Yes, it’s flawed but we’ll miss Super Rugby
At times it’s been hard to love Super Rugby. The clumsy format and lopsided results have been factors. Don’t get us started on the constant tinkering with its structure, either.
Now it’s gone, though, you start to miss it. We’ve all got our flaws. Super Rugby is no different. But in 2020 it’s done its bit by providing us with its share of entertainment; highs, lows and everything in between.
1. WORST REF DECISION
If referee AJ Jacobs can’t make tough decisions he should do something less stressful. Like grubbing thistles or crutching sheep, perhaps.
Jacobs melted at the prospect of issuing a red card to
Stormers flanker
Johan du Toit, right,
when he wiped out the Sharks’ Louis Schreuder in mid-air in Durban in round seven.
TMO Willie Vos recommended a red card.
Jacobs wasn’t having it. He couldn’t bring himself to do it, probably worried he would be accused of ruining the contest by reducing the Stormers to 14 men.
Come on, son. Do what’s right, not what will get you offside with the okes from the Western Cape.
2. MORE MADNESS
Then there was the case of Crusaders reserve hooker Hugh Roach (who was playing as flanker) getting red carded for elbowing the Sunwolves’ replacement prop Hencus van Wyk in the ear in Brisbane.
This decision was scandalous. A penalty? Yes. A yellow card? Maybe. Red? Get off! Referee Brendon Pickerill consulted his fellow officials and collectively, they panicked.
How else can you explain that red card? Is this really where the game is going?
3 BEST 40 MINUTES
The second half of the Hurricanes v Chiefs match in Hamilton on March 13.
That’s Super Rugby drawing back the curtains so we can all cop an eyeful of the good stuff. Intense, dramatic and entertaining.
Right to the wire, thanks to Jordie Barrett loading his boot with extra gunpowder to kick the winning penalty.
We’re going to miss that sort of drama.
4. THE SECOND COMING OF CRUDEN
Aaron Cruden hasn’t returned to the Chiefs to sample the deep fried chicken and kebabs in Hamilton.
Will he be an All Black again? Possibly. Possibly not. Richie
Mo’unga, Beauden Barrett and Josh Ioane (although to see his skills squandered at No 12 at the Highlanders is both mystifying and infuriating) are probably long-term options.
Remember this, however. Cruden would still go OK in black. Why wouldn’t he? Some will warble about his age (he’s 31) but that’s not an excuse.
The aging Ma’a Nonu could have been an All Black again last year.
His form for the Blues was solid enough, at times very good. Yet the All Blacks selectors insisted on sticking with Sonny Bill Williams for the World Cup.
Williams stayed fit, at least. It’s still debatable whether he was a better option than Nonu.
5. SHOW US YOUR CARDS
Ardie Savea wants to play in the NRL.
The All Blacks loose forward has still got a few seasons left on his NZ Rugby contract, although there’s nothing to prevent him from shopping around for NRL clubs right now.
Complicating this, of course, is coronavirus. It’s threatening to suck every spare buck out of most professional sports competitions. Which, in turn, could deplete NZ Rugby’s war chest when it comes to retaining players such as Savea.
And those big-name NRL clubs, too, will also take a financial hit.
It could be a difficult time to go to the negotiating table.
6. COMING CLEAN
Blues No 8 Akira Ioane came clean to Savea in the latter’s podcast, saying he stacked on an extra 10kg (and it wasn’t muscle) between Super Rugby and the Mitre 10 Cup last year.
For good measure, Ioane also revealed he was so disheartened he told Auckland coach Alama Ieremia he didn’t want to play.
Ioane doesn’t do things by halves. It’s also something the All Blacks selectors won’t have missed.
7. COMING UP
In the meantime, Hoskins Sotutu has been on the charge for the Blues. He’s taken the No 8 spot from Ioane, and few could argue that coach Leon MacDonald has got that selection wrong.
Crusaders blindside flanker/ lock Cullen Grace is another who could go places. The suspension of Super Rugby has denied us the chance to see how these guys would have coped as the grind took its toll.
Some players kick it up a gear. Others don’t. For now, we wait.
8. TIME AFTER TIME
Scrum re-sets remain a timewasting eye sore.
Painful? That’s putting it mildly. Solutions still seem a long way off.
As for the ruck cleanouts, this needs attention.
It’s difficult not to clench your teeth when you see some 118kg monster punch the turbo button prior to trying to obliterate an unprotected jackal in a ruck.
The game doesn’t need a serious injury because of these clean outs. Something has to change.
9. REST, ROTATION, RIP-OFF
We’ve been assured NZ Rugby is going to review the way All Blacks’ workloads are handled during Super Rugby.
Not a moment too soon. Test players need to be carefully managed, most of us get that. But the current programme which forces a blanket rule to be thrown over the whole group is clumsy, and franky, disrespects the Super Rugby coaches.
Trust goes both ways. There’s got to be a better way.
10. HIGHLANDERS DINGED
Even if the competition is salvaged, the Highlanders will remain an unfashionable identity.
This isn’t a reference to that ridiculous clobber they wore in the infamous ‘‘jersey clash game’’ against the Bulls in round six.
It’s always been difficult not to admire the Highlanders because they have often had to scrap against big odds; a smaller catchment of players, the issue of geography and fewer big commercial partners to help throw money at hot prospects are a reality.
There’s some rot in the old ship now, though. One win from six games, and a draw for the scratched fixture against the Jaguares. Competition points: seven.
Aaron Mauger is in his third and final season as head coach. If he’s reappointed (providing he wants the job), the onus isn’t just on him to haul the Highlanders out of the ashes.
The board of directors and administrators owe it to supporters and stakeholders to get this right.