Super Rugby 2025
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@KiwiMurph said in Super Rugby 2025:
@Nepia said in Super Rugby 2025:
I know I'm late to this discussion, but didn't the Blues pretty much get the same crowd average in Auckland last year as the Warriors?
The big crowds for the Warriors aren't due to the passionate fans, it's the bandwagoners who may or may not stay when things go south.
The difference is the Warriors missed the playoffs whereas the Blues were the best team in the comp
Super teams need to do a much better job of engaging their fanbases
The strong competitive start to Super Rugby this season is a good start
The Warriors do a lot in terms of fan engagement. They are big into social media in particular (or at least they used to be)
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@KiwiMurph said in Super Rugby 2025:
@Nepia said in Super Rugby 2025:
I know I'm late to this discussion, but didn't the Blues pretty much get the same crowd average in Auckland last year as the Warriors?
The big crowds for the Warriors aren't due to the passionate fans, it's the bandwagoners who may or may not stay when things go south.
The difference is the Warriors missed the playoffs whereas the Blues were the best team in the comp
Super teams need to do a much better job of engaging their fanbases
The strong competitive start to Super Rugby this season is a good start
I agree with that, but there are still passionate fans that are going to the games.
Also, we still don't know if 2024 was part of the 2023 success bump for the Warriors. If they have a crap year this year (and a look at their squad suggests they will) and the crowds hold then maybe we can say that. But the one dude I know who went regularly last year got cheap enough tickets that he was one of the people who didn't turn up to one of the sold out matches when something else came up.
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Round 5 home victories plus the Waratahs, instead of the Reds, there will be bit of a split in the table.
Although, this weekend has shown you can't pick winners easily.
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not a bad little comp really is it? Good, fun, open footy, and results are proving very unpredictable.
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Someone answered my question on Twitter, about all 5 NZ teams losing on one weekend
"Has only happened once before ... Round 12 - 2000, all 5 NZ teams lost.
However, as the Highlanders aren't playing ... 4 NZ teams have lost in the same round on 11 occasions.
Last time was in Round 4 - 2013."
But only 3 teams lost, so not a huge upset in and of itself
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@SouthernMann I didn't realise until the other night the Tahs 1st month of the comp would all occur in Sydney. Reds on the other hand with an icky schedule yesterday Christchurch, this week Brisbane and the following week Dunedin
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Yeah, some common sense and thought should go into the draw. Cue a Tui ad.
The Brumbies played both games in NZ on the same tour. There is no reason that the Reds couldn't have done the same. The Chiefs were originally going to have to go Fiji, NZ and then Tonga in two weeks.
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@Grooter said in Super Rugby 2025:
@SouthernMann I didn't realise until the other night the Tahs 1st month of the comp would all occur in Sydney. Reds on the other hand with an icky schedule yesterday Christchurch, this week Brisbane and the following week Dunedin
I'm guessing this is due to stadium availability with the NRL kicking off?
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Interest in this year's comp should surely be higher than it has been for years. The demise of the Rebels has made the Aussie teams look more competitive amongst themselves and against NZ teams so far.
Apart from the form of the Blues, the only one I'm surprised by on the weekend was the Reds. Genuinely thought they'd be better, even accounting for a good performance by the Crusaders.
I'd say tipping is difficult with such a comp, but I've never troubled the top of the table in that regard.
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I'm enjoying Super Rugby a lot this year. The games are pacy, fun and the gap in standard between the sides is a lot closer than I can ever remember. There have been lots of games where the result goes down to the wire. There are also lots of fantastic young players coming through. Well done to everyone concerned with a great product in 2025.
But we need to be wary of the difference to how international Rugby will be officiated once the Tests arrive.
In Super Rugby, if Refs think it is a try they will give it. At international level, if there is any reasonable doubt at all they will send it to the TMOs to check.
There are tries being given in Super Rugby that would be scrubbed off at International Level because of all the checks that take place after a potential score.
Because of these breaks, the pace of international Rugby is slower. So there will be some superb Super Rugby players who won't be as well suited to the attritional grind of contemporary Test Rugby.
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