Teams take the long road again
NEXT month the Southern Kings will be buckling up for the start of a travel marathon. It will be an epic journey that will see them clocking up even more than the staggering 43 982km they travelled to play Super Rugby last year.
This season the Kings will make long-haul visits to three continents during an arduous campaign.
Remarkably, the Sunwolves travelled more than double the distance of the Kings last year because of their geographical location – they clocked 90 605km. This year it is estimated the Sunwolves will travel 110 000km.
The Kings will be clocking up the kilometres again this year on their travels to Singapore, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Buenos Aires.
This week, Super Rugby’s governing body, Sanzaar [South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby], said they were conducting a “strategic review” of the competition’s current format amid concerns that punishing travel schedules were affecting teams’ performances.
The competition takes place over 16 time zones and four continents, resulting in complaints of lopsided contests, taxing travel times and a fragmented four-conference system seen as too complex.
Apart from matches in Tokyo last year, the Sunwolves played some of their home games in Singapore, and made two trips to South Africa and one to Australia.
The Japanese side topped the travelling stakes, with Argentina’s Jaguares in second place with 72 318km.
The Bulls were the most travelled South African team, clocking 61 518km on their travels to Singapore, Argentina and Australia.
The figures were worked out by the Roar website, which said while the distances might vary slightly when taking into account connecting flights and bus trips, they were mostly correct. The figures did not take the finals into account.
The full list of teams and the distances travelled last year, with trips in brackets:
Sunwolves 90 605km (Sing x 3, SA x 2, Aust), Jaguares 72 318km (SA x 2, Japan, NZ), Force 67 019km (SA, Japan, NZ), Bulls 61 518km (Sing, Arg, Aust), Stormers 60 016km (Sing, Arg, Aust), Rebels 57 328km (SA, Japan, NZ x 3), Chiefs 53 717km (SA, Aust x 3, Arg, Fiji), Lions 53 136km (Japan, Arg, NZ), Waratahs 50 285km (SA, Japan, NZ x 2), Sharks 49 954km (NZ, Arg), Cheetahs 46 424km (Sing, Aust), Highlanders 45 768km (SA, Arg, Aust x 2), Kings 43 982km (NZ, Arg), Hurricanes 42 656km (SA, Aust x 3), Reds 37 712km (SA, NZ), Brumbies 34 654km (SA, NZ x 2), Blues 34 292km (SA, Aust x 2), Crusaders 32 605km (SA, Aust x 2, Fiji).
The arduous Super Rugby travel schedule will test the stamina of the players and especially those who don’t relish air travel.
The good news for the Jaguares is that this year they are to travel 65% less compared to last year.
The travel factor was felt by the Argentine players in their inaugural Super Rugby campaign. Having no opposition on their continent resulted in Los Jaguares travelling vast distances.
Last season the Kings discovered the pitfalls of travel when they crashed to a 73-27 defeat against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires.
The Jaguares’ score of 73 was their highest ever, and it was the highest number of points conceded by the Kings in their history – surpassing the 72 points they conceded to the Waratahs in 2013.
Super Rugby chief executive Andy Marinos admits that one of the biggest challenges facing the teams is travel.
“I have been involved in the competition for two decades. From the beginning, the biggest challenge was geographical,” Marinos said.
“That challenge remains today, with teams travelling vast distances to compete in South Africa or Australasia for weeks at a time.
“The addition of a sixth team from South Africa, and teams from Argentina and Japan has driven the expansion and a conference structure that does not have all teams playing each other in the regular season, which has compounded the travel factor further.”
This year the Kings will be pleased that they kick off the tournament with a home match against the Jaguares on February 25. But, six days later, they will be playing the Sunwolves in Singapore.
Coaches generally like to downplay the effects of travelling, though there can be no doubt that it affects performance. Last year Lions coach Johan Ackermann said he did not believe that travelling to Wellington would hinder his team in the Super Rugby final.
However, in the end the Lions went down 203.