Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Super Rugby conferences only serve to strengthen New Zealand rugby

Super Rugby evolution

All Blacks captain Kieran Read is the latest voice to call for a return to the old round-robin format to replace the controversial conference system in Super Rugby.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I like the idea of a full round robin where you play everyone once, but we can’t continue with this conference system moving forward,” Read told RadioLIVE.

“They have to work something out there before expansion. A round robin or something along those lines would be fairer for everyone and result in a better product for the fans who turn up every week,” he said.

The system was changed to cater to the fans and made some sense commercially. More local fixtures with home and away derbies would produce higher viewership in ideal timeslots. New teams in new countries would open up new rights deals.

The American model conference system was also supposed to prevent one country from dominating and taking all the playoff spots. The inter-conference battles would cause enough collateral damage to falsify the final standings. A team with 9 wins in the Australian conference looks the same on paper as a team with 9 wins in the New Zealand conference.

Video Spacer

What has transpired in recent years is not what the administrators planned for – the New Zealand conference has produced multiple teams with fantastic records, often with more competition points than the other conference winners. This has created a farcical playoff system that fails to produce fair outcomes for teams.

An unintentional side effect of this format is that Super Rugby serves to strengthen New Zealand Rugby. The New Zealand conference has the best talent pool and coaching in the competition, which has only advanced ahead of all others due to necessity. The conference has developed into a brutal competition of survival, where only the fittest survive. The vast injury tolls are a symptom of an unforgiving system that breeds winners. The Australian conference, by contrast, has fallen behind and is stuck there – they fail to get better by playing each other more than they play the best.

ADVERTISEMENT

The strong get stronger by virtue of tougher opponents and the weak are left behind.

A return to the round-robin format would fail to provide even contests for a while but would benefit Australian rugby in the long run as they get tested with greater competition more frequently.

Without being pushed to their limits in their intra-conference contests, they don’t know how far they have to go until they get wiped off the map by a high-powered Kiwi team. It happened again this year when early promise was met with dampened expectations when the first trans-Tasman clashes arrived.

The American model works because the talent is spread through equitable means – draft systems and free agency. That can’t, and will not happen in Super Rugby with national interests at play. The best they can do is to abolish the conference systems, which in the long run will stop New Zealand evolving so fast.

Competition breeds innovation, which is exactly what Australian rugby needs more of.

ADVERTISEMENT

In other news:

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

South Africa vs New Zealand | The Rugby Championship U20's | Full Match Replay

Argentina vs Australia | The Rugby Championship U20's | Full Match Replay

Saitama Wildknights vs Tokyo Sungoliath | Japan Rugby League 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

The Game that Made Jonah Lomu

The gruelling reality behind one of the fastest sports in the world | The Report

Boks Office | Episode 40 | The Steven Kitshoff Special

Perry Baker in the house | HSBC Life on Tour | Los Angeles

Confidence knocks and finding your people | Flo Williams | Rugby Rising Locker Room

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

S
Solenn Bonnet 10 hours ago
Leinster cleanse palette with record URC scoreline against Zebre

My name is Solenn Bonnet, and I am a single mother navigating the challenges of raising my two-year-old child while trying to make ends meet. I came across a trading platform that promised astonishing daily profits of 18%. The allure of such a high return on investment was too tempting to resist, and I found myself drawn into cryptocurrency trading. Excited by the prospect of financial freedom, I invested a significant amount of my savings, totaling over 5.7 BTC. However, what started as a hopeful venture quickly turned into a nightmare. The platform was a scam, and I lost everything I had invested. The emotional toll of this loss was immense; I felt devastated and helpless, struggling to provide for my child and keep up with my bills. In my desperate attempt to recover my funds, I sought help from various recovery experts. Unfortunately, I encountered numerous fraudulent individuals who claimed they could help me retrieve my lost money. Each time I reached out, I was met with disappointment and further scams, which only deepened my despair. Last year was one of the most challenging periods of my life, filled with anxiety and uncertainty about my financial future. Feeling overwhelmed and at a loss, I confided in a close friend from church about my situation. She listened compassionately and shared her own experiences with financial difficulties. Understanding my plight, she introduced me to Tech Cyber Force Recovery, a group of skilled hackers known for their expertise in recovering lost funds. Skeptical yet hopeful, I decided to reach out to them as a last resort. Their services came at a higher cost, but my friend generously offered to help me with a partial payment. I was amazed by how quickly they responded and began the recovery process. Their team was professional, efficient, and incredibly supportive throughout the entire ordeal. To my relief, they successfully recovered more than I had lost to those heartless scammers. This was truly transformative, and I felt a sense of relief and gratitude that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I strongly encourage anyone who has faced similar challenges or fallen victim to scams to reach out to Tech Cyber Force Recovery. If you’ve invested in a fraudulent platform like I did, they are highly capable of helping you reclaim your hard-earned money. Don’t lose hope; there is a way to recover what you’ve lost.

CONSULT TECH CYBER FORCE RECOVERY

EMAIL.. support@techyforcecyberretrieval.com

WhatsApp.. +15617263697

website.. https://techyforcecyberretrieval.com

Telegram.. +15617263697

0 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Overseas Lions XV: Four Scots, ten Englishmen and one Welshman make the cut Overseas Lions XV: Four Scots, ten Englishmen and one Welshman
Search