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Opinionated Rugby Commentary - by Fans for Fans
Spill what you really think about events in the rugby world.
Super Rugby Not So Super 6 views
16 July 2013 by The Swede Eaters
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Scotty Donaldson looks at the Super Rugby competition and how it has changed in recent times.
Super Rugby is no longer the be all and end all that it used to be when it was first introduced in 1996 and with the television rights contract up for renewal at the end of 2015, there must be changes made for the future of Super Rugby.
Initially all of the best international players were in the Super Rugby competition and in the National Provincial Championship as it was then. Rugby was great in 1996 with the best players involved in three levels of rugby in New Zealand and even the odd game of club football.
It looks like changes will be made for 2016 where there will be three new teams added to the Super 15 teams with one Argentinian team joining the South African conference and probably one Japanese team playing in the Australia and New Zealand conferences respectively. Changes had to be made for the welfare of players because currently some players are getting less than one month of holiday.
Super Rugby would start in March and finish in June with a global international test window in July. The only catch would be limited inter-conference games until the finals.
The problem now is that ITM Cup has been ruined by Super Rugby and international test rugby with most Super Rugby players being rested in the early rounds, while we barely see the All Blacks in ITM Cup anymore. I remember in the 1990s when you used to see teams laden with All Blacks playing in the NPC as it was then, even the second division had some stars.
In recent times Super Rugby has been watered down because the season features so many games and there are so many injuries too which means that squads have had to call upon over 30 players throughout the season just to field a full team.
Because it is impossible to peak all the time, we are seeing quality All Blacks like Israel Dagg, Ma'a Nonu, Aaron Smith and Andrew Hore perform poorly in Super Rugby, but peak for the All Blacks. Some All Blacks stars are even taking sabbaticals and missing the entire Super Rugby season. It is like Super Rugby is now becoming what the ITM Cup used to be.
The days of seeing All Blacks playing club rugby are rare these days, although there has been the odd exception like Richie McCaw playing for Christchurch. It does get fans back to club rugby having top level players involved.
Here is a piece by Controversy Corner which suggests that Super Rugby has become the game's whipping boy and I agree entirely. It may be called Super Rugby, but it is anything but Super these days. It is merely the whipping boy for the international game.
http://www.superrugbytips.com/2013/07/super-rugby-not-so-super.html
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