Hart warns Sanzaar: less is best

As Sanzaar dreams of a future that allows it to dip into the goldmine that is American television revenue, it must balance its ‘‘blue-sky’’ thinking with the imperative to create a quality, compelling Super Rugby competition.

That is the warning from former All Blacks coach and astute rugby mind John Hart, who believes the ‘‘less is best’’ principle continues to apply to the southern hemisphere’s flagship professional competition.

The future of Super Rugby, and indeed its test level offshoot the Rugby Championship, has come back into the spotlight with the publication of details from a leaked strategy paper commissioned by chiefs of the southern hemisphere rugby collective, Sanzaar.

In it, the paper ponders Super Rugby’s future post-2020 (the end of the current broadcasting deal), and, among other pathways, lists three different options for expansion to 20 teams, including what is understood to be a move into the United States specifically and the wider Americas region in general.

Given the disaster that was Super Rugby’s recent upsize to 18 teams, before Sanzaar admitted a mistake and reduced it to 15, it is interesting to see expansion back on the agenda so soon.

Both Sanzaar and New Zealand Rugby are ducking for cover over the leaked strategy paper.

NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Tew refused a request to talk to Stuff about the issue, and a Sanzaar spokesman said his organisation also had nothing to say.

But there is no doubt that the commercial imperative continues to entice Sanzaar towards expansion, particularly the potential riches on offer if rugby could ever be installed as a legitimate sport on the rich North American landscape.

This, says Hart, is a concern after the ill-fated decision to go to 18 teams in Super Rugby that created a diluted, confusing product with a competitive imbalance that struggled to strike a chord with fans.

‘‘You’ve always got to reflect on history when you create the future,’’ Hart told Stuff. ‘‘The history of this competition has shown when it was more compact, with better teams, and a more even standard, it was successful. As we’ve moved down the expansion route we’ve weakened the competition and gone backwards, rather than forwards. ‘‘My gut instinct is less is best.’’ The two most recent additions to the competition, Argentina’s Jaguares and Japan’s Sunwolves, have not been runaway successes either.

The Jaguares have found some form in year three, and their four straight road victories in Australasia indicate a coming of age. But the Sunwolves continue to struggle at the foot of the standings, and the symmetry with their existing rugby infrastructure remains problematic.

It has also yet to become apparent what the commercial upside is of adding these new territories and creating further travel and timezone issues.

Hart would also be reluctant to reduce the hugely popular Kiwi ‘‘derbies’’ in Super Rugby, even though he’s the first to grasp concerns around the attrition rate in the game.

‘‘The derbies make the competition and if you didn’t have those it would detract,’’ he said.

And Hart cautioned against being too driven by potential commercial spinoffs from huge markets in the Americas and Asia.

‘‘I understand they have to grow income to finance the game but they have lost their way a bit. You’ve got to get the balance right because a lot of the commercial reality will come out of how visible it is, and how many people want to watch it.

‘‘It’s all very well saying we need to expand because that brings us more money, but if the competition dissipates in strength will they get the viewing, and therefore will the TV companies pay the money they need, and will grounds survive because they’re half or quarter full?’’

But there is one aspect of the strategy paper that does pique Hart’s interest and win his vote of approval. There is a plan for the Rugby Championship to be tweaked post-2020 to bring in back-to-back home tests against the same opponents on a rotational basis. In essence it would create mini tours, as well as reduce travel a little.

‘‘One-off tests are difficult, so I see a lot of logic and real merit in that,’’ said the man who masterminded the All Blacks’ last great tour achievement – the 1996 historic series victory in South Africa.

‘‘Tours made a lot of the history of our game, and we can reflect on Grand Slams and all those sort of things that used to be what was special about rugby. Any move in that direction would be a positive.’’