Rugby faces many more hurdles than just the weather

We’re just a few weeks from the end of the difficult year that 2020 has been, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel as planning for the proposed PRO16 is understood to be well advanced.

The SA franchises are expecting to go into action in that competition in the first week of March 2021. But there is a caveat, as there is with so much that affects the world right now. It all hinges on the pandemic, and in that sense there was some sobering news this weekend from SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux.

Roux, interviewed in Rapport, said some local unions will not survive if spectators are not allowed into stadiums soon. A plan has been put in place that is being submitted to the government to allow spectators, presumably a limited number and adhering to strict Covid-19 protocols, to attend the Currie Cup play-off games in January. If that can’t happen, Roux fears for the survival of the sport in this country.

Hopefully there will be some leeway granted to the unions because the Currie Cup desperately needs a shot in the arm. It has produced some good patches of play but generally hasn’t been of a consistently high quality to overcome the depressing reality of empty stadiums.

The noise generated by the reserves in an attempt to energise their teammates and make up for the lack of support from the stands was an interesting talking point a few weeks back, but some people are starting to find it irritating. It doesn ’ t make up for what is lacking in a proper atmosphere.

Of course, it can’t be helped, but you get the impression that what is happening now is a glorified, extended preseason for something else, meaning PRO16. In that sense, it might be possible to argue that what a summer Currie Cup is really doing is providing a valuable learning opportunity for SA rugby ahead of 2021’s switch to a northern hemisphere competition and timetable.

Make no mistake, there are plenty of challenges, with the weather being a big one. Fortunately, the day of thunderstorms that was predicted for this past Saturday in Gauteng when two important games were scheduled did not materialise. But it could so easily have happened, and probably will at some stage before this season is over.

We ’ ve already seen two games since rugby’s restart shortened by lightning. The one at Loftus in Super Rugby

Unlocked didn’t have a material effect on the competition. When the end came, 65 minutes into the game with the Bulls leading the Stormers 39-6, the result was beyond doubt and the home team had already banked their try-scoring bonus point.

That was not so for the more recent lightning-shortened game in Kimberley between Griquas and the Golden Lions.

There was plenty of time left in the game and the Lions were only leading by a couple of points. Griquas would have felt aggrieved at missing out on the chance of a potential moraleboosting victory, but at the same time the Lions could lament the possible bonus point they missed. They tend to finish strongly, so a try-scoring bonus point could have been theirs had the game gone 80 minutes.

I hear those who say these are unusual times, but the switch to PRO16 means summer rugby is set to become our new normal. Playing rugby at the height of summer may not be a challenge in the Cape, where it tends to be windy but dry in December and January, but it will matter elsewhere. Think Durban, where the humidity produces sweat on the ball and makes it impossible to do anything other than kick and chase. It used to be problematic in February and March in the Super Rugby era, but now it is going to apply to five months of the rugby season.

And judging by the condition of the Ellis Park field for the Lions-Western Province game at the weekend, Gauteng might not be much better. Western Province captain Siya Kolisi admitted it was a difficult surface to play on and it played a role in undermining the formidable Province scrum.

So did the refereeing, which is another thing that needs to be looked at before rugby becomes really serious again, assuming the pandemic allows the PRO16 to get under way as planned. Refereeing has been poor in the past, but it has been particularly poor in 2020.

If you want to put on a show that will bring fans back to stadiums, the quality of refereeing — and some aspects of their job, such as how the TV match official is deployed and what the communication protocols should be — require urgent attention.

At least that should be easier to fix than the weather.