New draw, same inequities
In the movie Groundhog Day the main character is forced to relive a single span of 24 hours over and over until he learns some valuable lessons about life. As part of setting up this wacky premise, the groundhog of the title, a large rodent named Punxsutawney Phil, is pulled from his cosy burrow; if he sees his shadow and scurries back inside that’s a signal for six more weeks of winter weather.
On Thursday, Sanzaar’s Punxsutawney Phil was lifted from his lair as the South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby body announced its rejigged format for next year’s Super 15 competition. Had the organisation learned the lessons of the past? Would the dropping of three teams help address the inequities in a bloated series? Would Phil bask in the prospect of an early spring or retreat at the possibility of winter’s continued onslaught?
Sadly it appears to be the latter and rugby fans, particularly those in New Zealand, are set for their own groundhog day of inequity and contrived competition.
Next year we will have three conferences of five teams, with two of last season’s weakest teams joining the two weakest conferences. In the new draw each team will play 16 regular season matches, with two byes apiece. Eight of those games will be home and away against others in their conference. The rest will be matches against teams from the two other groupings. Eight of the 15 teams will make up the playoffs, with the final slotted in for August 4.
We understand that this could be argued as a natural consequence of numbers, locations and budgets: it is a competition that spans five nations and several time zones and many of the teams have struggled with the financial and physical ravages of long-distance travel. There is the issue, too, of considering how to work in with other competition windows in each country and around the world.
It’s fair to acknowledge that the new format goes some way to addressing the inequities of the previous competition, when New Zealand teams had more points than those in other conferences but still had to let the lesser lights jump the queue in the playoffs, including the farcical quarterfinal in which the Brumbies hosted the Hurricanes, despite finishing the regular season with 26 fewer points.
But inequities remain in the coming season: The New Zealand conference is still a virtual group of death while the Australian teams will be able to pad their points after dismissing the well-performed Force and welcoming wooden-spooners the Sunwolves in their home-and-away series. And given that conference winners will top the table, we will no doubt again have the situation where some teams – invariably New Zealand franchises – score more points but still miss out.
It feels as though Sanzaar has endured the pain of pushing out those three teams but not fully grasped the opportunity inherited. Just a few more rounds added to next year’s 22-week competition could have meant a straight round-robin, everyone playing everyone, home and away. A real test of a team’s quality and character.
Instead they have delivered groundhog day. And potentially another large rodent.
New Zealand conference is still a virtual group of death.