'Super Rugby' 2021
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Via an email I received:
The 2021 Super Rugby Draw is scheduled to be announced next week with the season kicking off from February 27, 2021. 2021 Memberships will include 4 x home matches against all NZ opponents & 2 x home matches against Australian opponents.So that implies a full set of home and away games for each NZ team and either 4 or 5 Aust teams in the competition.
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Let's assume for the purpose of this exercise that Super Rugby as we know it, is kaput.
There's been plenty of media around this and with so much speculation going on, under the current circumstances and with the pre-Covid 19 talk around SA going a different way anyway, let's run with the concept that South African involvement is no longer tenable.
What is everyones' preferred model for 2021? Heaps of different things have been suggested, from a 'super-charged' season-long NPC (I'd love to see it this season in lieu of an abbreviated NZ-only Super Rugby comp), to a NZ and Australian comp, to the latter plus Argentina and then also something involving Japan and/or the Pacific Island nations.
I'm not going to go through why each of these models would or wouldn't work. I have a clear favourite, although a few moons have to align for it to happen.
What's certain is that any comp will involve five Kiwi franchises and at least four Australian teams. I say at least four because this could be a window of opportunity for the Western Force. It should also involve the Jaguares. Last years' beaten finalists have proven their worth as competitors and probably now as a drawcard, and we'd need the income from Argentinian TV rights. So that's 10 or 11 sides.
Without SA which provided the bulk of the all-important TV rights monies, we need another large nation with an interest, a playing base, finances and within striking distance of the South Pacific region. None of the Island nations fit that bill. The solution is obvious: Japan.
Problem is, it's been tried and for whatever reason didn't work (for Saanzar at least). But this isn't now Saanzar. It could however be Janzar. As long as this new iteration of SR didn't clash with the Top League, I think it could be put to the JRU that they could enter 4-5 Kiwi-style franchises made up of 3-4 Top League sides each (I think there are now 16?). It lenghthens their season for sure, but no more than ours, or Australia's, and let's be honest, the physicality of the Top League isn't to the same level of SR, and possibly not even quite to the level of the NPC, so this season isn't going to break guys. An incentive could be a commitment to regular games between Japan, NZ, Australia and Argentina, possibly even entry into the Rugby Championship in lieu of their bunnies South Africa.
Surely a heavy rather than half-hearted Japanese involvement in SR and TRC would yeild financial dividends and secure the future of these competitions and help us to retain players. It also opens up the possibility of the 4-5 Japanese teams signing a limited number of NZ players (on a 'sabbatical' basis) who could still be available for NZ, rather than losing them to European clubs. A bonus could be that these guys - if not selected for NZ - then come back and play NPC.
In an ideal world I'd like to see the Force return, although it does worry me how thin Australia's playing stocks would be when split five ways, plus five Japanese teams and the Jaguares (I could imagine though the Argentine RU could argue for another team or teams). That'd be 16 sides. It'd be a round robin, but I'd have two bye weekends for each side starting maybe two to three rounds in and completed with two to three rounds to go. This makes it a 17 week round robin and gives you a start and finish when you don't have any messy games-in-hand disparity. There wouldn't be any garbage conference systems and my finals series would be eight teams over three weeks (QF, SF and final). Total length 20 weeks. Let's say we had this comp this year, starting on Friday the 14th of February it would be completed on Saturday the 27th of June. A week off and then we host an in-bound tour for 3-4 weeks and get into TRC at the end of July or early August perhaps after another small gap. All going well, the last few weeks of the NPC we have full-strength provinces.
In terms of time zones, Japan works well for Australia and NZ but we would potentially lose some audience in Europe as games in SA were at a good time for them. The gains in Japan could outweigh that loss though.
Thoughts?
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I sent all the Super teams a DM on Instagram asking when the Super squads would be named and the Highlanders replied and said all squads will be named in early December after the Mitre 10 Cup.
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Mentions more announcement to come. I'm glad we're keeping SA in the RC!
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Wasn't sure where else to put this.
https://twitter.com/newstalkzbsport/status/1323835831077933058
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https://www.allblacks.com/news/sky-super-rugby-aotearoa-draw-announced
The second edition of Super Rugby Aotearoa will kick off at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on Friday, 26 February where the Highlanders will host the defending champion Crusaders, with the Hurricanes and Blues rounding off Round 1 at Sky Stadium in Wellington the following day.
The Chiefs will have the opening round bye before hosting the Highlanders at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton on Friday, 5 March.
All 21 Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa matches including a Final on Saturday, 8 May, will be live and exclusive via new competition naming rights sponsor Sky TV. -
Thanks for that.
This graphic made me piss myself, trying to find a positive for the Chiefs season 'most bonus points' haha
@Machpants hahah fuck that's embarassing
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So a “final” rather than top two playing Aus or something
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@Bovidae said in 'Super Rugby' 2021:
What was said about any games against the Aust teams?
Still talking to Oz about post SRA games
@Machpants Yes, I was just reading another article.
NZR General Manager Professional Rugby & Performance Chris Lendrum also confirmed NZR is working closely with Rugby Australia on a trans- Ta$man cross over series and would announce details shortly. NZR Head of High Performance Mike Anthony confirmed the All Blacks would be available from Round 1. -
@Machpants Yes, I was just reading another article.
NZR General Manager Professional Rugby & Performance Chris Lendrum also confirmed NZR is working closely with Rugby Australia on a trans- Ta$man cross over series and would announce details shortly. NZR Head of High Performance Mike Anthony confirmed the All Blacks would be available from Round 1.
