Editor’s letter
Welcome to World Cup year, where just about anything can happen and just about any amount of nonsensical theories can be espoused with impunity.
It is a genuine phenomenon that the final year of a World Cup cycle throws up more memorable incidents than the other three years.
Remember 2007 and the dreaded reconditioning programme that saw 22 All Blacks miss the first half of Super Rugby? What a disaster that was.
Then there was the incredible story of Colin Slade in 2011 who broke his jaw not once, but twice in Super Rugby and still made it to the World Cup.
That was also the year we saw the Reds win a title on the back of the play-making genius of Will Genia and Quade Cooper.
In 2015 we saw Charles Piutau turn his back on the All Blacks and in turn, the All Blacks turn their back on him.
That same year the Highlanders produced arguably the most stunning campaign of all when they were crowned champions having started the season as rank outsiders.
What has also happened in the past is that commentators have tried to find meaning in something in Super Rugby to connect to the World Cup.
In 2015, the only year since 2001 that the Crusaders haven’t made the playoffs, there was a sense of doom and gloom about the All Blacks’ chances in England.
The All Blacks-laden Crusaders had bombed that year and so many extrapolated that the World Cup was going to be a similar reflection.
The likes of Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Owen Franks and Sam Whitelock were all struggling apparently based on what happened in Super Rugby.
That certainly didn’t turn out to be the case at all and nor did it turn out to be true in 2003 that the All Blacks were in great shape for the World Cup because three New Zealand teams made the semifinals.
The point should surely have been hammered home by now that there is rarely a direct line to be drawn from Super Rugby through to the World Cup.
They are two distinct competitions of an entirely different nature and the areas of overlap are limited.
The questions that are relevant in Super Rugby are not necessarily ones that can then be asked again in regard to the World Cup.
What seems most obvious to ask in Super Rugby is first of all whether the Blues are going to be greatly improved as a result of their coaching team changes.
The arrival of Leon MacDonald as head coach with Tom Coventry drilling the forwards has universally been given the tick of approval.
Tana Umaga’s selfless decision to stand down as head coach and take on a new role organising the defence seems like the perfect solution and with Karl Tu’inukuafe and Ma’a Nonu having been signed, the Blues look well set to improve.
By how much, no one can be sure, but they will unquestionably make winning the New Zealand Conference harder and the real kicker might be that they take enough points off the other Kiwi teams to ensure that the winners of the Australian and South Africa Conferences end up with more competition points and therefore secure home advantage in the playoffs.
The second big question is around the Crusaders and how much they will be affected by having so many probable World Cup All Blacks in their squad.
Whitelock, Read and Codie Taylor are all starting the competition in round four while the likes of Owen Franks, Joe Moody, Scott Barrett, Matt Todd, Ryan Crotty and Jack Goodhue will all have to be managed under the agreed protocol of each missing at least two games and never playing more than five in a row.
The Crusaders have the depth to cope with that amount of juggling so the greater fear for them is whether their All Blacks unconsciously hold something back knowing that they want to have plenty left in the tank come September and October.
The third question is about the Highlanders and whether they can seamlessly replace Lima Sopoaga. They have signed Bryn Gatland and Marty Banks has returned from Italy.
Both are good players but neither has been a first choice No 10 in Super Rugby and driven a team through a whole campaign.
The Highlanders have all the other bits and pieces but they need their play-maker to be able to pull everything together and make sure they are operating in the right parts of the field.
On a more generic level, and in a sense this is connected to the World Cup, the question to ask is how much confidence individuals can take from Super Rugby?
Will Read for example be able to complete his physical recovery from back surgery.
He played at 90 per cent last year when he returned to action and is hoping to find the last 10 per cent improvement in the first part of 2019.
If he does, he should be able to bring a greater attacking dimension to the All Blacks from No 8.
What about Whitelock? Will a 17-week off-season freshen him and rejuvenate him back to his brilliant best?
Can Sam Cane recover from his broken neck? And then there is Sonny Bill Williams. Can he go the distance? Will he avoid injury, find his best form again and prove all the doubters wrong?
Super Rugby will be fascinating but it won’t provide many answers, if any at all, to what we can expect in Japan later in the year.