'Super Rugby' 2021
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"If you remember back to Super 12, it was the best against the best, the best players playing against each other.
“And over a period of time that has been diluted because of players moving overseas, number of teams increasing and it's lost that really competitive edge.
"I think the task for each country is to make sure their domestic league is the best against the best and highest level of competition, and if you can do that, fans will come and watch it."
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Here's my attempt at a fantasy calendar. Longer than 14 weeks Super Rugby, but still no clashing with test windows.
10 team domestic professional comp, integrated into a champions league (either SH or Pan-Pacific depending on politics and alignments).
Giving 20 weeks domestic pro rugby, 2 weeks pro champions league. Obviously room to grow the SH Champions League or Pacific Champions League into an 8 or 16 team comp if viable.- Play first round.
- Break for champions league and June test window.
- Recommence with last 9 rounds and finals.
- Then Rugby Championship.
- SH season over in 7 months.
- Tour in November for 8th month of pro rugby.
Integrate amateur national club comp and NPC into quiet times in calendar for pay-TV content purposes.
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They're absolute barking mad lunatic fucking muppets if they think there'd be buy-in to a comp with a non symmetrical structure such as those two 10 team options.
I agree with all those saying B and C are shit options. The problem with ten teams is it's neither here nor there as a competition. Eight gives you the ability to play the double round robin, but we're not going to get 8 teams including Australian involvement. Lord knows how we get to 8 teams sans Australia by February next year. Hawaii, Japan and Argentina? They're dreamin'.
Realistically, the best chance of a ten team comp is one involving just the Australasian sides, and Option B looks like the one that'd see a double round of derbies (the Union would want to maximize those opportunities for sure) and games between each trans- Ta$man opponent. I can't see option C being seriously considered and if it was it would be even more imbalanced and more off-putting. I never want to see a comp again where not all teams play each other evenly. It's a contrivance and I'd be gone for good.
So, they want a 14-15 week regular season. Eight teams isn't going to happen. 10 creates a contrived finals series. 12 gives us a full - albeit fairly brief - round robin, and I'm not sure how you get to 12 anyway. 14 teams gives you 13 rounds plus byes, and you can play around with a six team finals series. How do we get to 14 teams? Gee, I wonder how we possibly create a 14 team rugby competition in New Zealand when international involvement is not guaranteed, or might just be too difficult to arrange??
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@gt12 Most of the teams could compete day to day. It's just Southland and to a slightly lesser degree Northland who would struggle badly. If the NZRU used their SR salary monies to help the unions fund their squads you'd certainly see a spread. And when you consider that from the Crusaders we'd lose the significant Ta$man contingent, plus Reece, Goodhue and Hall in the backs, it starts to even out.
I keep saying it, but I think a full strength, uninterrupted, full round robin provincial comp with some marketing grunt behind it would be dynamic. We're only talking about filling in one SR season here, probably. It would take fuck all to organise, contracts would be as temporary as you like in order to encourage a talent spread and it'd be a helluva comp.
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Problem is that SR money is very much tied to the SR names, especially overseas (a large portion of the cash). Sky don't want, and neither do the punters, the NPC revived. We'd go financially down the gurgler even faster with that idea. So I don;t see it coming back as NZ premier comp until such a point all our best players are overseas and being picked by ABs
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It would only take half a dozen decent signings from around the country to be drawn to a Southland or Northland and they'd be competitive most weeks. The essence of provincialism would be retained - even accounting for guys only signing for one season - and we'd get a bloody good comp.
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@Machpants said in 'Super Rugby' 2021:
Problem is that SR money is very much tied to the SR names, especially overseas (a large portion of the cash). Sky don't want, and neither do the punters, the NPC revived. We'd go financially down the gurgler even faster with that idea. So I don;t see it coming back as NZ premier comp until such a point all our best players are overseas and being picked by ABs
I'm talking about 2021 and 2021 only. Not a long term solution, but one to fill a significant void in the absence of a legitimate franchise comp.
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@SidBarret said in 'Super Rugby' 2021:
@sparky thanks.
Jesus the northern season is getting rediculous, that would be like our eoyt being in January
The top players in the English Premiership are currently scheduled to start playing on August 15th 2020 then to play each week without a break until August 7th 2021.
Unsurprisingly Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland wants the clubs to give international players a break but nothing is agreed yet.
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@sparky said in 'Super Rugby' 2021:
@SidBarret said in 'Super Rugby' 2021:
@sparky thanks.
Jesus the northern season is getting rediculous, that would be like our eoyt being in January
The top players in the English Premiership are currently scheduled to start playing on August 15th 2020 then to play each week without a break until August 7th 2021.
Unsurprisingly Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland wants the clubs to give international players a break but nothing is agreed yet.
That's just insane. When is the prem and hc finals? Is there at least a break between the end of the domestic season and the lions tour?
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@SidBarret said in 'Super Rugby' 2021:
@Rapido I see the mid year tests were scheduled for July in 2020 - was this a permanent thing or just due to the world cup pushing the northern season back by a month? Tours used to be in June in other years.
Was part of the 'San Francisco Agreement '. Was a SANZAR push to move that window back a month. As expanded SR no longer fitted in before June. Would resume for 3 rounds then finals.
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Here is an option that would potentially keep everyone happy, borrowing from crickets idea of the super sixes (someone earlier also mentioned a plate competition).
NZ 5 teams - each play each other twice.
Aussie 5 teams - each play each other twice.Top 3 enter the super six and play the teams from other conference home and away. Total of 14 round robin games, best teams play the best.
Bottom 2 enter plate competition and play each other home and away. Conferences could potentially expand to 6 teams each to allow for pacific/japanese teams but that would increase total games to 16 in the round robin.
