The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
PRO14 should embrace SA
It won’t be a straightforward split, but the apparent new isolation of South Africa from a redrawn Super Rugby has clear repercussions here, and even directly for Scottish rugby. It’s been confirmed that New Zealand’s Aratipu review has recommended a new trans-Tasman Super Rugby competition involving the five Kiwi franchises, anything from two to four Australian teams and a Pacific Island entry.
South Africa are frozen out of this arrangement, although SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux archly noted this week that there were four-cornered legal agreements involved here which will be invoked, and NZ Rugby had no right to arbitrarily dump anyone.
“If anybody kicked anyone out of Super Rugby, it is New Zealand kicking themselves out,” he said. Meeow.
Apparently SANZAAR remains solidly united in backing the continuation of the Rugby Championship, but if the agreements are broken for domestic competition you can easily imagine that international matters are unlikely to remain a cosy campfire chat.
It may have all been a bit cheeky by NZ Rugby – not least in they and Rugby Australia’s insistence on a Pacific Island representative given they’ve both milked Fiji, Tonga and Samoa for talent for decades.
But they’re likely to get what they want. Rugby Australia are looking forward to “constructive engagement” with their neighbours over their stated preference, which leaves South Africa on their tod.
There’s been a perception for some time that SA Rugby isn’t even too perturbed at this, having made tentative engagement with European Rugby.
The two South African teams inserted into the PRO14 have been a toe in the water, but the Kings and Cheetahs were failed Super Rugby franchises with nowhere to play.
The logical assumption now is that they’ll both be dumped even from this and replaced by the existing four Super Rugby franchises, and the PRO14 will become the PRO16.
Some don’t like this idea, pointing out that what did for Super Rugby was the continuing expansion of the number of teams until it overreached itself.
It’s partly true, but what really has done for Super Rugby was the difficulty in running a competition through so many time zones. When it was just SA, NZ and Oz it was just about manageable, but even then there were issues and the addition of the Jaguares from Argentina just compounded the problem.
I don’t think expansion of South African teams into the existing PRO league is remotely the same, even if the Cheetahs and Kings have contributed very little in the way of competitive value in their short time in the league.
This time it will be the seriously strong teams, the Stormers, Lions, Bulls and Sharks, and they will instantly be competitive – although I see Nick Mallett, the former Springbok coach, is insisting that there be an Eastern Cape team and suggesting a merger of the Lions and the Bulls, the old Transvaal and North Transvaal teams. He must have come into possession of a nuclear threat to even suggest such a thing.
The TV revenues for the PRO14 effectively doubled when the Cheetahs and the Kings joined. Super Sport, the well-heeled SA broadcaster, would lap up the chance to show the best Springboks against European competition.
In addition, CVC is now an equal partner in the PRO14 and their vote will be squarely for inclusion. It’s hard to see in what way the league will make less money with the South Africa teams involved, and that’s what CVC are paying all this money for.
There’s been some reaction to this from some in Scotland, arguing less is more.
The money trail is not always worth following? In the current climate, that’s naive to the point of self-destructive. A cosy little league with our Celtic cousins in a PRO12 or even a PRO10 is preferable to some, but this is simply not enough variety for a wider modern sports audience, and it assumes the
Irish and the Welsh are as keen as we are to contract.
They’re not. Wales still hanker over a place for their major teams alongside the English in a joint league, but that’s long been an unrequited passion – there’s really nothing in it for the English clubs.
The rivalries with the Irish and Scots have never been enough for the Welsh, but one would expect the inclusion of the big South African sides would keep them on board.
I think with the conference to play-off system encompassing an 18 to 21-match regular season, a PRO 16 or even a PRO18 would thrive. The new South African teams would raise standards and there would be fewer embarrassing landslide results.
The potential involvement of the SA teams in the Heineken Cup is tricky, but certainly not insurmountable.
SA say they have “one or two options in Europe” available to them. One is clearly the PRO14, one would assume the other is involvement with the English Premiership or Top 14.
The relationship is already established, the benefits obvious.
The PRO14 should embrace the South Africans.