It’s quality, not quantity, that makes it super
As cringe-worthy as it might be, whether it’s boomboom or bang-bang, Super Rugby is the more explosive competition.
Sure crowd attendance in the Six Nations blows Sanzaar’s out of the water, but when arguing simply which is the better product, I tend to focus more on quality rather than quantity.
The southern hemisphere has the best players on the planet. Period.
The best players make for the best rugby.
I for one would much rather park myself on the couch at the easy 7.30pm slot and watch the Hurricanes and Chiefs lay it all on the line in a 40-point thriller, than crawl out of bed at 3am and watch a 12-12 kick-a-thon.
I’d rather watch young guns like Damian McKenzie and Rieko Ioane slicing through world-class defences, than Super Rugby rejects Sean Maitland and Gareth Anscombe kick and chase for 80 minutes.
I wager that with the (possible) exception of England, the other five international teams in the northern comp would struggle to hang with the speed and physicality of our Super teams.
Then there is the matter of vested interest.
I do not care about the Six Nations. I do not care who wins or loses. I don’t even know half of the players.
For the purist, I suppose watching international footy is enough? However, I need to feel that connection with a team for the game to be truly worth watching.
Unfortunately, I hail from the city of sails so live and die by the results of the lacklustre Blues, but if you are lucky enough to be from anywhere else in New Zealand, the care factor goes up again.
We all agree that the black jersey is the pinnacle of sport in this country, so I want to watch the incumbents vs the up-andcomers, the bolter vs the shoo-in. I want to see our players.
Super Rugby is our competition for our players and our fans and an all-round better product than the Six Nations.
More than anything else though, I just don’t want to get up that early.