Lucrative Pro14 would benefit local rugby
The World Cup is underway with the most epic of encounters between the Springboks and the All Blacks coming up today, but exactly a week after the big kick-off, another tournament that could well have a major impact on the long-term future of South African rugby, also begins.
Next Friday sees the start of the 2019/20 Pro14 and the Free State Cheetahs, the Currie Cup champions, will get the ball rolling as they host the Glasgow Warriors, the runners-up last season. The game starts at 7.05pm, plus there are no matches in Japan that day, so the eyes of rugby-lovers really should be on Bloemfontein.
The 2019 World Cup is acknowledged as being the most open ever by most pundits and that is thanks to the rise of the Northern Hemisphere. The All Blacks no longer have the same cloak of invincibility with South Africa, Australia and Ireland all having beaten them in recent times and England, typically, fancying their chances but not quite getting the job done in a 16-15 defeat at Twickenham last November.
Wales briefly stole the No 1 ranking that has almost exclusively been the preserve of the All Blacks and even Scotland only lost by five points to New Zealand in Edinburgh in November 2017.
Northern Hemisphere rugby is stronger than ever, partly due to the large numbers of players from the Southern Hemisphere now playing there and raising the standard. Last year there were more than 250 South Africans playing professional rugby overseas and, as much as some people would like to portray the reasons for this as being political, money is by far the biggest driver.
The fact that the Northern Hemisphere game is where the money is these days has also improved their performances at Test level. South Africans have tended to diss European rugby as being slow, unskilful and weak, but the Springboks’ recent results against them paint a very different picture.
In the last eight Tests against England, South Africa only have a 50% winning record, which might make defeat to the All Blacks today more palatable because it means we should avoid them at the World Cup before the final. Likewise Ireland have won six of their last 10 matches against the Springboks and Wales have won five of the last six encounters.
Perhaps South African rugby as a whole should be chasing the big bucks on offer in Europe. They have a foot in the door in the Pro14 and that may well be the future direction we should head in. There are growing fears that Super Rugby has run its course – what was once a thrilling competition full of excitement week-after-week has become a dull, uninspired and monotonous tournament almost invariably won by a New Zealand team, thanks to the massive travelling disadvantages our teams labour under. For the average fan, it has become overkill, familiarity breeds contempt and the competition lost its integrity with the crazy conference system.
All Pro14 matches are played in much the same time zone and in a tremendous array of conditions, which provides wonderful preparation for international rugby. And there is some excellent rugby being played with 115 Pro14 players now appearing in the World Cup and the figures for both number of tries and attendances at new highs for several seasons in a row.
In the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings, SA Rugby has sent out an advance party to test the waters, but there is no denying the interest in both South Africa and the United Kingdom for more teams to be involved.
The Pro14 head honchos are certainly hoping that the two South African teams find their feet in the competition this season and discussions with them have left me in no doubt that their next target will be one of the big fish.
It’s bad news for rugby in Kimberley and Nelspruit, but there seems little interest in having Griquas or the Pumas join the Pro14; instead, how about the Sharks or Bulls being real trailblazers and switching to Europe? It’s not as if the idea has not been discussed in the corridors of Kings Park or Loftus Versfeld either.
But for now, all our focus is on our arch-rivals, the All Blacks. Let’s hope our mighty pack can grind them down and our defence cuts down all their space and time as the Springboks make an early mark on the World Cup.