – and that’s just off the top of my head.
In the Northern hemisphere the Six Nations pits the top European national teams against one another, but these are more test match series. I’d love to see the likes of Munster and Leinster from Ireland for example, in a Super Rugby competition scenario.
While we all play the same game, rugby in the Northern Hemisphere tends to be different to what we play down here. Be it a greater emphasis on the kicking game rather than the running game, or taking into account the idiosyncrasies of the weather. What we play down here has a unique flavour. Likewise, the Pacific teams tend to favour a fast-paced running game, combined with a brutal tackling game.
Imagine a developmental series where new players got the chance to be exposed to ALL these different elements BEFORE stepping up to the Black Jumper, or the Green and Gold, or whatever. Imagine a player who has SEEN and experienced so many different facets of the game, and has the new skills already at their disposal.
Imagine a series which truly took on global proportions, and actually showed the world what Rugby was every year, not just once every four years.
And finally, imagine how the game would develop if everyone had the chance to play on the same skill levels. I know this much, three countries down this way would suddenly find life gets real interesting, real quickly. This sort of evolution I believe would make the game epic in ways I can only dream about.
I really think I’m onto something here. Now, does anyone have the International Rugby Board’s phone number?
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