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'The last thing you want to do is half-arse it': Super Rugby stars issue warning about expansion into the Pacific Islands

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

The potential induction of a South Auckland-based Pacific Islands team into a revamped version of Super Rugby would be great for the game, but competition organisers need to make sure lessons have been learned from previous failed expansions.

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That’s the verdict from Super Rugby Aotearoa stars Bryn Hall and Brad Weber, who both appeared on RugbyPass’ Aotearoa Rugby Pod to discuss the future of the newly-announced Kanaloa Hawaii franchise.

Co-owned by former All Blacks Jerome Kaino, Joe Rokocoko, John Afoa, Benson Stanley, Anthony Tuitavake and Ben Atiga, reports last week revealed that Major League Rugby had accepted a bid from the club to join the North American competition ahead of the 2021 season.

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Aotearoa Rugby Pod | Episode 3

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Aotearoa Rugby Pod | Episode 3

With the future of Super Rugby beyond this year still up in the air, though, Kanaloa’s chief executive Tracey Atiga hinted that a possible venture into the Southern Hemisphere club competition wasn’t out of the question.

“The sky is the limit now. We’ve done the impossible,” Atiga told New Zealand show Tagata Pasifika.

“We went through a COVID period of four months and put together an application that was strong and that was approved by the MLR.

“We’re in conversations with NZ Rugby at the moment. We’d love to have a spot in Super next year and we’re ready for it. We’ve proven that we’re ready.”

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Atiga further expanded on her comments to RNZ, explaining that the club would look to field a seperate team in Super Rugby to the side that would take part in MLR, with the former team to be based in South Auckland.

“We would essentially set up our satellite programme which is here in south Auckland to accommodate a second team,” Atiga said.

“So we are not talking about one team that plays in the MLR and then they come and play in Super Rugby – we are talking about two pro teams that would have equally competitive athletes at that level and we would own and operate them in co-ordination with each other.”

News of a Pacific team possibly entering Super Rugby was lauded by both Hall and Weber, who agreed that it would be a positive step in acknowledging the contribution Pacific players have made to the sport.

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“If you think about the Pacific Island communities and how much they’ve done for New Zealand Rugby, not just at the professional level, but at the All Blacks and the greats of the game were Pacific Islanders and Maori,” Crusaders halfback Hall said.

“It’d be great for them to have a platform and a forum to help them and to give them a chance to play more rugby.

“I can see it now with how much of a following they would have.”

Chiefs star Weber added: “It’s great, I think it’s awesome. Awesome for the Pacific Island too. It would be great to see them have a sort of semi-professional team.

“Games in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, that would be quite cool too, it would be a great dynamic for us.”

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The pair, however, both issued warnings about how Kanaloa’s inclusion into the Super Rugby set-up would need to be done cautiously and correctly in order to avoid mishaps that have damaged the league’s credibility in the past.

Regular expansions of Super Rugby since 2006 saw the competition grow from 12 teams to 18 within the space of a decade, creating an over-saturation of playing talent which contributed significantly to a depletion of fan interest across the Southern Hemisphere.

As such, the Western Force, Southern Kings and Cheetahs were subjected to messy expulsions from Super Rugby in 2017, and they have since been followed by Japan’s Sunwolves, who played their last matches in the league this year.

Despite SANAAR’s attempts to re-capture the imagination of fans by condensing the league back to 14 teams, much of the damage has already been done as Super Rugby has since become a shadow of its former self as the world’s premier club competition.

Hall said that’s why any future iteration of Super Rugby needs to be handled carefully if any new teams are to be thrown into the mix.

“One thing that we do need to be careful around is that we have expanded before, we have brought teams in like Japan and the Jaguares and we’ve brought in some other South African teams too,” the three-time Super Rugby champion said.

“You don’t want to dilute the competition, so if they do come on board, and they have the support base – and hopefully they do – then they can be competitive.

“The last thing you want to do is half-arse it and just get the brand and the name out there, but if they’re financially supported, have the players and are actually competitive, then it’s going to be great for all parties when a decision is made.”

Weber doubled down on Hall’s sentiments, but was confident that any Pacific Island side would be capable of holding their own in Super Rugby.

“You’d hate for them to come in and get pumped every week, but I’m pretty positive that they could be really competitive right from the outset should they put a decent team together, which I’m sure they could,” he said.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 1 hour ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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